Want to blast your tummy fat for good? Then include bananas in your diet, say dieticians.
Experts at the Mayo Clinic claim including bananas in your diet is one of the easiest ways to lose weight, especially around your midsection.
Bananas are high in fibre and this helps keep you regular. They also have a lower GI impact than many other fruits, boost your metabolic rate and keep you fuller for longer. Incredible!
How bananas help blast tummy fat
Bananas are one of the best super fruits out there, and just one medium-sized banana a day will help you see results.
On the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, we believe that bananas are actually very good for you. Like any fruit, they are fairly low in calories, containing around 108 calories in a medium banana, and they are very low in fat.
This yellow fruit is also packed with vitamins and nutrients that can actually help you to lose weight when eaten in moderation.
Health benefits of bananas
When eaten in the right quantities, bananas can help you to lose weight.
1. They’re high in fibre
Around 11 per cent of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of potassium is in one medium banana. Dietary fibre is known for aiding weight loss – it boosts bowel health, keeping your bowel movements regular.
Dietary fibre is indigestible, meaning that when you eat it your body has to get rid of it – foods that are rich in dietary fibre will fill you up, but as your body has to get rid of the fibre, you won’t take in many calories from it. It also aids in digestive health, meaning that your food gets digested much more easily – preventing that bloated feeling.
2. They’re high in potassium
One medium banana contains 13 per cent of your RDI, meaning that a banana a day could be a great boost to your diet, particularly if your potassium levels are naturally low.
Potassium can help with a multitude of health problems and including it in your diet can help to reduce your blood pressure, which in turn can help to reduce your risk of associated illnesses such as heart disease.
3. They can help neutralise high sodium levels
High sodium levels can also be neutralised and reduced by including potassium in your diet, reducing your risk of diseases associated with high sodium levels, such as brittle bones.
Excess sodium also causes water retention, so neutralising those sodium levels by eating potassium could help you to shed water weight.
4. They’re high in FOS (Fructooligosaccharides)
This nutrient is vital, as it ensures that other nutrients, such as calcium, are properly absorbed into your body.
Including foods such as bananas in your diet that contain FOS means that you will naturally absorb more vitamins and nutrients from your diet, which will boost health. FOS works by boosting healthy bacteria in your stomach, which will boost the health of your dietary tract – in turn allowing you to take in more vitamins from your food.
5. They’re high in vitamin B6
One banana contains 34 per cent of your RDI. Vitamin B6 is widely considered to be very important in overall health – it can prevent things like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and it is also anti-inflammatory, meaning that it can actually reduce aches and pains and the symptoms from any existing inflammatory conditions.
6. They’re high in resistant starch
Bananas are also rich in resistant starch, which is an insoluble carbohydrate. Recent studies have suggested that resistant starch could boost your body’s fat burning power – so eating a banana for breakfast could boost your calorie burn throughout the day – helping you to lose weight.
To benefit from the health properties of bananas, keep things in moderation. A banana a day, alongside a healthy diet containing lots of fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and lean protein could boost your weight loss and make you feel healthier.
10 of the BEST healthy banana recipes
1. Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowl
Get the RECIPE HERE.
2. Hot Caramel Banana Creams
Get the RECIPE HERE.
3. Banana Cinnamon Mug Cake
Get the RECIPE HERE.
4. Coconut Banana Oat Lactation Smoothie
Get the RECIPE HERE.
Buy our Healthy Mummy smoothie mix here.
5. Chocolate Banana Loaf
Get the RECIPE HERE.
6. Banana Berry Breakfast Muffins
Get the RECIPE HERE.
7. Banana Bread Bliss Balls
Get the RECIPE HERE.
8. Four Ingredient Banana Cashew Ice Cream
Get the RECIPE HERE.
9. Banana Frozen Yoghurt Sundae
Get the RECIPE HERE.
10. 5 Ingredient Choc Banana Split
Get the RECIPE HERE.
How can we look past banana bread?! Check these 6 Healthy Banana Bread Recipes you HAVE to try
And if you’re completely bananas about banana, check out our 9 Fun Things To Do With Bananas.
For MORE delicious recipes join our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge
Our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge is a weight loss program and healthy eating plan designed by mums FOR MUMS to help them tackle their health and weight.
When you join our Challenge, you have access to:
- Customisable meal plans & personalised shopping list
- 3,000 exclusive recipes plus 100 NEW ones each month
- Realistic menus – no food groups cut out
- 28 days of time efficient routines (no gym needed) – with videos
- Fortnightly fitness tests to measure your progress
- Challenge combines Pilates exercises with interval and circuit training (HIIT)
- Pelvic floor & muscle separation exercises provided
