Are bananas that bad?
Replies
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You can make great, super-healthy "ice cream" by pureeing a sliced, frozen banana with some (unsweetened) cocoa powder, maybe some cinnamon, and just enough plant milk (I use Silk unsweetened vanilla cashew milk). You can even throw in a little frozen mango, too. It comes out like soft serve ice cream, and it's loaded with potassium and all kinds of good things. Banana is great for you, and so is the unsweetened cocoa powder.
Even easier yet - buy a Yonanas machine. You put frozen bananas into it and it makes them into soft serve ice cream, no other ingredients added. It works with other fruits too, really a cool machine.0 -
Oh yeah. I agree. Bananas are yummy in smoothies.0
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Anvil_Head wrote: »You can make great, super-healthy "ice cream" by pureeing a sliced, frozen banana with some (unsweetened) cocoa powder, maybe some cinnamon, and just enough plant milk (I use Silk unsweetened vanilla cashew milk). You can even throw in a little frozen mango, too. It comes out like soft serve ice cream, and it's loaded with potassium and all kinds of good things. Banana is great for you, and so is the unsweetened cocoa powder.
Even easier yet - buy a Yonanas machine. You put frozen bananas into it and it makes them into soft serve ice cream, no other ingredients added. It works with other fruits too, really a cool machine.
I just looked the Yonanas up online and they are reasonably priced.0 -
lightenup2016 wrote: »Good source of potassium, and they're filling! I usually eat one a day, been losing a lb per week at least. I believe most if not all natural foods are healthy, within calorie limits of course.
ETA: I do avoid eating those evil spotted ones. I throw those in the freezer for later use in banana bread!!
Really? Do they freeze well? Do you just throw them in there whole or do you peel them first?
They freeze well. I don't overcomplicate things and freeze them unpeeled and whole. You can cut the piece you need, then peel it. It doesn't peel as well as fresh ones, but they are great. You can make ice cream out of them too, as well as smoothies, baking., whatever you want.1 -
I enjoy a banana with my nonfat latte when I go out with my besties for coffee after rowing. I'm not dead yet, and I'm way older than you. (Oh, and I achieved all my weight loss goals, all the while eating those bananas.) Enjoy!1
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kshama2001 wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »lightenup2016 wrote: »Good source of potassium, and they're filling! I usually eat one a day, been losing a lb per week at least. I believe most if not all natural foods are healthy, within calorie limits of course.
ETA: I do avoid eating those evil spotted ones. I throw those in the freezer for later use in banana bread!!
Really? Do they freeze well? Do you just throw them in there whole or do you peel them first?
I do this when I freeze bananas:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/how-to-freeze-bananas/
Thanks! That saved me time writing out my freezing steps. I simplify it a bit - I don't use parchment paper or plastic wrap, and I cut them into bigger chunks. I put them in ziplock bags after they are frozen.
They can't be frozen indefinitely - they will start to brown after a few months.
That's why you just freeze them whole, unpeeled0 -
If you have a reasonably powerful blender, you can make soft serve with only frozen bananas- no special gadget needed. It's my favorite.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »lightenup2016 wrote: »Good source of potassium, and they're filling! I usually eat one a day, been losing a lb per week at least. I believe most if not all natural foods are healthy, within calorie limits of course.
ETA: I do avoid eating those evil spotted ones. I throw those in the freezer for later use in banana bread!!
Really? Do they freeze well? Do you just throw them in there whole or do you peel them first?
I do this when I freeze bananas:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/how-to-freeze-bananas/
Thanks! That saved me time writing out my freezing steps. I simplify it a bit - I don't use parchment paper or plastic wrap, and I cut them into bigger chunks. I put them in ziplock bags after they are frozen.
They can't be frozen indefinitely - they will start to brown after a few months.
I don't bother with freezing before I put them in ziplock bags. I just break each banana into 3 or 4 chunks, slip them into wax paper (I save empty cereal bags for this purpose) to minimize frost formation, put them in a ziplock bag, and toss them in the freezer. I pretty much only use them for smoothies, and don't defrost them first, so I don't know if they'd work for baking when frozen this way.0 -
Add enough ice cream and chocolate sauce and they're palatable.2
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I eat bananas just about every day...sometimes 2 of them a day...and ive lost just under 25 lbs in 10 weeks1
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I don't feel like reading this entire thread. So someone please let me know the outcome. Are bananas great or not!? And if the ladies can tell me how they compare to cucumbers, in great detail, I will appreciate that as well. Thanks in advance!1
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ncboiler89 wrote: »I don't feel like reading this entire thread. So someone please let me know the outcome. Are bananas great or not!? And if the ladies can tell me how they compare to cucumbers, in great detail, I will appreciate that as well. Thanks in advance!
So the general consensus is that bananas are good, they do good work for the community and always pay their taxes. Occasionally you will get one that goes rogue and starts chain-smoking and eventually robs a gas station for drugs money, and those ones are best avoided (although you can threaten to make them in to banana bread if they don't straighten up).
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I have a banana everyday, sometimes 2! I fit them in my calorie limit though. I love banana's so much! Love. Them. Yum!!0
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Well done for going through a whole 3 pages without any mention of Ba*a*a Girl, and her implicit derailing of threads whenever her name is mentioned. Those people seem to have gone quiet recently, thank goodness.1
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Wynterbourne wrote: »
The only stage of banana I actually like is when it's still a little green and hard. Any riper and the smell/taste nearly makes me sick.
Right there with you. Still a touch of green, still firm, but no longer starchy. That, to my taste buds, is the sweetest stage.
Same for me. Just the teeniest hint of green. I don't mind a tiny bit of brown, but too much brown and they're not my thing any more. They're good for mug cake at that point.0 -
I love fruit. I eat shed loads of the stuff. Bananas especially, ill make banana egg pancakes, smoothies and have them frozen as icecream! I've lost and maintained just fine so do not stress. I freaking love the things! Sidenote, yesterday I had a smoothie with a banana and vita coconut water with pineapple and sweet lord it was amazing you should try!!0
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Anvil_Head wrote: »You can make great, super-healthy "ice cream" by pureeing a sliced, frozen banana with some (unsweetened) cocoa powder, maybe some cinnamon, and just enough plant milk (I use Silk unsweetened vanilla cashew milk). You can even throw in a little frozen mango, too. It comes out like soft serve ice cream, and it's loaded with potassium and all kinds of good things. Banana is great for you, and so is the unsweetened cocoa powder.
Even easier yet - buy a Yonanas machine. You put frozen bananas into it and it makes them into soft serve ice cream, no other ingredients added. It works with other fruits too, really a cool machine.
I think I need this in my life.
Edit: And ordered from Amazon. Reasonably priced and can use any fruit? Strawberry sorbet, here I come. I will finally use up all the mushy bananas in my freezer too. Thanks for the recommendation, man!2 -
I eat a banana before my 6AM workouts. It's a quick energy boost that helps sling those heavy weights around!0
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lightenup2016 wrote: »Good source of potassium, and they're filling! I usually eat one a day, been losing a lb per week at least. I believe most if not all natural foods are healthy, within calorie limits of course.
ETA: I do avoid eating those evil spotted ones. I throw those in the freezer for later use in banana bread!!
Really? Do they freeze well? Do you just throw them in there whole or do you peel them first?
If I'm using whole bananas (ie: banana bread) I will freeze them whole with the skin on. I usually put them in a zip-lock bag first. Thaw the banana with the skin on and peel before baking. Texture is weird but it gets mashed up anyway.
When you want to make smoothies......freeze the banana peeled (slices or halves).0 -
Dead_Darling wrote: »Not unless you are allergic to them or something.
If you don't have a medical condition that requires you to limit sugars don't worry about it.
If you want specific dietary advice I recommend you talk to a registered dietician not your other half and friends.
I have PCOS, but my doctor says that bananas are fine, as long as they are in moderation and I am eating well and working out - which I am doing anyway
It should be noted that many people with PCOS tend to improve results when carbs are controlled and kept under 140g per day. But YMMV. There is a PCOS group here if you want specific dietary advice for that condition.2 -
Back in the 1980's, one of my nieces had a habit of freezing whole, peeled, bananas wrapped in plastic or foil and then eating them right out of the fridge instead of having an ice cream bar ... and we have been doing that because they taste so good that way. I, however, prefer to cut them up to use in my morning porridge or in smoothies.
Adding a banana to my morning oatmeal is especially tasty when I use peanut butter in the oatmeal as well .. 1 cup water, 1/2 a large banana (frozen or fresh) cut up, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 1 tsp cinnamon .... such a tasty breakfast treat. It comes in to about 1/3 my calories for the day, and keeps me satisfied for hours.0 -
One Very bad banana.....
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I'd eat that.
Wait, wut?4 -
Lost 55+ eating one or two daily.
What was the question?0 -
Sugar is sugar is sugar. You body is not distinguishing between "natural" sugar and processed sugar.
A large banana isn't that different from a cupcake in terms of calories and sugar. If you are sensitive to carbs, bananas are a no-no. They are also very high on the Gylcemic Index. If you aren't sensitive to carbs, you can probably get away with it, especially if you have a large calorie allowance. A better choice might be something like berries or cherries, which have more nutrients and fiber with less sugar.
Bananas also have a huge carbon footprint (because of how they are produced and how they are transported halfway around the world), are not a environmentally sustainable food and are often associated with very shady politics in the areas from which they are exported--particularly bananas from Ecuador. They aren't a very environmentally or socially conscious choice.
There is nothing in a banana that you cannot get from other foods with better macros and fewer calories. For example, spinach is a much better source of potassium...and a whole cup only has 8 calories.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »YES
NO
Definitely NO
Yes
Maybe, because I am lazy and don't want to go back to the store.
Bannana bread time.0 -
azulvioleta6 wrote: »Sugar is sugar is sugar. You body is not distinguishing between "natural" sugar and processed sugar.
Here we go again.
A fruit has a lot more going for it than a donut or a can of Coke. Every nutritionist on the planet will tell you eat the fruit instead of the donut, assuming the sugar content is the same. Every nutritionist will tell you to avoid or minimize Coke.
Yes, chemically it's the same. But in terms of nutrition and weight loss it is not. So there is no need to state that sugar is sugar on a weight loss site.
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azulvioleta6 wrote: »A large banana isn't that different from a cupcake in terms of calories and sugar.
Most bananas I eat are about 100 calories, maybe 90, maybe 120. (I weigh them, and I usually avoid large bananas.) Most cupcakes aren't actually around 100 calories -- only tiny ones are. In fact, if you think about it, it's pretty much impossible for a cupcake to be similar to a banana in calories AND sugar, since the cupcake gets calories from sugar, flour, and fat, and the banana gets its calories mostly from sugar alone.
That said, I'd happily enjoy a little 100 calorie cupcake if I had one that was a well-made and worthwhile cupcake. (If it also had the other nutrients bananas do, was as filling for me as a banana with the same calories, and worked as well as a pre run meal, bonus! Even if not, no biggie (I usually have plenty of potassium, after all). It would still be a nice after dinner snack.)4 -
I had a banana last night, and it hadn't crossed over enough to the yellow side. It was... crunchy, is the only way i can explain it, not nice at all
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