Top 10 Health Benefits of Banana

Top 10  Health Benefits  of Bananas

Bananas are one of nature’s great snack foods. Here are 10 banana health benefits for more energy, better health and even improving the way you look and feel.

1. Potassium

Bananas are among the most convenient food sources of potassium. This mineral is essential for maintaining proper heart function and regulating normal blood pressure.

Further research by the New England Journal of Medicine suggests eating bananas regularly in your diet can cut your risk of having a stroke by up to 40%.

The potassium in bananas is also beneficial for your kidneys and bones. A good potassium intake suppresses calcium excretion in the urine that can lead to painful kidney stones.

2. More Energy

Even with the proliferation of brightly colored ‘sports’ drinks, ‘energy’ bars and ‘electrolyte’ gels (these are loaded with unhealthy chemicals and coloring by the way) you often see athletes eating bananas just before and even during sports.

3. Helps Digestion

Bananas are a great source of dietary fiber that most of us don’t get nearly enough of. Fiber helps the food you eat move smoothly through the digestive tract and improves elimination.
A couple of bananas may be a healthier choice than laxatives to treat occasional constipation.

4. Good for Ulcers

Eating bananas regularly may help protect against stomach ulcers. Compounds in bananas seem to create a thicker protective barrier in the stomach against hydrochloric acid.
Bananas also contain protease inhibitors that work to eliminate certain bacteria in the stomach implicated as a major cause of stomach ulcers.

5.  High in Vitamin B6

Bananas are particularly high in vitamin B6. This vitamin is important for creating hemoglobin for healthy blood.

6. Vitamins and Minerals

Alongside the high levels of potassium and vitamin B6 already mentioned, bananas also have good levels of vitamin C, magnesium and manganese.

7.  Skin Conditions

Even the skins of this amazing fruit have their uses. Banana skins have been used externally to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and acne.
The freshly peeled inside of the banana skin is gently rubbed over the affected area and the residue left on. This might be better done on a day indoors or before bed to avoid the banana smell when out and about.

8. A Cancer Fighter

Recent Japanese animal research linked bananas that are fully ripe (with the dark spots) to production of a compound called tumor necrosis factor (TNF–a). This compound is a cytokine which is believed to have the potential to increase white blood cell count, thus enhancing your immunity and combating cancerous cell changes.

9. Improving your Mood and Reducing Stress

Bananas are a good source of the amino acid tryptophan which your body converts to serotonin.
Amongst many other things, proper serotonin levels help improve your mood, reduce stress and enhance your general outlook and happiness levels. It also helps regulate good sleep patterns.

10. A Hangover Cure

Bananas are a great hangover food for mornings when you’ve overdone it a bit the night before. A couple of bananas in a blender with ice, some berries and coconut milk or organic cow’s or goat’s milk makes a really good recovery drink.