Index Keywords

↶ Return

Bananas

Bananas are the leading fruit produced and consumed globally, and are an important source of carbohydrate energy, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and other micronutrients.[1]

Healing Properties

  • Antiinflammatory: Ingesting Bananas and Water before an exercise bout, helps attenuate the post-exercise increase in oxidized linoleic acid metabolites.[2]
    • Inflammatory processes are elevated during recovery from intensive and long-duration exercise.[2:1]
    • Carbohydrate intake, such as that from bananas, help provide enhanced glucose availability to the working muscles, resulting in reduced post-exercise cortisol and epinephrine levels, decreased leukocytosis and phagocytosis, and lower inflammatory cytokines.[2:2]
    • Reduces reliance on glycolysis for ATP production.[2:3]

Disease / Symptom Treatment

  • Diabetes: Reduces reliance on glycolysis for ATP production.[2:4]

  1. Title: Metabolic recovery from heavy exertion following banana compared to sugar beverage or water only ingestion
    Publication: PLOS ONE
    Date: 2018 Mar 22
    Study Type: Human Study: In Vivo
    Author(s): David C. Nieman, Nicholas D. Gillitt, Wei Sha, Debora Esposito, Sivapriya Ramamoorthy, and Stephen L Atkin
    Institution(s): Appalachian State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA; Dole Nutrition Research Laboratory, North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA; Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA; Metabolon, Inc., Durham, North Carolina, United States of America; Weill Cornell Medical College Qatar, QATAR
    Copy: archive, archive-mirror ↩︎

  2. Title: Influence of Carbohydrate Ingestion from Bananas or Sugar Beverage on 9- and 13-Hydroxy-octadecadienoic acids (9 + 13 HODE) During Recovery from 75-km Cycling
    Publication: The Federation Of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal
    Date: 1 Apr 2017
    Study Type: Human Study: In Vivo
    Author(s): David C. Nieman, Nicholas D. Gillitt, Kevin J. Knagge, Huiyuan Chen, Courtney L. Goodman, Christopher R. Capps, Zachary L. Shue, and Nicole Heyl
    Institution(s): Appalachian State University, Kannapolis, NC; Dole Nutrition Research Laboratory, Kannapolis, NC; David H. Murdock Research Institute, Kannapolis, NC
    ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎