Banana

About Bananas

The most popular fruit in the world with over 1,000 different varieties, grown in over 150 countries.  They have been used as a food source since at least 500 BC.  It is thought there original origin comes from Southeast Asia.  The word “Banana” itself comes from Africa as derived from the Arabic word for “finger”.  An interesting fact – the banana plant is not a tree, it’s the world’s largest herb!

Why use Bananas?

Bananas have various health benefits and help sweeten your smoothie.  If you make a smoothie and it’s a little sour or tart, try adding some banana to it and it will calm the tartness down.  Bananas contain a protein called tryptophan, which convert in your body to serotonin.  Serotonin is known to promote relaxation and improve mood.

Smoothie Trick:

Most people are very particular about the ripeness of their bananas.  When your banana starts turning brown, it contains higher levels of antioxidants and produce a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor).  TNF contains anti-cancer qualities!  The darker your banana, the higher it’s immune fighting benefits.

Here is what you can do … let your banana ripen to your desired amount.  Then peel, cut in half, and freeze.  Then add the frozen banana to your blender and you will have the ripeness to your desire with every smoothie you make!

Nutrition Facts

Always discuss
with your doctor

This information is not meant to replace your doctor, but to work in tandem with your doctor’s advice. This website makes it easy for you and your doctor to select the best foods and the best smoothie recipes that you should be eating.

My Nutrition Advisor does not diagnose, cure, or treat disease.

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Recipe

Banana scores well for 18 health goals

This ingredient was scored for various health goals Learn more.

Recipes using Banana

The Research

Sleep: Score 94

Summary:

Human: Banana provides a dietary source of melatonin. It increases the serum melatonin concentrations of healthy volunteers in proportion to serum melatonin levels.

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Blood Pressure: Score 94

Summary:

Are high in potassium, which helps your blood pressure naturally fall. Potassium research: They are high in potassium, which helps to naturally reduce your blood pressure.

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Kidneys: Score 92

Summary:

Human: Banana consumption is strongly inversely associated with kidney cancer risk.

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Breast Cancer: Score 92

Summary:

Human: Banana was related to a lower risk of breast cancer.

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Cancer: Score 92

Summary:

Human: Banana consumption has been shown to be strongly inversely associated with kidney cancer risk. It is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. It is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.

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Skin Health (Psoriasis, Eczema, etc.): Score 90

Summary:

Animal: Banana has significant antioxidant activity and may prevent UVB skin damage. In Vitro: It has significant antioxidant activity.

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Cholesterol: Score 90

Summary:

Banana is harmless in people with diabetes and high cholesterol. It may be beneficial for high cholesterol. Banana prevents lipid oxidation and has a cholesterol lowering effect.

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Colon Health: Score 90

Summary:

Human: Banana consumption is associated with a reduced risk for colorectal cancer. Animal: Green dwarf banana flour constitutes an important dietary supplement and complementary medicine product for the prevention and treatment of human inflammatory bowel disease.

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Look Younger: Score 90

Summary:

Animal: Banana has significant antioxidant activity and may prevent UVB skin damage. In Vitro: It has significant antioxidant activity.

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Diabetes (Type 2): Score 90

Summary:

Human: Obese diabetic patients who received a native banana starch lost weight and exhibited reduced insulin levels. Daily consumption of banana is harmless in diabetic and high cholesterol patients and marginally beneficial for high cholesterol. Animal: It has lipid lowering and antioxidant activity in diabetic rats. Banana has antioxidant and blood sugar lowering effects.

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Gastrointestinal: Score 90

Summary:

Animal: Banana pulp protects the gastric mucosa from aspirin induced erosions. It has anti-ulcerogenic properties. It strengthens mucosal resistance and promotes the healing of ulcers.

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Fat Loss: Score 88

Summary:

Human: Obese type 2 diabetic patients who received a native banana starch supplement lost weight and exhibited reduced insulin levels.

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HIV: Score 84

Summary:

In Vitro: Banana has been shown to be capable of inhibiting HIV virus and acting as an antitumor agent. It is a potent inhibitor of HIV replication.

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Depression: Score 84

Summary:

Banana contains a broad range of biologically active compounds including dopamine and serotonin.

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Prostate: Score 84

Summary:

Animal: Banana peel extract suppresses prostate gland enlargement in testosterone teated mice.

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Brain: Score 84

Summary:

Banana contains a broad range of biologically active compounds including dopamine and serotonin.

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Anxiety: Score 84

Summary:

Banana contains a broad range of biologically active compounds including dopamine and serotonin.

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Inflammation: Score 82

Summary:

In Vitro: The synthetic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxene can be isolated from banana.

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How Our Scoring System Works

For each health goal, we assigned a score to each recipe and each ingredient. This helps you better understand the correlation that medical research is suggesting between foods and benefits to various health goals. Our scoring system is based on REAL RESEARCH published on pubmed.gov. This is a website that curates over 25 million different biomedical journals.

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What we consider when creating your scores:

  • 1Type of Study (human, animal, lab, or academic review)
  • 2Amount of Research
  • 3What the Research Says
  • 4How much of the ingredient we use (for the recipes)
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