No bananas due to sugar content?
Sauleeh
Posts: 83 Member
Heya everyone. I'm trying to educate myself a little more so I want to hear about your knowledge on the subject.
I have two girls I work with both have had personal trainers set up food plans for them. Both have said that their personal trainers don't recommend eating bananas because of the sugar content. But isn't the sugar in a banana different? I don't eat bananas every day but I'd eat them pretty often as a little snack to fill me and I would never be worried of the sugar content. Is there a reason why they'd be advised not to eat a banana over the sugar in them? Is there a reason? I just got pretty annoyed at them for speaking about bananas being so bad because nobody has ever complained about gaining weight from too many bananas...
I have two girls I work with both have had personal trainers set up food plans for them. Both have said that their personal trainers don't recommend eating bananas because of the sugar content. But isn't the sugar in a banana different? I don't eat bananas every day but I'd eat them pretty often as a little snack to fill me and I would never be worried of the sugar content. Is there a reason why they'd be advised not to eat a banana over the sugar in them? Is there a reason? I just got pretty annoyed at them for speaking about bananas being so bad because nobody has ever complained about gaining weight from too many bananas...
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Replies
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The sugar in a banana is the same as sugar in any other food with sugar.
The real question is: do you have a medical reason to avoid sugar?
You would gain weight from too many bananas just like you would gain weight from too much of any food. If I eat too much broccoli, I'll gain weight. That doesn't mean that people need to cut broccoli out of their diet.11 -
No, sugar in a bananna is sugar...it isn't special in any way. All fruit has high sugar content, not just banannas. Apples, grapes, oranges, pears you name it...if its fruit then most of its calories are in the form of sugar. Thing is, sugar isn't actually bad.12
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No, the sugar isn't different from sugar from other sources. It could be up to priorites, for instance wanting more protein on a restricted calorie allowance, but bananas (and no other foods for that matter) will not in themselves make someone gain weight or not lose weight. It's about calories.1
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Everyone has a favorite food they rag on. I am not a nutritionist and frankly, not a lot of folks here with advice are a nutritionist. I do limit bananas because they have more sugar than some fruits. I tend to count carbs, and that works for me. I know a lot of people who are just calories in and calories out, and they do well on that. There are so many voices for "how to be thin and fit" Ultimately, it is finding what is right for you. Eating more fresh foods and less boxed foods. Know the calories of what you are eating, and consider if it will help you reach your goal or not. Doing an activity that makes you happy and gives your mood a lift.17
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Sounds like that trainer fell asleep during that part of the nutrition lecture.
There used to be an ad on here about not eating bananas. I never clicked it because it seemed so ridiculous.
Just smile and say, "Bless your heart," whenever they start with this mumbo jumbo.16 -
At the moment, sugar is so demonized that people are avoiding perfectly good whole foods that, gasp...have sugar in them. My guess would be that the trainers are just going off of recent diet trends and probably don't have much actual nutritional knowledge.18
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cwolfman13 wrote: »At the moment, sugar is so demonized that people are avoiding perfectly good whole foods that, gasp...have sugar in them. My guess would be that the trainers are just going off of recent diet trends and probably don't have much actual nutritional knowledge.
^^^This...4 -
I would think it may have more to do with caloric density. A large banana has 120 cals I believe with 30grams of carbs. Only 3 grams of fiber. A carb is just a sugar wrapped in a polysaccharide chain I believe. Bananas are just carb dense.8
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psychod787 wrote: »I would think it may have more to do with caloric density. A large banana has 120 cals I believe with 30grams of carbs. Only 3 grams of fiber. A carb is just a sugar wrapped in a polysaccharide chain I believe. Bananas are just carb dense.
So are lots of foods. What's the point?9 -
psychod787 wrote: »I would think it may have more to do with caloric density. A large banana has 120 cals I believe with 30grams of carbs. Only 3 grams of fiber. A carb is just a sugar wrapped in a polysaccharide chain I believe. Bananas are just carb dense.
Sugars and carbohydrates are essentially the same thing. A polysaccharide is just a chain of linked sugars. Starch is an example of a polysaccharide. So pasta is sugar, a potato is sugar etc etc. Carbs are sugar in the sense that they are comprised of sugar units and when digested essentially are just sugar.
The only semantic difference between them is that carbohydrates refer to anything that is hydrated carbon (ie the formula CxH2xOx where x can be any number) while the term sugar tends to be reserved for small molecular hydrocarbons like monosaccharides (glucose, fructose) or disaccharides (sucrose, maltose etc). But all of them are the same in terms of energy content per gram.
The real issue is that a lot of modern foods used heavily refined sugar as an additive which adds to the overall sugar content of foods that normally would not have a lot of sugar. As sugar tends to be low satiation per calorie that has aided in the growing problem of obesity for sure. Things like high-fructose corn syrup for example. Problem is the general public just waaaay oversimplified that into "sugar is bad" which it most certainly is not. Too much sugar can lead to caloric excess, like with too much of anything.
Foods that tend to be high sugar and low nutrients tend to be the "bad" foods in terms of diet only in the sense that they have a lot of calories for the amount of satiation you get out of them. Banannas are fairly high sugar but they also have a lot of nutrients...high in potassium for example. I'd say you'd be better off having a bannana than a bowl of pasta or a piece of white bread.17 -
I would be lost with out my banana everyday!! I make it fit into my macros.5
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If you like bananas--eat them if they fit in your calorie goals. There's always alot of hype about some food or another. Bananas have their place in nutrition, as do all foods.3
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Allow the girls their little delusion and you do you.4
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psychod787 wrote: »I would think it may have more to do with caloric density. A large banana has 120 cals I believe with 30grams of carbs. Only 3 grams of fiber. A carb is just a sugar wrapped in a polysaccharide chain I believe. Bananas are just carb dense.
A 135 g banana (which strikes me as pretty big, but I think I look for smaller bananas, most of mine are 90-105 g) has 120 cal and (since the calories are mostly from carbs), about 27 net carbs. It has 16.5 g of sugar, only about 1.5 g of protein, less than .5 g of fat.
For anyone who knows anything about food, this is not surprising, all fruit (but for avocados) is carb dense in that fruit is mostly just carbs. Makes it a bad thing to make the main focus of your diet IMO (I'm no Freely), but carbs aren't bad or anything so it doesn't make fruit something to avoid.
Comparison: 210 g of blueberries have 120 cal, 25 g net carbs, 1.5 g of protein, just over .5 g of fat.
Carbs are sugars or starches or, in the US, fiber, and starches are sugars linked together that your body easily separates back to sugar. If sugar were terrible in and of itself, sure, carbs would be an issue, but sugar is instead your body's preferred fuel.0 -
I intentionally buy small bananas. Peel the banana, eat the banana and log the banana. Sugar be damned.14
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I've had some people tell me to only have 2 servings of fruit a day. I told them "Okay, fine, but I'm eating that fruit instead of the cake I actually want. The fruit quiets the beast. Celery does not. So, if I now tell myself I'm not allowed to have the fruit, I will get frustrated, which is likely to lead to me eating cake." They usually back off at that point. I don't believe in demonizing food groups "just because." Eat your banana and enjoy. It's loaded with amazing vitamins and does a good job of filling you up for @ 100 calories.7
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lemurcat 12, you said all fruits are carb dense. I also saw where someone wrote that carbs are sugar. Since I am diabetic I have been told to avoid carbs. So what carbs are good for me that I shouldn't avoid? Fruits and vegetables? Being the case should I avoid certain ones in order not to go over my suggested carb allowance?1
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Bananas are high in potassium, this can be a useful for many, just a thought beyond the sugar content which comes with some fibre which is also helpful in a rounded diet a banana being a whole fruit. If it fits you numbers and you like them go with a small one.0
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janisseshirley wrote: »lemurcat 12, you said all fruits are carb dense. I also saw where someone wrote that carbs are sugar. Since I am diabetic I have been told to avoid carbs. So what carbs are good for me that I shouldn't avoid? Fruits and vegetables? Being the case should I avoid certain ones in order not to go over my suggested carb allowance?
I'd ask your doctor (or ideally a referred dietitian who is a diabetic educator), but what I have learned from people here who have put their T2D into remission (plus some reading), the advice is usually:
Eat high carb foods with fiber (some fruit is high in fiber, not all), and protein.
Limit carbs per meal (part of making sure it's a balanced, mixed meal).
Probably go with a more moderate carb diet overall vs. a higher one (you can fit in fruit on 150 g of carbs, however, which is moderate).
Test after eating to see how foods affect you, as not all carbs are equal. Usually non starchy veg are so high in fiber and low in net carbs that it's not an issue, and a number of people have told me they have no issues with fruit. I believe the evidence is that having fruit in your diet is considered positive in treating T2D (although it could just be correlated with a healthy overall diet).
If you have chosen to follow a low carb strategy, you will, of course, need to limit higher carb foods and bananas are one (maybe eat smaller servings of higher carb fruits, depending on how low your chosen limit is). But that's different than suggesting (as I thought the other poster was) that carbs are inherently bad, because sugar.0 -
janisseshirley wrote: »lemurcat 12, you said all fruits are carb dense. I also saw where someone wrote that carbs are sugar. Since I am diabetic I have been told to avoid carbs. So what carbs are good for me that I shouldn't avoid? Fruits and vegetables? Being the case should I avoid certain ones in order not to go over my suggested carb allowance?
Carbs are not sugar, sugar is one type of carb. It's like squares and rectangles. All sugars are carbs but not all carbs are sugar. Carbs also include starches and fiber. Fiber is indigestible and doesn't matter to you as a diabetic. But other non-sugary carbs will also spike your blood glucose so you need to pay attention to those too.
If you are diabetic you should be testing your blood glucose using a meter after eating new foods until you learn how much of each kind you can tolerate. For example, I can eat about half a banana without problems, but a whole one will spike me.
Carb tolerance of particular foods is very individual to each diabetic and you really NEED to test, whatever your doctor may have told you. For example, most nutritionists will advise that diabetics can eat legumes because those are "slow" carbs, but legumes spike me. Most nutritionists will advise to avoid potatoes, but I can eat quite a large serving of potatoes with no problems. I can eat lots of fruit without issues, but for some weird reason I have problems with cabbage. Other people are the exact opposite. Test at one hour and two hours after meals until you learn your own body. Your body knows best.
As a general rule, you should not be going over your carb allowance, whether foods are "good for you" or not, because hyperglycemia is not good for anybody. But your carb allowance is only a starting point until you learn what you can and can't tolerate. Aim for never higher than 180 (the ADA recommendation) after meals, with no higher than 140 (about the highest non-diabetic people reach after eating) after most meals, and preferably even lower than that.10 -
The only thing I notice is bananas are fairly low in fiber compared to other fruit (looking at apples in my diary). I do usually have one banana at lunch, but I munch on a couple apples a day as well as that gets me about half the fiber I need.1
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banana a day is my way... 105 calories for meadium0
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janejellyroll wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »I would think it may have more to do with caloric density. A large banana has 120 cals I believe with 30grams of carbs. Only 3 grams of fiber. A carb is just a sugar wrapped in a polysaccharide chain I believe. Bananas are just carb dense.
So are lots of foods. What's the point?
Only a reason I think that their trainers might have told them to avoid bananas. Nothing wrong with carbs at all, or fat, or protein. just a guess. If these ladies are on really low calories such as dieting down for a show or photo shoot and have low carbs, then I could see how a trainer might tell then to avoid them.0 -
Bananas make the roof of my mouth itch...2
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janisseshirley wrote: »lemurcat 12, you said all fruits are carb dense. I also saw where someone wrote that carbs are sugar. Since I am diabetic I have been told to avoid carbs. So what carbs are good for me that I shouldn't avoid? Fruits and vegetables? Being the case should I avoid certain ones in order not to go over my suggested carb allowance?
Hi, my diabetes is in remission from significant weight loss. I see that @lemurcat12 and @rheddmobile provided comprehensive responses.
"Avoid carbs" is such generic advice, and decidedly unhelpful. When I was diagnosed insulin resistant, I asked for referral to a dietitian and I started my long journey to education. I tested my blood sugar after meals and pretty quick learned what would spike me.
I am pretty sure you haven't managed to avoid ALL carbs. So some will be necessary. It's really not about eliminating carbs but monitoring how much and eating them as part of the overall diet. Eating on a schedule is almost as important as what you are eating.
I didn't eat bananas very often but when I did I'd be sure to have some protein as well.2 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »I would think it may have more to do with caloric density. A large banana has 120 cals I believe with 30grams of carbs. Only 3 grams of fiber. A carb is just a sugar wrapped in a polysaccharide chain I believe. Bananas are just carb dense.
Sugars and carbohydrates are essentially the same thing. A polysaccharide is just a chain of linked sugars. Starch is an example of a polysaccharide. So pasta is sugar, a potato is sugar etc etc. Carbs are sugar in the sense that they are comprised of sugar units and when digested essentially are just sugar.
The only semantic difference between them is that carbohydrates refer to anything that is hydrated carbon (ie the formula CxH2xOx where x can be any number) while the term sugar tends to be reserved for small molecular hydrocarbons like monosaccharides (glucose, fructose) or disaccharides (sucrose, maltose etc). But all of them are the same in terms of energy content per gram.
The real issue is that a lot of modern foods used heavily refined sugar as an additive which adds to the overall sugar content of foods that normally would not have a lot of sugar. As sugar tends to be low satiation per calorie that has aided in the growing problem of obesity for sure. Things like high-fructose corn syrup for example. Problem is the general public just waaaay oversimplified that into "sugar is bad" which it most certainly is not. Too much sugar can lead to caloric excess, like with too much of anything.
Foods that tend to be high sugar and low nutrients tend to be the "bad" foods in terms of diet only in the sense that they have a lot of calories for the amount of satiation you get out of them. Banannas are fairly high sugar but they also have a lot of nutrients...high in potassium for example. I'd say you'd be better off having a bannana than a bowl of pasta or a piece of white bread.
Agreed, healthy food is always better than refined. As a flexible diet follower, I know no food is bad or good.3 -
ldscott716 wrote: »The fruit quiets the beast. Celery does not.
Indeed...1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Bananas make the roof of my mouth itch...
Allergic response. Avoid.1 -
There really should be an 11th commandment. "Thou shalt not hate on bananas." And this is being said by someone who does Keto.0
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As a general rule, you should not be going over your carb allowance, whether foods are "good for you" or not, because hyperglycemia is not good for anybody. But your carb allowance is only a starting point until you learn what you can and can't tolerate. Aim for never higher than 180 (the ADA recommendation) after meals, with no higher than 140 (about the highest non-diabetic people reach after eating) after most meals, and preferably even lower than that.[/quote]
I do monitor my glucose levels and I stay within the 180 range after meals. As for my carbs, I had been adding lots of fiber to my diet which seemed to make up most of my carb allowance. I don't seem to have spikes, but I think my sugar is more controled by my medicine right now than my diet. So should I lower my carb intake? It is mostly made up of fruits and vegetables and grains. I do not eat pastas or potatoes or white breads or buiscuits, or gravies anymore.
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