What's the deal with bananas?

There will be other posts about health benefits of other fruits (e.g., did you know blueberries can help prevent osteoporosis?) and/or fruit in general (tackling topics about the sugar content and if that's good, bad, or neutral, especially when cutting/dieting or how weight watchers now considers them 0 points, etc.), but right now we're just talking about bananas, a fruit that has long intrigued me because they seem to contain more controversy than other fruits.

That is, there is a subgroup of people who see bananas as just another fruit, and eat it or don't eat it because of their taste, but there are also two other subgroups, both of which have distinct thoughts about the fruit: bodybuilders and those suffering from eating disorders.

Many bodybuilders, even those who shun fruit in general (great Alan Aragon quote about that: "fruits are calorically sparse and nutritionally dense. Not mentally dense like folks who tell others to avoid them.") or restrict them to before and after workouts only, find great importance in having a banana as their postworkout carb source. Many of them do not even know why they eat them. Just that other bodybuilders do, so they should too, just like those who mindlessly limit their diet to chicken, broccoli, and oatmeal. In any case, part of the reason is because it is a high GI carb, although it is a myth that one must have high GI foods pwo.

That is not to say that they are not a good source of energy and don't help restore glycogen levels. As well, their potassium content can help prevent cramping. Bananas are a good fruit and a good snack pwo, but they can be eaten at any time.

Part of why bodybuilders choose bananas is why anorexics avoid them: the GI factor. All the glycemic index diet books have created a fear of many good foods. People don't understand the GI system and misinterpret it. Also, though, anorexics think about calories, and bananas have more calories than many other fruits, and certainly more than vegetables, making bananas not okay.

Why do bananas create so much chatter? I like bananas, and even though I've always been a volume eater and bananas are indeed more calorically dense (although not significantly so, in my opinion), they're worth eating. They taste good, are good for you, and are more filling and substantial than other fruits. And have you ever had them frozen? Chocolate-covered frozen bananas were my favorite treat when I was a kid.

Something about bananas you might not have known. Greener bananas have more starch, whereas more ripe bananas have more sugar.

randi morse, randi.morse@gmail.com, newton, ma