What happens to your body when you eat a banana?

While bananas are great if you’re an athlete, they’re not so great if you have issues with blood sugar control.


What you need to know:

  • One way to slow down the glycaemic effect of a banana is to eat a banana that’s a little unripe
  • It’s actually the brown overripe bananas that have the greatest effect on our blood-sugar levels

Before we establish whether or not the banana is indeed fattening, we should first look at the alternatives.

Mandazis, samosas and sausages do not fit the criteria of a healthy snack. Neither does flavoured yoghurt (full of sugar), chips or crisps (both loaded with fat, and the crisps probably have various additives).

In this respect, the banana is an excellent choice. It’s easy to carry, gives you a lift, contains plenty of potassium (maintains healthy fluid balance in the body) and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg – and all for under 100 calories.

Bananas are also wonderful if you have issues with blood pressure. As a 1999 Indian study concluded, two bananas a day can help control hypertension. It reported lower blood pressure by ten percent.

Bananas are also rich in the soluble fibre pectin, which makes them good for dealing with both constipation and diarrhoea, and for keeping blood fats such as cholesterol in check. This makes slicing a banana on top of porridge oats — also high in soluble fibre — a great breakfast option. 

So everyone should be eating bananas, right? Not quite. It one of the fruits that all diabetics should avoid. You see, bananas score highly on glycaemic index (GI), which means that the carbohydrates they contain raise the blood sugar level quickly as opposed to low-GI slow-release carbohydrates, which make us feel full for much longer and keep our blood-sugar levels constant.

So while bananas are great if you’re an athlete, they’re not so great if you have issues with blood sugar control. But banana isn’t the only fruit that falls into this category: mango, sweet melon, grapes and pineapple are also packed with this kind of sugars. 

One way to slow down the glycaemic effect of a banana is to eat a banana that’s a little unripe. It’s actually the brown overripe bananas that have the greatest effect on our blood-sugar levels. Alternatively eat the banana after a meal containing protein, as this, too, lessens the glycaemic effect. Eating the banana with plain unsweetened yoghurt (a protein) makes a great snack - it has a lower glycaemic rating than eating a banana on its own. 

While I don’t feel that this is a viable alternative for diabetics, it’s a great piece of advice for those worried about putting on weight from regular banana consumption.

But, despite all the advice, I’m sure you’re wondering, does Sona eat bananas? And the answer is: yes, I do. I eat them in moderation (say 3-5 small ones a week) and usually with protein-rich nuts or seeds. I feel that they’re far too rich as a nutrient powerhouse to exclude from my diet. 

For feedback write to the editor on [email protected]