Bananas are widely available in many parts of the world, and in the United States, they are one of the less expensive types of fruit. There are many nutritional benefits to bananas, although the high sugar and carbohydrate content of the fruit may make them unsuitable if you have diabetes or other glucose-dependent health conditions. Consult your doctor before making significant dietary changes.
Nutritional Information
According to the USDA standard nutrient database, a medium-sized banana -- with a length between 7 and 8 inches -- contains 105 calories, 1.3 g of protein, 0.4 g of fat, 27 g of carbohydrates, 3.1 g of fiber, 14.4 g of sugars and 6.3 g of starch. Sucrose makes up some 2.8 g of the total sugar content, with the remainder split evenly between fructose and glucose.
Nutritional Benefits
Bananas have several inherent nutritional benefits. The fruit is virtually fat-free, so it fits well with a low-fat diet for weight loss or weight maintenance. In comparison to other sweet snacks such as chocolate or candy, the calorie count per serving of banana is relatively low. Additionally, bananas are a rich source of the mineral potassium, with 422 mg of potassium present in every medium-sized banana. Potassium is an essential mineral for your body's functioning, playing a part in metabolism and functioning as an electrolyte. Potassium helps your body synthesize protein and metabolize carbohydrates and is needed for the development of muscles.
Mood Benefits
Bananas contain tryptophan, with roughly 11 mg in a medium-sized fruit. Tryptophan aids your body's production of serotonin, which has a mood-stabilizing effect and acts as a mild sedative. Bananas can therefore be helpful with mild cases of insomnia or jetlag -- eating a banana within an hour of bedtime can increase your feeling of sleepiness. Likewise, bananas can be used as a natural anti-anxiety agent for stressful situations such as public speaking or musical performance.
Considerations
Potassium is present in all meats and fish products, so vegetarians or vegans who do not eat meat or fish may find bananas a useful dietary source of potassium. Although the nutritional profile of bananas is broadly favorable to that of refined sweet products such as candy or cookies, the sugar and carbohydrate levels found in bananas are relatively high. If you are dieting for weight loss or weight maintenance, your banana intake should be limited so you do not create an overall calorie excess leading to weight gain.
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