What IS the best condition to eat your banana in?

Some people prefer their yellow bananas with a green tint, while others prefer the sugary sweetness of a banana that has brown spots on the skin.

But it’s not just the taste that’s different, as there are distinct effects on your body and health that depend on maturity…

Green

Unripe green bananas have been shown to have 20 times more resistant starch than ripe bananas.

This is a form of starch that the body struggles to break down (it ‘resists’ the digestive process), so it passes directly through the gut.

This slows the rate at which the fruit’s carbohydrates are converted to glucose and absorbed into the blood.

A green banana typically has a glycemic index (GI) of 30, compared to 58 for a ripe banana.

Resistant starch is not only good for stabilizing blood sugar levels, but the “good” bacteria in your colon feed on it as well.

They, in turn, stimulate digestive enzymes that help us digest carbohydrates and absorb vitamins from food, as well as protect us against any harmful microorganisms.

Professor Gordon Carlson, Consultant Gastric Surgeon at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, told Good Health that he eats a relatively green banana every day to improve his gut health. The benefits of green bananas were confirmed in a major review of 18 studies on their nutrition, published in the journal Nutrients in 2019.

This found that green bananas can help with gastrointestinal symptoms (such as diarrhea and constipation) and illnesses (such as intestinal cancers).

They may also help prevent or treat type 2 diabetes.

Unlike other foods, bananas contain a form of resistant starch that increases, rather than breaks down, with heating.

In fact, a study published in the Malaysian Journal of Nutrition in 2018 found that boiling green bananas increased their resistant starch content.

Other research has shown that chilling cooked green bananas in the refrigerator increases starch resistance by an additional 50 percent.

The cooling process causes the starches to form a new structure that is even more resistant to digestion (called “starch retrogradation”).

Yellow

During ripening, the starch in a banana turns into sugar: from 3.2 g/100 g in a green banana to 12 g/100 g in a ripe one.

“This is what makes them a good quick-release energy source for athletes,” says dietitian Dr. Sarah Schenker.

The lower amounts of resistant starch also mean that yellow bananas are easier to digest. If you have digestive problems, green bananas can make you feel gassy or bloated.

Dr. Schenker suggests that the health benefits of yellow bananas outweigh those of green ones.

Bananas contain several compounds, including carotenoids, that are linked to eye health and cancer prevention, and become more “bioavailable” [available to the body] when the banana ripens,’ he says.

“With less starch to break down, your digestive system will absorb nutrients more quickly.”

Bananas contain B vitamins, as well as the antioxidant vitamins A and C, in addition to the minerals iron, magnesium, manganese, and potassium.

Some of these micronutrients are lost as the banana ages, but levels of antioxidants, which help support the immune system, peak.

Studies, including one published in 2014 in the International Food Research Journal, have shown that vitamin C levels increase with the ripening process, but decrease as the banana becomes overripe.

“These antioxidants exist to prevent the fruit from being eaten and tend to increase as the fruit ripens,” explains Dr. Sangeetha Thondre, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition at the Oxford Brookes Center for Nutrition and Health.

Yellow with brown spots

Brown spots on an overripe banana indicate that even more starch has been converted to sugar.

Scientists have discovered that a fully ripe banana produces a substance called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) that has the ability to fight off abnormal cells and boost our immunity against cancer.

In a study published in 2009 in the journal Food Science and Technology Research, scientists at Teikyo University in Japan found that dark-spotted bananas were eight times more effective at enhancing white blood cell (infection-fighting) power. than green-skinned bananas. .

They reported that the degree of the fruit’s anticancer effect corresponds to the degree of ripeness: the more patches a banana has, the greater its power to boost immunity.

Brown

Bananas produce ethylene gas, a natural compound that regulates the ripening process, causing them to turn brown.

This changes its texture and flavor, as well as its nutritional value. When a banana becomes overripe, much of the starch is converted to sugars, making it a great natural source of sweetness.

Dr. Schenker recommends using brown baking bananas and freezing them to blend in a blender to make sugar-free ice cream.

“Using overripe bananas in place of sugar is a healthier way to sweeten foods, as bananas provide several essential nutrients: potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, and some vitamin C,” he says.

Overripe bananas can eventually start to ferment, losing many of their nutritional benefits. They can start to smell more like alcohol than sugar, and can contain up to 0.5g of alcohol per banana.

Laboratory studies have shown that ethanol (alcohol) can be extracted from extremely ripe bananas, but only after adding yeast and sugar.