Bananas and other fruits are naturally cholesterol-free, very low in fat and rich in the soluble form of dietary fiber that promotes heart health. When bananas are baked into a traditional recipe for banana bread, however, the fat and cholesterol content rises.
Fat and Cholesterol Content
Commercially-prepared banana breads vary significantly in nutritional content. A 2-oz. banana bread loaf from one Keebler contains 6 g of total fat, broken down into 1.3 g of saturated fat, 1.8 g of polyunsaturated fat and 2.6 g of monounsaturated fat. The loaf has 25 mg of cholesterol and adds 186 calories to your diet. A 2-oz. slice of traditional home-baked banana bread made with margarine is a little higher in fat, delivering 6.3 g of total fat, 1.3 g of saturated fat, 1.9 g of polyunsaturated fat and 2.7 g of monounsaturated fat. It contains 26 mg of cholesterol and 196 calories.
Significance
Banana bread and other foods that contain saturated fat and cholesterol may increase your risk factors for coronary heart disease. However, banana bread does contain healthier polyunsaturated fat and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that negate some of those effects.
Healthy Substitutes
To reduce the fat content of your banana bread, replace the margarine, butter, shortening or oil with an equal amount of applesauce. If your favorite family recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, that equals 116.6 g of saturated fat and 488 g of cholesterol for a loaf. If you leave the fat out and add 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce instead, you'll add only 0.2 g of saturated fat and no cholesterol. You won't notice the difference in taste, and your banana bread may be even moister with the applesauce. If your recipe calls for two eggs, that's 3.3 g of saturated fat and 368 mg of cholesterol for the whole loaf. Substitute one egg white for one of the whole eggs, and you end up with 1.6 g of saturated fat and 184 mg of cholesterol.
Boosting the Fiber
A diet rich in soluble fiber helps control your blood cholesterol level. Make your banana bread fiber-rich by mixing in 2 oz. of chopped walnuts that contain 1.7 g of saturated fat but no cholesterol. You can also add 2 tbsp. of oat bran, which delivers 0.4 g of saturated fat and no cholesterol. If you replace 1 cup of the traditional wheat flour with whole-grain wheat flour, you add 0.3 g of saturated fat and the cholesterol stays the same. However, the whole grain flour has 9.4 g more of heart-healthy fiber to help outweigh the effect of the saturated fat.
