Go Bananas!

By Carlie Saint-Laurent Beaucejour, RD,LDN

Are you scared to eat a banana because all the noise about it being “high in sugar”? Your Nutrition expert is telling you to not fear and go bananas. First off, bananas have zero added sugar, unlike the honey or table sugar you would find in baked goods or soda, it is made up of natural sugar. Specifically, bananas contains resistant starch meaning it passes through the small intestine unchanged and breaks down in the large intestine, which promotes good gut health, controls blood sugars, increase satiety, and decrease constipation. However as a banana ripens the amount of resistant starch, decreases.

Generally speaking it is recommended to keep the grams of carbohydrates between 15-30 grams for snacks (consult with your nutrition professional), and bananas meet those guidelines. So it makes a sweet, satisfying, and nutritious snack. Checkout the simple Banana and Peanut Butter wrap recipe below for a quick on-the-go meal.

Bananas are a great source of the vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, which is essential in protein metabolism, cognitive development, and hemoglobin formation. If you are still not convinced, bananas are also a good source of, potassium, vitamin c, and fiber. The table below compares the nutrition content between the different size bananas.

Nutrition	Small Banana	Medium Banana	Large Banana
Calories	90	105	121
Total Fat	0.3 g	0.4 g	0.4 g
Potassium	362 mg	422 mg	487 mg
Total Carbs	23 g	27 g	31 g
Dietary Fiber	2.6 g	3.1 g	3.5
Protein	1.1	1.3 g	1.5
Vitamin C	14%	17%	19%
Iron	1%	1%	2%
Vitamin B-6	20%	20%	25%
Magnesium	6%	8%	9%