Bananas: The surprising truths about favorite fruit

Bananas are among my favourite fruits. We eat them eagerly, and we are not making a mistake. However, before reaching for this nutritious snack, we must know which bananas are best for us and which are the worst. Did you know that some of them even contain toxins?

Bananas are very healthy fruits, and if we can utilize their nutritional properties, eating them regularly will only benefit us. What do we mean by such "skill"? We are talking about being aware that even healthy foods can harm us under certain circumstances.

Bananas are a fantastic source of vitamins A and C, fibre, potassium (mainly this mineral), and phytosterols. This means that regular consumption of these fruits protects us from atherosclerosis, supports muscles and immunity, and, in certain conditions, even helps us lose unwanted pounds. The critical issue here is the relationship between fibre and sugar. However, bananas contain quite a lot of sucrose, glucose, and fructose, and fibre slows their absorption and prevents blood sugar levels from fluctuating. This means that eating bananas creates a mechanism that prevents overweight.

The devil, as usual, is in the details. Dietitians urge not to eat bananas on an empty stomach. Although they are excellent snacks, they should not be our breakfast because they contain too little protein and fat and increase the already high morning cortisol level. We wrote more about this in another article.

The ripening process of bananas plays a vital role. The "older" the fruit, the less fibre it contains, so the sugar's effect becomes more robust and more pronounced, which is also bad for our figure. A browning peel is not a sign of spoilage, and the fruit that turns this colour (through the fermentation process) even has a higher concentration of some nutrients, including vitamin B6.

So, which bananas should we avoid? The unripe ones. It's not just about their taste and micronutrient and macronutrient content but about the ripening mechanism. It's worth knowing that harmful toxins present in bananas are naturally neutralized during the ripening process. Green fruits have not yet gone through this process, and it’s simply better not to eat them.