Banana's?

[GeminiMum]

I'm reading conflicting advice on Banana's, one school of thought is they are good for you, another not. I'd read they were ok, had a small banana then read they are not so good with diabetes, then worried!

So Banana's, avoid or ok?

BTW I tend to only like slightly green banana's and not ripe ones.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Barry05]

Bananas are good for you as they have potassium in them, but not so good from the high sugar content point of view, about twice as much sugar as most other fruit.

 

[Hotpepper20000]

If you test before you eat and two hours after it should tell you if bananas are something that rise your BG.

 

[Bluetit1802]

If you test before you eat and two hours after it should tell you if bananas are something that rise your BG.

Bananas are extremely fast release - hence tennis stars munched them between games for instant energy. If I ate one I would test half hourly until I got back to where I started. Loose bananas are around 23% carb most of which is sugar. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/275280804 and are equivalent of about 5.9 spoons of sugar per 120g banana https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Fruits-Sugar-Equivalent-Infographic.jpg

There is nothing in a banana that can't be found in other foods.

 

[Deleted Account]

What do you mean by "good for you"?
As @Barry05 says, they have a high carb content so, if you are on a low carb diet they are not good for you.
But they have potassium which is good for you.
This carb/potassium combination is great if you are exercising which is why you often see tennis players munching on a 'nana between breaks.

My feeling is that there is less good and bad food - there is food that adds value in certain areas, there is food that may cause problems in other areas and it may be the same food. And good to one person may be bad to someone else - compare the diet of someone trying to lose weight with someone trying to gain weight.
Unfortunately, this means you have to work out what is good for you based on what you are trying to achieve: lose weight, gain weight, reduce hb1AC, ...

 

[dbr10]

I'm reading conflicting advice on Banana's, one school of thought is they are good for you, another not. I'd read they were ok, had a small banana then read they are not so good with diabetes, then worried!

So Banana's, avoid or ok?

BTW I tend to only like slightly green banana's and not ripe ones.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I avoid them.

 

[GeminiMum]

Bananas are extremely fast release - hence tennis stars munched them between games for instant energy. If I ate one I would test half hourly until I got back to where I started. Loose bananas are around 23% carb most of which is sugar. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/275280804 and are equivalent of about 5.9 spoons of sugar per 120g banana https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Fruits-Sugar-Equivalent-Infographic.jpg

There is nothing in a banana that can't be found in other foods.

I had not eaten a banana for well over a year, but felt hungry, read then unread they were ok. So I think I'll just skip banana's.
Thank you all

 

[JohnEGreen]

I don't believe there are good or bad foods just foods you can tolerate and those you can't the trick is finding which is which for you as an individual.

 

[JTL]

I have taken to puttiing half a small banana in my nutribullet type thing but half a small nana spread over four servings of which I'll only be having one seems okay.
Same goes for pineapple.
These are mixed with kale water cress coconut cabbage maybe a pear and an apple.

 

[Guzzler]

There is nothing that fruit has that can't be had from lower carb veggies. Get yourself the carbs and cals app (or book) so you can see at a glance which foods have the higher amounts.

 

[Oldvatr]

There is nothing that fruit has that can't be had from lower carb veggies. Get yourself the carbs and cals app (or book) so you can see at a glance which foods have the higher amounts.

Generally the rule of thumb for T2D is that the tropical fruits are best avoided. The rule also states that the riper the fruit, the more sugar and higher GI value, so faster acting. Lastly, turning fruit into smoothies or slurps destroys the fibre content, again making them higher GI. Berries are the kindest fruits for T2D, and can be kept frozen until needed,

 

[Guzzler]

Generally the rule of thumb for T2D is that the tropical fruits are best avoided. The rule also states that the riper the fruit, the more sugar and higher GI value, so faster acting. Lastly, turning fruit into smoothies or slurps destroys the fibre content, again making them higher GI. Berries are the kindest fruits for T2D, and can be kept frozen until needed,

Did you mean to tag me?

 

[Oldvatr]

Did you mean to tag me?

Nope. I just replied by using your post. I should maybe have used the general reply, but that comes up in another page in my browser, and can go awry when I try to edit it after posting. seems to have a longer delay on the general post which gets confused.

Edit: it is slightly linked to your post though since the apps and books normally do not take ripeness into account, or give GI load values, so tend to be a simplified one size fits all. It does vary, especially for bananas

 

[Guzzler]

Nope. I just replied by using your post. I should maybe have used the general reply, but that comes up in another page in my browser, and can go awry when I try to edit it after posting. seems to have a longer delay on the general post which gets confused.

No problem.

 

[Deleted member 371625]

I often have a 'nana if I am about to exercise and need some quick release energy but wouldn't eat one otherwise. Testing has shown that this isn't a problem for me but it may be for others. Testing will tell you.

 

[RFSMarch]

I typically have a banana a day. Then again I also have a small pot (maybe an ounce) of almonds and cashews a day which seems to help with the blood sugar.

If you are following low carb religiously then a ‘nana is not terribly handy. I am gradually trying to lower my carbs and trying to stick to 100g or less in a day so I carb count and make an allowance for it in my numbers,

 

[Grateful]

I eat one banana per day: one third upon waking, another third with breakfast, and the last third after dinner. It is very high-carb but (apart from a handful of berries) it is the only fruit that I eat. That is, apart from tomatos and avocados.... If I ever start having problems controlling my T2 the banana will be the first thing to go....

 

[Robbity]

Bananas are good for you as they have potassium in them....

But there are other fruits and veggies much lower in carbs and high in potassiuim (e.g. avocados and spinach) and some even higher than bananas, .which used to be my long term go-to fix for bad leg cramps, so when I started getting these again post diabetes diagnosis I had to have a serious re-think...

Robbity

 

[blanc71]

I used to love a ripe banana.
I now see them as Mars bars with yellow wrappers,such a shame.

 

[deb1960]

I am new to low carb. .about 10 days so far so I'm slowly but surely finding my feet. Pre low carb my bg were around 8 or 9 but are now usually between 4.7 and 6 so feeling really positive. I had a tea plate of cherry tomatoes, beetroot, cottage cheese and chorizo for supper as I was hungry. 2 hours later bg 4.7 pleased because the beetroot was pickled in sweet vinegar. I've also reduced my insulin by 20 units a day.