The Major Benefit Bananas Bring To Your Health And Hearing By Ben Carter
In this post, I want to talk about bananas.
That’s right – that sweet yellow fruit that most of us love to enjoy.
Do you avoid bananas?
If you are at all concerned with your body weight, you may. You’ve been taught that bananas are a fruit that contain a lot of sugar and calories and therefore, they may be on your hit list.
But, it just may be time that you rethought cutting them out and possibly consider actually bringing them back in.
Not only are bananas rich in nutrition and dietary fiber, they might just help your hearing as well. One nutrient that bananas are very well known for is that of potassium. Potassium is going to help to ensure proper muscular contractions in the body and it is used for athletic purposes.
If you’ve ever been preparing for an intense workout, chances are, a banana was part of your pre-workout strategy.
But, they contain more than just potassium. One mineral that is often completely overlooked in the banana is that of magnesium and as far as your hearing is concerned, this is the ‘big guy’ that will get you the results that you want to see.
The great thing about magnesium is that it will help to expand the blood vessels in the ear and may help to enhance your overall level of circulation.
In addition to that, those who have adequate amounts of magnesium in the body are also going to have better control over the level of glutamate released in the body, which is a substance that is involved in hearing loss to begin with.
So by snacking on a banana midmorning, you may be helping to give your hearing a boost.
Remember, bananas do contain just a mere 100-120 calories per serving (depending on the size), and pack in both starch as well as simple sugars. So even though there is some simple sugars in the banana, the starch is going to help to slow down the speed of digestion somewhat as well.
Add to that the fact they also pack in a good dose of fiber as well and you really can’t go wrong with this fruit. If you are really concerned about their impact over your body weight, choose bananas that are on the slightly green side. Green bananas (or bananas that aren’t quite as ripe), don’t have as much total sugar content as more of their carbohydrates are in starch form.
The more ‘black dots’ you see on the banana on the other hand, the more ripe it is and the higher the total sugar content.
This is also why those speckled bright yellow bananas are so sweet to the taste. More starch has been converted to sugar and as such, they are more prone to spiking blood glucose levels.
So don’t fear the banana. Here is a great breakfast smoothie containing a banana that you should give a try to help start your day.
It contains a balanced mix of proteins, carbs, and fats – perfect for giving you lasting energy until lunch.
1 frozen banana
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 tbsp. natural peanut butter
½ cup plain low fat Greek yogurt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2-3 ice cubes
¼ tsp. xanthan gum (optional)
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
ENJOY!