Excellent: medical

Excellent: medical: what is Anorexia nervosa Anorexia is the decreased sensation of appetite. While the term in non-scientific publications is often used inter...

What are the health benefits of bananas?

Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world for good reason. The curved yellow fruit packs a big nutritional punch, wrapped in its own convenient packaging. Some scientists believe that the banana may have even been the world's first fruit.
Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, traces the banana back to the Garden of Eden, where he believes it was the banana, not the apple, that was the "forbidden fruit" that Eve offered Adam.
Today, bananas are grown in at least 107 countries and are ranked fourth among the world's food crops in monetary value. Americans consume more bananas than apples and oranges combined.
The possible health benefits of consuming bananas include lowering the risks of cancer and asthma, lowering blood pressure, improving heart health and promoting regularity.
This MNT Knowledge Center feature is part of a collection of articles on the health benefits of popular foods, which can be found here.

Nutritional breakdown of bananas

One medium banana (about 126 grams) is considered to be one serving. One serving of banana contains 110 calories, 30 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of protein. Bananas are naturally free of fat, cholesterol and sodium.²
Bananas provide a variety of vitamins and minerals:

• Vitamin B6 - .5 mg
• Manganese - .3 mg
• Vitamin C - 9 mg
• Potassium - 450 mg
• Dietary Fiber - 3g
• Protein - 1 g
• Magnesium - 34 mg
• Folate - 25.0 mcg
• Riboflavin - .1 mg
• Niacin - .8 mg
• Vitamin A - 81 IU
• Iron - .3 mg

The recommended intake of potassium for adults is 4700 milligrams per day.

Possible health benefits of bananas

 

Blood pressure: Maintaining a low sodium intake is essential to lowering blood pressure, however increasing potassium intake may be just as important because of its vasodilation effects. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, fewer than 2% of US adults meet the daily 4700 mg recommendation.³
Also of note, a high potassium intake is associated with a 20% decreased risk of dying from all causes.³
Asthma: A study conducted by the Imperial College of London found that children who ate just one banana per day had a 34% less chance of developing asthma.
Cancer: Consuming bananas, oranges and orange juice in the first two years of life may reduce the risk of developing childhood leukemia. As a good source of vitamin C, bananas can help combat the formation of free radicals known to cause cancer. High fiber intakes from fruits and vegetables like bananas are associated with a lowered risk of colorectal cancer.
Heart health: The fiber, potassium, vitamin C and B6 content in bananas all support heart health. An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium intake is the most important dietary change that a person can make to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to Mark Houston, MD, MS, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School and director of the Hypertension Institute at St Thomas Hospital in Tennessee.³
In one study, those who consumed 4069 mg of potassium per day had a 49% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease compared with those who consumed less potassium (about 1000 mg per day).³
High potassium intakes are also associated with a reduced risk of stroke, protection against loss of muscle mass, preservation of bone mineral density and reduction in the formation of kidney stones.³
Diabetes: Studies have shown that type 1 diabetics who consume high-fiber diets have lower blood glucose levels and type 2 diabetics may have improved blood sugar, lipids and insulin levels. One medium banana provides about 3 grams of fiber.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 21-25 g/day for women and 30-38 g/day for men.
Treating diarrhea: Bland foods such as apple sauce and bananas are recommended for diarrhea treatment. Electrolytes like potassium are lost in large quantities during bouts of diarrhea and may make those affected feel weak. Bananas can help to promote regularity and replenish potassium stores.
Preserving memory and boosting mood: Bananas also contain tryptophan, an amino acid that studies suggest plays a role in preserving memory and boosting your mood.

Incorporating more bananas into your diet

In 2008, a popular diet ''fad'' known as the Morning Banana Diet recommended eating a banana in the morning along with water, eating a normal lunch and having dinner before 8pm.
Like apple sauce, ripe mashed bananas can be used in baked goods to replace oil or butter. Mashed bananas lend a moist, naturally sweet flavor to muffins, cookies and cakes.
Peel and freeze bananas for a great addition to any smoothie.
Add sliced banana to your morning cereal or oatmeal, or take a banana with you on your way to work or school for a healthy, portable snack.

Excellent: medical

Excellent: medical: what is Anorexia nervosa Anorexia is the decreased sensation of appetite. While the term in non-scientific publications is often used inter...

What are the health benefits of bananas?

Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world for good reason. The curved yellow fruit packs a big nutritional punch, wrapped in its own convenient packaging. Some scientists believe that the banana may have even been the world's first fruit.
Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, traces the banana back to the Garden of Eden, where he believes it was the banana, not the apple, that was the "forbidden fruit" that Eve offered Adam.
Today, bananas are grown in at least 107 countries and are ranked fourth among the world's food crops in monetary value. Americans consume more bananas than apples and oranges combined.
The possible health benefits of consuming bananas include lowering the risks of cancer and asthma, lowering blood pressure, improving heart health and promoting regularity.
This MNT Knowledge Center feature is part of a collection of articles on the health benefits of popular foods, which can be found here.

Nutritional breakdown of bananas

One medium banana (about 126 grams) is considered to be one serving. One serving of banana contains 110 calories, 30 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of protein. Bananas are naturally free of fat, cholesterol and sodium.²
Bananas provide a variety of vitamins and minerals:

• Vitamin B6 - .5 mg
• Manganese - .3 mg
• Vitamin C - 9 mg
• Potassium - 450 mg
• Dietary Fiber - 3g
• Protein - 1 g
• Magnesium - 34 mg
• Folate - 25.0 mcg
• Riboflavin - .1 mg
• Niacin - .8 mg
• Vitamin A - 81 IU
• Iron - .3 mg

The recommended intake of potassium for adults is 4700 milligrams per day.

Possible health benefits of bananas

 

Blood pressure: Maintaining a low sodium intake is essential to lowering blood pressure, however increasing potassium intake may be just as important because of its vasodilation effects. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, fewer than 2% of US adults meet the daily 4700 mg recommendation.³
Also of note, a high potassium intake is associated with a 20% decreased risk of dying from all causes.³
Asthma: A study conducted by the Imperial College of London found that children who ate just one banana per day had a 34% less chance of developing asthma.
Cancer: Consuming bananas, oranges and orange juice in the first two years of life may reduce the risk of developing childhood leukemia. As a good source of vitamin C, bananas can help combat the formation of free radicals known to cause cancer. High fiber intakes from fruits and vegetables like bananas are associated with a lowered risk of colorectal cancer.
Heart health: The fiber, potassium, vitamin C and B6 content in bananas all support heart health. An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium intake is the most important dietary change that a person can make to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to Mark Houston, MD, MS, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School and director of the Hypertension Institute at St Thomas Hospital in Tennessee.³
In one study, those who consumed 4069 mg of potassium per day had a 49% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease compared with those who consumed less potassium (about 1000 mg per day).³
High potassium intakes are also associated with a reduced risk of stroke, protection against loss of muscle mass, preservation of bone mineral density and reduction in the formation of kidney stones.³
Diabetes: Studies have shown that type 1 diabetics who consume high-fiber diets have lower blood glucose levels and type 2 diabetics may have improved blood sugar, lipids and insulin levels. One medium banana provides about 3 grams of fiber.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 21-25 g/day for women and 30-38 g/day for men.
Treating diarrhea: Bland foods such as apple sauce and bananas are recommended for diarrhea treatment. Electrolytes like potassium are lost in large quantities during bouts of diarrhea and may make those affected feel weak. Bananas can help to promote regularity and replenish potassium stores.
Preserving memory and boosting mood: Bananas also contain tryptophan, an amino acid that studies suggest plays a role in preserving memory and boosting your mood.

Incorporating more bananas into your diet

In 2008, a popular diet ''fad'' known as the Morning Banana Diet recommended eating a banana in the morning along with water, eating a normal lunch and having dinner before 8pm.
Like apple sauce, ripe mashed bananas can be used in baked goods to replace oil or butter. Mashed bananas lend a moist, naturally sweet flavor to muffins, cookies and cakes.
Peel and freeze bananas for a great addition to any smoothie.
Add sliced banana to your morning cereal or oatmeal, or take a banana with you on your way to work or school for a healthy, portable snack.

What are free radicals?

We can understand free radicals by looking at the explanation in the box to the right.

Free radicals are oxygen atoms that are missing one electron from the pair the atom should have. When an atom is missing an electron from a pair, it becomes unstable and very reactive. That's because a free radical desperately wants to find another electron to fill in the gap, so it grabs an electron from the next atom it gets near.
The trouble is, when a free radical seizes an electron from another atom, the second atom then becomes a free radical, because now it's the one missing an electron. One free radical starts a cascade of new free radicals in our body. The free radicals blunder around, grabbing electrons from our cells-and doing a lot of damage to them at the same time.

Burning of fuel isn't the only thing that can make free radicals in our cells. Some other things include:
• The ultraviolet light in sunshine - that's why people who spend too much time in the sun are more likely to get skin cancer and cataracts.
• Toxins of all sort, such as: tobacco smoke, the natural chemicals found in our food, the poisonous wastes of our own metabolism, and man-made toxins like air pollution and pesticides.

On average, every cell in our body comes under attack from a free radical once every ten seconds.
Our best protection is to keep our antioxidant levels high.

To understand free radicals in more detail, we must first understand a bit about cells and molecules.
The body is made up of many different types of cell and cells are made of many different types of molecules. Molecules are made up of one or more atoms of one or more elements joined by chemical bonds and atoms consist of a nucleus, neutrons, protons and electrons.

The number of protons (positively charged particles) in the atom's nucleus determines the number of electrons (negatively charged particles) surrounding the atom.

Electrons are involved in chemical reactions and are the substance that bonds atoms together to form molecules. Electrons surround, or "orbit" an atom in one or more shells. The innermost shell is full when it has two electrons. When the first shell is full, electrons begin to fill the second shell. When the second shell has eight electrons, it is full, and so on.

The most important structural feature of an atom for determining its chemical behavior is the number of electrons in its outer shell. A substance that has a full outer shell tends not to enter into chemical reactions (it is an inert substance). Because atoms seek to reach a state of maximum stability, an atom will try to fill its outer shell by:
• Gaining or losing electrons to either fill or empty its outer shell, or
• Sharing its electrons by bonding together with other atoms in order to complete its outer shell.

Atoms often complete their outer shells by sharing electrons with other atoms. By sharing electrons, the atoms are bound together and satisfy the conditions of maximum stability for the molecule.

How are free radicals formed?
Normally, bonds don't split in a way that leaves a molecule with an odd, unpaired electron. But when weak bonds split, free radicals are formed. Free radicals are very unstable and react quickly with other compounds, trying to capture the needed electron to gain stability.

Generally, free radicals attack the nearest stable molecule, taking its electron. When the 'attacked' molecule loses its electron, it becomes a free radical itself, beginning a chain reaction. Once the process is started, it can continue, finally resulting in the disruption of a living cell.

Some free radicals arise normally during metabolism. Sometimes the body's immune system's cells purposefully create them to neutralize viruses and bacteria. However, environmental factors such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides can also spawn free radicals.

Normally, the body can handle free radicals, but if antioxidants are unavailable, or if the free-radical production becomes excessive, damage can occur. Of particular importance is that free radical damage accumulates with age.

The chain reaction of free radical formation occurs in three stages:
1. Initiation - energy reactions cause the formation of the first free radicals:
2. Propagation - the chain reaction continues and various other free radicals form and become other substances; and
3. Termination - eventually an antioxidant is able to stop the chain reaction.

Free radicals in living cells
Free radicals are present in all living cell and are a part of the cell processes. However excessive free radicals in our cells can attack the cell membranes (the outer coat of the cell).

This attack causes cell and tissue damage.Radicals can also break strands of DNA (the genetic material in the cell). Some of the chemicals known to cause cancer, do so by forming free radicals.

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