Are Bananas Good For You? Plus Some Delicious Banana Smoothie Recipes

Posted by Joanna on Dec 15, 2011 in Smoothie Recipes | 3 comments

Bananas have for long been a staple in many parts of the world. Most people enjoy bananas and banana smoothies. They taste sweet, they are filling, come prepackaged in their own yellow jackets which makes them super-convenient to eat on the go and easy to bring with you on the road.

However, some people believe that they are bad for us because of the sugar and high calorie content, and therefore believe that they should be avoided.

Banana Nutrition Facts

Serving size = 1 medium sufficiently ripe banana [about 7″ long and 126 grams (0.28 pounds) in weight]

Total Fat = 0 g; Cholesterol = 0 g; Calories = 110

Potassium = 400 mg (10% of daily recommended value)

Dietary Fiber = 4 g (16% of daily recommended value)

Sugar = 14.8 g; Protein = 1 g (2% of daily recommended value)

Vitamin C = 16% of daily recommended value

Vitamin B6 = 20% of daily recommended value

Bananas have a glycemic index of about 55. Compare that to apples, which have a glycemic index of about 38, and to pineapples who have a GI of 66.

The glycemic index measures how quickly the carbohydrates in the food get digested and turned in to blood sugar. This means that bananas get turned in to sugar pretty fast, but a medium banana contains less than 30 grams of carbs so that shouldn’t be a major problem. If you’re on a low-carb diet, though, this could be a problem and it might be a better idea to stick to fruits like blueberries. If you’re trying to overcome insulin resistance or type II diabetes via diet then you may want to limit the amount of bananas that you eat.

Health Benefits of Bananas

Just a brief search online for benefits of bananas produced many results. Here are just a few of them:

Bowel Health. Bananas are very rich in fiber content, which helps in curing any bowel-related problems, such as constipation. They can be more effective than laxatives, and much safer too. Bananas also help prevent heartburn. It has an antacid effect preventing heartburn.

High Blood Pressure. Potassium content in bananas can contribute to reducing high blood pressure and stroke. The presence of potassium also helps in lowering the amount of calcium purged from the body either through urine or in secretions such as sweat, which in turn prevents the occurrence of kidney stones and osteoporosis.

Anemia. High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Stress. Bananas with their high potassium content help our bodies deal with stress. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Depression: According one study, many people suffering from depression felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

I could go on and on about the benefits, but the bottom line is this: bananas are good for you!

Best Banana Smoothie Recipes

Warning: Just in case you haven’t noticed, you are on a GREEN SMOOTHIES website, so most of the recipes recommend adding some green ingredient – most often spinach – which is the mildest green to add to your smoothies if you are new to them. If you’ve never tried a green smoothie in your live, I encourage you to keep an open mind and just do it! It will not kill you, and who knows, it may help save your life .

BANANA SMOOTHIE
2 bananas
1 cup water
vanilla extract to taste

BANANA SMOOTHIE
2 bananas
1 cup water
1 cup almonds

STRAWBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE
2 medium bananas
2 cups of strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of orange juice
1 cup spinach or other leafy greens
1 cup water

STRAWBERRY BANANA PINEAPPLE SMOOTHIE
1/2 pint fresh strawberries (you can leave the stems on!)
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 ripe bananas, peeled
1 cup spinach or other leafy greens
1 cup water
1 cup ice cubes (optional)

Process in blender until smooth. Serve immediately or freeze until slushy.

Ice. A lot of smoothie recipes call for ice cubes. Personally, I’m not a fan of adding ice cubes to my smoothies, except sometimes in the summer. Drinking a cold smoothie is not great for our body and digestion.

Milk or yogurt Many recipes also call for milk or yogurt. I don’t use either, but you can certainly experiment with various kinds of milk. Try cow’s milk, rice milk, almond milk, chocolate milk.

Sweeteners. I find fruit smoothies pretty sweet on their own, so I never add sweeteners myself, but I know a lot of people like to sweeten their smoothies. You can try adding honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, a few dried figs, or any sweetener that you like.

Tips on How to Select and Store Bananas

Since bananas are picked off the tree while they’re still green, you will often to see them green in the store. Of course, green bananas should not be used in smoothies. The best bananas for smoothies are ripe yellow in hue and with brown spots. Leave bananas to ripen at room temperature. Unripe bananas should not be placed in the refrigerator as this will interrupt the ripening process that will not be able to resume even if the bananas are returned to room temperature.

If you need to speed up the ripening process, you can place bananas in a paper bag or wrap them in newspaper, adding an apple to accelerate the process. You can store ripe bananas in the fridge. Although their peel may darken, the flesh will not be affected. For maximum flavor when consuming refrigerated bananas, remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to come back to room temperature.

You can also freeze unpeeled bananas for use in smoothies. I usually do that when I have a lot of super-ripe bananas that I know I’ll not be able to use before they go bad. When I freeze bananas, I peel them and cut them in half. Then they go into freezer bags until I’m ready to use them.

Will Bananas Make me Gain Weight?

This is a question that many people ask. Many of people fear that bananas will make them fat which is totally untrue. The reason why people think that is because an average banana has about 100 calories, so for example, if you have 5 bananas a day it is 500 extra calories.

Well, first of all, as already mentioned above, bananas have a very low glycemic index. This is because they are full of fiber. This fiber takes a long time to digest which means that if you snack on two bananas you may very well get 200 calories, but you will also feel full for a couple of hours. Also, most of a banana is water which tends to get retained in the body. All you need to do is sweat it out and it’s gone.

Even the American Diabetes Association states that “Despite being erroneously called “fattening” and too high in sugar, a small banana only contains about 100 calories, which is not much more than a medium apple. Nor should it raise your blood glucose level too high.”

So, consider them safe and healthy for consumption!

Bananas have many health benefits. Plus, they are delicious in smoothies!

Submit Your Smoothie Recipe!

When you find a taste you love, why not submit your favorite smoothie recipe in the comment section below!

Find more smoothie recipes and tips on my blog.