Achieving healthy weight reduction does not need a “diet” or “programme,” but rather a lifestyle that includes good eating habits, frequent physical exercise, and stress management.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), eating a balanced diet throughout one’s life helps to avoid malnutrition in all of its manifestations, as well as a variety of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and disorders. However, increased processed food production, rising urbanisation, and changing lifestyles have resulted in a shift in dietary trends. Individuals are eating more foods that are heavy in calories, fats, free sugars, and salt/sodium, and many people do not eat enough fruit, vegetables, and other dietary fibres like whole grains.
Fruits and vegetables are a great source of nutrients whether it’s banana, apple, watermelon or anything. Bananas are a healthy addition to a balanced diet, as they provide a variety of important nutrients and are a good source of fiber.
“Having bananas don’t make you lose weight directly but some of their properties of it can help in reducing bloating, regulating appetite and substituting refined sugars for human. Bananas may help you in weight loss but can also make you gain weight,” says Dr Rohini Patil, MBBS, Nutritionist and CEO of Nutracy Lifestyle.
“It depends on how and when you have them. They are not the best fruit out there for weight loss but also not the worst,” she added.
A medium banana has 422 milligrammes of potassium, which is 9% of your daily need. This mineral is essential for heart health. Potassium-rich meals assist control of blood pressure by allowing you to excrete more salt when you urinate. Potassium also relaxes the walls of your blood vessels, lowering blood pressure.
Dr Patil further states that it lacks protein and healthy fats which leaves it with carbs only but people often forget that it is rich in other minerals like potassium and fibre too. This is the same reason why it is considered a good option for people having high cholesterol as fibre helps in reducing it.
Fibre makes people feel full for longer which helps in reducing the number of calories that they consume. Fibre also helps in lowering cholesterol levels and decreasing the risk of heart diseases keeping our body healthy and also a good immune system.
It’s no secret that getting enough fibre in your diet is beneficial. A ripe banana of average size has 3 grammes of it. That is around 10% of what you require each day.
The majority of the fibre in bananas is soluble fibre. It can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure while also reducing inflammation.
Green bananas contain a substance known as resistant starch. It functions similarly to insoluble fibre, which can help keep your bowels running smoothly. Resistant starch also aids in blood sugar control.
“Bananas are nutritious and healthy. The best way to consume it would be before your daily physical activity like jogging, gym or running,” she added.
There are also many ways to have bananas for weight loss like banana oatmeal for breakfast, Banana with nut butter or nuts or maybe unripe banana smoothies. It’s important to have everything in proportion, she said.