Bananas are a great fruit option for a healthy diet. It is very delicious and also comes with a lot of important components that can help us lead a healthy life. But this doesn’t mean you should start eating bananas in an uncontrolled manner.
Consuming too many bananas consequently can lead to a lot of harm instead of good. So, how many bananas should you eat a day to be healthy?
In this article, we will look into just that. We will go through every important detail that you will need to know about bananas and how you should eat them, what is the ideal quantity and much more. Therefore, without further ado, let’s dive into the details, shall we?
How Many Bananas Should You Eat a Day and Why It Matters?
To dive directly into the question, you shouldn’t have more than two or three bananas per day. Even three bananas per day are regarded as an overload by many doctors and nutritionists. But this number can also change depending on your physique, gender, and age. Health conditions also come into play in this case.
Side Effects of Overeating Bananas
There are quite a few adverse effects that you will come across if you start to eat too many bananas in a day. The problems that you will have to face are:
Nutrient Imbalance in Diet:
Our body needs proper nutrients and proteins to work optimally. But while bananas offer their fair share of fiber and minerals like potassium, they lack in the proteins department. So, if bananas dominate your diet, you will lose protein and nutrients, creating a protein deficit in your body.
This can lead to issues from tiredness clumsiness to sicknesses like stomach ache, fevers, and many more. This is why you should add bananas to your diet in a way so that there is plenty of room for other food options to join in. It is because an imbalanced diet is not suitable for your physical and mental health.
Sometimes, this can lead to obesity and permanent body conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, and many more. Not to mention, an unbalanced diet is also a top reason behind heath attacks and strokes.
So, if you want to avoid all of these issues, you should control the number of bananas you eat every day.
Usually, a large banana is enough for a grown man. If we follow the USDA guideline, we can find that they suggest you have only two cups of fruits all the time, and a large banana or two can take up this space quite easily. And then you can go to more protein and nutrients filled food options for your diet. For instance, you can make banana bread pancakes out of one or two bananas only.
Too Much Potassium for Your Body:
One of the well-known benefits of bananas is the fact that they are packed with potassium. Potassium is the component that ensures that our hearts keep on functioning. They create an electrolytic effect on your heat cells which sends signals to your heart to keep on beating.
While the effects of potassium in our body are undeniable, too much potassium is very harmful to the human body. Too much potassium can lead to heart attacks and strokes in extreme cases. Although it is pretty rare to consume that high number of bananas to trigger this sort of reaction, it is better not to try your luck.
A higher rate of potassium can also lead to an upset stomach, intestinal gas, diarrhea, vomiting, and many other health complications. For these reasons, you should avoid consuming too many bananas as they are rich in potassium amount.
Triggers Sleepiness & Headaches:
Bananas come with a considerable amount of tryptophan and magnesium. These two components work to relax the nerves and the body muscles. Most of the time, they act as beneficial. Overeating means their amount will be more than standard, which will lead you to be sleepy and tired most of the time.
Carbohydrates that are found in bananas works to prevent essential amino acids from entering our brain. This allows a massive amount of tryptophan to roam in your brain, which leads to a higher production rate of serotonin. And as we all know, serotonin is also a triggering factor for sleepiness.
When you are sleep-deprived, you will encounter headaches as well. While the effect of tryptophan and magnesium can make you feel headaches, the main reason behind headaches after having too many bananas is due to the amino acids.
Recent studies have shown that the amino acids found in bananas dilate or expand the blood vessels in our bodies, which leads to headaches. If you are eating overripen bananas, this effect is multiplied by two or three. So, don’t push yourself with ripen bananas.
This can seriously hurt your overall productivity and can lead you down to an unhealthy lifestyle.
Constipation & Digestive Issues:
Too many bananas can lead you to be constipated for the rest of your day. And if you are on a diet where you take more than the required number of bananas in your body, then you won’t be able to escape the clutches of constipation anytime soon. This is a frequent issue for unripe bananas.
Bananas, especially the unripe ones, come with a huge amount of starch. Starch is very difficult to digest for the body as it takes a long time to break down. This triggers constipation, and as bananas also come with a lot of fiber, the effect of constipation gets higher the more you eat them.
That is, if you take a modest amount of fiber in your food, then it can work to speed up your digestion process and can make you feel more comfortable and satisfied. But too much fiber intake will hamper the digestive process instead of enhancing it.
This can also lead to issues like bloating, abdominal cramps, intestine gas, a low absorption rate of important minerals like iron and calcium. You will also face digestion-related diseases like diarrhea and stomach aches.
In extreme cases, one might end up facing intestinal blockage. But in most cases, this is witnessed among people who have Crohn’s disease. You will also see a decline in blood sugar levels.
The standard fiber intake for an adult is around 18 to 25 grams. A small banana has 2.6 grams of fiber if it weighs 100 grams, whereas the large ones start from 150 grams and can go all the way to 200 grams.
So, if you are just on a diet that involves bananas, then eating 4 or 5 bananas will fill the requirement of fiber in your body. But we don’t have only a banana-based diet, now do we? We mix a lot of different fruits and food in your diet, which obviously will have fibers in them. That’s why it is safe to have one or two bananas per day. A banana smoothie can be a better option in this case.
High-Calorie Intake:
One of the biggest reasons why many nutritionists and health professionals suggest bananas is because they are rich in calories. This makes them the perfect candidate for a snack so that you can power up for the rest of the day. But when you start to consume too many bananas, you will face the problems of high-calorie intakes.
And this can lead to many health issues like obesity, dementia, brain shrinkage, resistance to insulin, low HDL cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, hyperglycemia, cognitive dysfunction, and many more.
So, it is quite dangerous to have a very calory intensive diet. So, if you don’t want to face the above-mentioned calorie issues, then you should definitely stop consuming too many bananas a day.
Dental Health Issues:
Bananas are sugar-based fruits. Meaning they consist of natural sugars. We all know that eating too much sugar can have a negative impact on your dental health.
Consuming too many bananas can lead to some of the most popular sugar-related dental problems: tooth decay. This issue is especially troublesome for children and teenagers.
Contains Almost No Fat:
While this is the reason many choose to add bananas to their diet in the first place, as this makes them lose weight faster.
But if you don’t have any fat in your diet, then you will seriously injure your brain development. Not only this, but you will have to face a lot of problems if all you eat is bananas and aren’t meeting your body’s fat requirement through your diet.
The first and the most common issue that you will face is having dry or flaky skin. This is because if you don’t have enough fat, then your body’s moisturization will start to decay, and soon your skin will show the effects of that.
Moreover, the lack of good fat in your diet will also make you much more sensitive towards the sun and increase the chance of getting sunburn easily.
You will witness constant mood swings if your body doesn’t get enough fat. Our brains are made of 60% of fat, and not having the proper amount of this nutrient will have an impact on them.
Fatty acids like omega four and omega 6 support our mental health. But when you start to decline fat in your body, their effectiveness will start to fade. This will start your mood swing, and you will start to be angry and irritated most of the time. You will also be exposed to an increased amount of stress.
Along with mood swings, you will be facing hormone imbalance as well. Most of the key hormones of the human body are made from fat, and due to this factor, a banana-based diet will directly interfere with your body’s hormone production and functionality. Especially in the field of sex hormones, fats play a huge role.
So, low fat in your diet can lead you to face fertility issues along with irregular menstrual cycles and other matters.
Another side effect of low-fat consumption is that you will be feeling constant hunger, even when you are full. This can lead you to overeat and can cause obesity over time.
So, if you are eating too much banana so that you can lose weight quickly, then think again because you are only harming your health instead of improving it. To add a good amount of fats along with bananas in your diet, you should try chocolate chip banana bread or pancakes.
Nerve Damage:
In extreme cases, consuming too many bananas can lead to permanent nerve damage. Bananas are filled with vitamin B6. Taking high doses of vitamin B6 can have severe impacts on the nerve and can take control over your body over time.
You will have to go to several health supplements and dietary routines once you get affected by this. That’s why it is not the best to overeat bananas.
You will also encounter migraine, and people with asthma should also avoid them.
And there you have it. These are the side effects that you will face if you start to consume large quantities of bananas on a regular basis. So, begin avoiding overeating bananas.
But this doesn’t mean you should stop eating bananas. No, they are very beneficial to your health and should be added to your regular diet. But the amount should be moderate.
Any More Questions?
Do bananas make you gain belly fat?
On the contrary, they help you lose belly fat. It’s full of healthy fibers and help you control your appetite and burn the fat.
Do bananas make you poop?
Bananas can help you with constipations as they are rich in soluble fiber.
Do bananas help you sleep?
Yes, they can as bananas are filled with sleep-inducing nutrients like Vitamin B6, potassium, and magnesium.
Don’t Eat Too Many Bananas!
Bananas are delicious and quite healthy if you eat them moderately on a regular basis. If you want to create a healthy diet with bananas, then knowing how many bananas should you eat a day is necessary. Hopefully, if you have come this far from the article, then you already know what amount is the best for you.
Don’t overeat them and if possible, consult your doctor or nutritionist. Because all of our bodies are different and we should plan our diet according to that. But no matter the case, you shouldn’t eat over two or three bananas a day. So, eat cautiously, stay safe, and best of luck!
