Health
Benefits
Creamy, rich, and sweet, bananas are
a favorite food for everyone from infants to elders. Sports enthusiasts appreciate
the potassium-power delivered by this high energy fruit.
Cardiovascular
Protection from Potassium and Fiber
Bananas are one of our best sources
of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and
heart function. Since the average banana contains a whopping 467 mg of potassium
and only 1 mg of sodium, a banana a day may help to prevent high blood pressure
and protect against atherosclerosis.
The effectiveness of potassium-rich
foods such as bananas in lowering blood pressure has been demonstrated by a
number of studies. For example, researchers tracked over 40,000 American male
health professionals over four years to determine the effects of diet on blood
pressure. Men who ate diets higher in potassium-rich foods, as well as foods
high in magnesium and cereal fiber, had a substantially reduced risk of stroke.
A study published in the Archives
of Internal Medicine also confirms that eating high fiber foods, such as
bananas, helps prevent heart disease. Almost 10,000 American adults
participated in this study and were followed for 19 years. People eating the
most fiber, 21 grams per day, had 12% less coronary heart disease (CHD) and 11%
less cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those eating the least, 5 grams
daily. Those eating the most water-soluble dietary fiber fared even better with
a 15% reduction in risk of CHD and a 10% risk reduction in CVD.
In addition to these cardiovascular
benefits, the potassium found in bananas may also help to promote bone health.
Potassium may counteract the increased urinary calcium loss caused by the
high-salt diets typical of most Americans, thus helping to prevent bones from
thinning out at a fast rate.
Soothing
Protection from Ulcers
Bananas have long been recognized
for their antacid effects that protect against stomach ulcers and ulcer damage.
In one study, a simple mixture of banana and milk significantly suppressed acid
secretion. In an animal study, researchers found that fresh bananas protected
the animals' stomachs from wounds.
Bananas work their protective magic
in two ways: First, substances in bananas help activate the cells that compose
the stomach lining, so they produce a thicker protective mucus barrier against
stomach acids. Second, other compounds in bananas called protease inhibitors
help eliminate bacteria in the stomach that have been pinpointed as a primary
cause of stomach ulcers.
Improving
Elimination
Bananas are a smart move if you
suffer from elimination problems. A bout of diarrhea can quickly deplete your
body of important electrolytes. Bananas can replenish your stores of potassium,
one of the most important electrolytes, which helps regulate heart function as
well as fluid balance.
In addition, bananas contain pectin,
a soluble fiber (called a hydrocolloid) that can help normalize movement
through the digestive tract and ease constipation. Bananas also contain
resistant starch, but this amount varies depending on their degree of ripeness.
In their lesser ripe stages, bananas score as low as 30 on the glycemic index
(below 50 would be considered low). In their riper stages, this number usually
rises to a moderate level in the 60's. All of the above features help place
banana in a more favorable digestive light than might otherwise be expected for
a sugary fruit.
Protect
Your Eyesight
Your mother may have told you
carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child, but as an adult, it looks like
fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study
published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or
more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular
degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%,
compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.
In this study, which involved over
over 100,000 women and men, researchers evaluated the effect of study
participants' consumption of fruits; vegetables; the antioxidant vitamins A, C,
and E; and carotenoids on the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARMD, a
more severe form of the illness associated with vision loss. Food intake
information was collected periodically for up to 18 years for women and 12
years for men.
While, surprisingly, intakes of
vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not strongly related to
incidence of either form of ARMD, fruit intake was definitely protective
against the severe form of this vision-destroying disease.
Three servings of fruit may sound
like a lot to eat each day, but by simply tossing a banana into your morning
smoothie or slicing it over your cereal, topping off a cup of yogurt or green
salad with a half cup of berries, and snacking on an apple, plum, nectarine or
pear, you've reached this goal.
Build
Better Bones with Bananas
Build better bones by eating
bananas? Yes, enjoying bananas frequently as part of your healthy way of eating
can help improve your body's ability to absorb calcium via several mechanisms.
Bananas are an exceptionally rich
source of fructooligosaccharide, a compound called a prebiotic because
it nourishes probiotic (friendly) bacteria in the colon. These
beneficial bacteria produce vitamins and digestive enzymes that improve our
ability to absorb nutrients, plus compounds that protect us against unfriendly
microorganisms. When fructooligosaccharides are fermented by these friendly
bacteria, not only do numbers of probiotic bacteria increase, but so does the
body's ability to absorb calcium. In addition, gastrointestinal transit time is
lessened, decreasing the risk of colon cancer.
Green bananas contain indigestible
(to humans) short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are a favorite food of the
cells that make up the lining of the intestines. When these cells are
well-nourished and healthy, the body's ability to absorb nutrients such as
calcium can increase dramatically.
Research published in Digestive
Diseases and Sciences underscores just how much bananas can improve
nutrient absorption. In this study, 57 male babies (5-12 months) with
persistent diarrhea of at least 14 days duration were given a week's treatment
with a rice-based diet containing either green banana, apple pectin or the rice
diet alone. Treatment with both green banana and apple pectin resulted in a 50%
reduction in stool weights, indicating that the babies were absorbing
significantly more nutrients.
Also, to check how well their
intestines were able to absorb nutrients, the babies were given a drink
containing lactulose and mannitol. Lactulose is a compound that should be
absorbed, while mannitol is one that should not be. When the intestines are too
permeable, a condition clinicians call "leaky gut," too little
lactulose and too much mannitol are absorbed. After just one week of being
given the green banana-rice diet, the babies' were absorbing much more
lactulose and little mannitol, showing that their intestines were now
functioning properly.
Some banana cultivars are also rich
in provitamin A carotenoids, which have been shown to protect against chronic
disease, including certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. How
to identify which bananas contain the most carotenoids? Check the color of
their edible flesh. Bananas whose flesh is more golden contain the most
carotenoids.
Promote
Kidney Health through Regular and Moderated Intake
About 190,000 cases of kidney cancer
are diagnosed each year. Risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure,
obesity, and exposure to toxic chemicals such as asbestos and cadmium.
Dietary factors can be related to
kidney disease in a preventive way. Research published in the International
Journal of Cancer suggests that regular, moderated consumption of whole
fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, can be protective. The results of
this large population based prospective study (13.4 years) of 61,000 women aged
40-76, show that women eating more than 75 servings of fruits and vegetables
per month (which translates into 2.5 per day) cut their risk of kidney cancer
40%. Among the fruits, bananas were especially protective. Women eating bananas
four to six times a week halved their risk of developing the disease compared
to those who did not eat this fruit.
Salads, eaten at least once a day,
were associated with a 40% decreased risk. Among vegetables, frequent
consumption of root vegetables and white cabbage offered the most protection,
providing a 50-65% decrease in risk.
The conclusion drawn by the
researchers: routine and moderated consumption of fruits and vegetables,
especially bananas, cabbage and root vegetables, may reduce risk of kidney
cancer. Why these foods? Bananas and many root vegetables contain especially
high amounts of antioxidant phenolic compounds. Cabbage is rich in sulfur
compounds necessary for efficient and effective detoxification of potential
carcinogens. This mixture of phytonutrients may have been particularly helpful in
protecting kidney function.
The benefits of regular and
moderated fruit intake need to be contrasted, however, with the increased risks
that stem from very high consumption of fruit juices. In several studies
examining diet and renal (kidney) cancer, very high consumption of fruit juices
is associated with increased cancer risk. Since most fruit juice consumption
involves highly processed fruits and stands in sharp contrast to consumption of
whole, natural foods, this finding is not surprising. The reasons for avoiding
high intake of fruit juice are not limited to increased risk of kidney disease,
but also to problems involved with excessive sugar intake and excessive calorie
intake from non-whole foods. Moderate amounts of fruit juice - especially juice
containing as much of the whole fruit as possible, for example, pulp or skin -
are still recommended, since these limited amounts in a balanced diet appear to
be protective against kidney cancer.
No comments:
Post a Comment