Bananas and their bad rap.

2

Replies

  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    I had no idea they had a bad rap. Go figure, I had one with my oatmeal this morning.
  • WAHMto5
    WAHMto5 Posts: 375 Member
    Love them as well and eat them quite a few times through the week;)
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I had no idea they had a bad rap. Go figure, I had one with my oatmeal this morning.

    That actually solves part of the problem. Unlike apples and berries, bananas have very little fiber, so your body doesn't have much work to do to get the sugar into your blood stream (hence the high glycemic index). For anyone with insulin issues, and even for a lot of normal people, that can lead to hunger as the body reacts to the sugar.

    The simple solution is to pair the banana with other foods. I have found that they go marvelously with pistachios - lots of extra calories, but my body is happier in the long run!
  • hastinbe
    hastinbe Posts: 130 Member
    +1 langsyne
  • Woomytron
    Woomytron Posts: 253 Member
    *gasp* I eat bananas all the time. I don't like a lot of carbs (noodles,bread, ect) so they make up for the carbs I'm not eating due to that.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    almost positive bananas are the best fruit you can eat for anyone who does any form of exercise.
  • sarabeth624
    sarabeth624 Posts: 33 Member
    Bananas, especially when eaten in the morning (banana shake, etc.) trigger sugar cravings/binges the rest of the day for me. So it's not the bananas themselves but what they do to me that's a problem. Most fructose does this to me.
  • zeta30
    zeta30 Posts: 40
    I have a banana every morning before I work out to give me energy. Like most other fruit bananas has antioxidants.

    Here is an interesting article concerning how the nutritional value of a banana will change as is goes from being green to over ripe. Essentially the calories remain the same, but through the thermic effect our bodies will process a ripe banana as having 10 extra calories than an unripe one:

    http://www.weightlossladder.com/calories-in-a-banana-ripe-vs-unripe-901/
  • sofielein
    sofielein Posts: 539 Member
    Grapes are the other thing I regurarly see on the ban list (even more sugar and calories than bananas) but I love them. Little cup of grapes with almonds or nuts is just so great to eat. I occasionally even add cheese, makes a perfect dinner.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Kirk Cameron's view on bananas:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-OLG0KyR4
    (p.s. video link is only for people with a sense of humor about evolution/ID)
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Total thread hijack...........anyone here who doesn't know what their BMR or TDEE is, find out today! Randomly picking a calorie number or having it picked for you is a bad idea. You have to eat at least your BMR ideally you would eat TDEE -20%. Do a search here and figure those out. My wife was eating what MPG assigned her and wasn't losing. She upped her calories by 250 per day and the weight is coming off. I don't like bananas, carry on.
  • MegaByte81
    MegaByte81 Posts: 11 Member
    The "bad" rep is for the higher sugar content. It's not that the banana is bad for you it's just that there are other fruits with lower sugar. Bananas are very nutritious and I think it goes to say that with just about everything too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Just moderate and vary the foods you eat.
  • XtyAnn17
    XtyAnn17 Posts: 632 Member
    I eat bananas several times a week if not daily....ive lost 19 lbs so far and its not even been 2 months...so ill stick to my naners!

    If you like it, eat it.
  • runningwild00
    runningwild00 Posts: 109
    I usually eat a banana a day.
    In still befuddled by a comment I read on here once that you might as well eat a Snickers bar as a banana because of the carbs. Please.

    Something about a banana + a snickers bar, like on top of each other, sounds really good right now!
  • BackTatJIM
    BackTatJIM Posts: 1,140 Member
    Bananas are bad for you and ice cream is good for you ... true story. For some reason I eat a ton of both.
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
    they are great for athletes.
  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
    Bananas are bad for you and ice cream is good for you ... true story. For some reason I eat a ton of both.
    I like the way you think.
  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
    They can pry my bananas out of my cold, dead hands.

    Actually, I'm pretty sure I will still be clutching them tightly even then. lol

    That could get kinda gooey, couldn't it. ;)

    Maybe I like gooey.

    Wait, what?

    :P
  • fbu88
    fbu88 Posts: 4
    Eating too many bananas can be bad for you if it is increasing your potassium too much. Too little and too much potassium can have very serious effects on your body. So the only worry I would have about eating bananas is the potassium content.
  • kmickey91
    kmickey91 Posts: 3 Member
    I love bananas. They are an excellent source of potassium and they are also filling. I eat a banana sometimes when I get hungry to hold me over until my next meal. Some people believe that bananas are not good for you because of the high sugar and carb content. However, if you are not trying to watch those two things. They are excellent.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    Eating too many bananas can be bad for you if it is increasing your potassium too much. Too little and too much potassium can have very serious effects on your body. So the only worry I would have about eating bananas is the potassium content.

    Actually, you would have to eat a LOT of bananas to have that be an issue. Bananas are actually not that high in potassium and there are much better sources for it.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
    Why have bananas got such a bad reputation when it comes to foods to stay away from when one is trying to lose weight? I am tracking my food and keeping to around the MyFitnessPal limit of 1200 per day. I love bananas. I know an average raw banana has around 120 calories. If I don't exceed my calorie limit, would it matter if I ate two or even three bananas a day? What is it about them that make some nutritionists throw their hands up in horror?

    Nothing. There are people out there that seem to enjoy being alarmist. I'm pretty sure that every food out there has been bad mouthed in one way or another at some point, except maybe broccoli, and of course that gives you gas . . . right? Bah . . .

    Ignore the garbage, focus on calories in/calories out, and getting sufficient protein, fats and micronutrients.
  • annepage
    annepage Posts: 585 Member
    Why have bananas got such a bad reputation when it comes to foods to stay away from when one is trying to lose weight? I am tracking my food and keeping to around the MyFitnessPal limit of 1200 per day. I love bananas. I know an average raw banana has around 120 calories. If I don't exceed my calorie limit, would it matter if I ate two or even three bananas a day? What is it about them that make some nutritionists throw their hands up in horror?

    Never heard of that before. Hmn. I've seen it in a lot of recipes as substitutes. Where do you primarily hear the 'bad rap?'
  • Louisianababy93
    Louisianababy93 Posts: 1,709 Member
    I thought people were freaking out about there penis shape, that's why they wouldnt eat them..hmm!
  • pgrewing
    pgrewing Posts: 15
    Why have bananas got such a bad reputation when it comes to foods to stay away from when one is trying to lose weight? I am tracking my food and keeping to around the MyFitnessPal limit of 1200 per day. I love bananas. I know an average raw banana has around 120 calories. If I don't exceed my calorie limit, would it matter if I ate two or even three bananas a day? What is it about them that make some nutritionists throw their hands up in horror?

    I agree that bananas are good for you and that if you don't exceed you calorie limits you can eat as many as you want. But as a mom of 2 young children, I must warn you that if you eat 2-3 a day, you are probably going to be very constipated :wink:
  • bilfarb1
    bilfarb1 Posts: 6 Member
    dead on cercerning nutricionists
  • danikanoodles
    danikanoodles Posts: 150 Member
    Bananas are a wonderful food. Great for getting in calories(I'm not for restricting) and great for energy. Great fruity carb(don't fear carbs, they are not the enemy).

    Important note: Eat them when ripe, they should have lots of brown spots on them.

    They are wonderful for smoothies!

    Constipation from bananas isn't actually because of the bananas, it's from the other foods slow to digest in your stomach. Fruits digest very quickly so when you eat a lot of fruit while having foods already in your stomach that take a long time to digest the fruit will basically rot in your stomach causing all sorts of issues. Best to have fruits first thing in the morning not mixed with fats. Example: not adding a dairy or dairy alternative to your smoothies.
  • wisconsinboogie
    wisconsinboogie Posts: 127 Member
    Mmmmm, I could'nt live without my banana pancakes:love:
  • hedwardsb
    hedwardsb Posts: 201 Member
    Why have bananas got such a bad reputation when it comes to foods to stay away from when one is trying to lose weight? I am tracking my food and keeping to around the MyFitnessPal limit of 1200 per day. I love bananas. I know an average raw banana has around 120 calories. If I don't exceed my calorie limit, would it matter if I ate two or even three bananas a day? What is it about them that make some nutritionists throw their hands up in horror?

    I agree that bananas are good for you and that if you don't exceed you calorie limits you can eat as many as you want. But as a mom of 2 young children, I must warn you that if you eat 2-3 a day, you are probably going to be very constipated :wink:

    The joys & enlightenment of motherhood. Yes, I eat a banana a day, but under NO circumstance would I eat 2.
  • MySlimGoals
    MySlimGoals Posts: 754 Member
    I remember being told by a weight loss adviser that when I eat bananas only to eat them when they are still fresh and yellow. Once they have gone brown and soft all the insides have been converted to sugars so they are less healthy.

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