不要发疯——但也许可以吃一个

在银幕上，香蕉是一种威胁. Just ask Charlie Chaplin, Bugs Bunny or anyone who's played Mario Kart.

然而，在你的饮食中，香蕉是一个福音. Experts have a bunch of reasons to like them and see only a few ways the elongated yellow fruit could cause your health to slip.

“它们富含营养和纤维,科琳·斯比斯说, associate professor of medical dietetics at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus. “他们很好吃. 他们是便宜的. 它们都是正确的事情."

They're the world's most popular fruit and have been cultivated for perhaps 10,000 years. Some scholars think the tempting fruit in the Biblical Garden of Eden sounds more like a banana than an apple. 香蕉出现在世界各地的宗教传统中.

Banana trees are actually herbs, and the fruit is technically a berry. “一束”指的是收获的一串香蕉. A small cluster of bananas is a "hand," and an individual banana is a "finger."

Whatever you call them, bananas are noted for being a good source of potassium, spe说. 根据 U.S. 农业部一根中等大小的香蕉提供375毫克. 约占11% 每日推荐钾 男性为16%女性为16%.

“钾是一种对心脏健康至关重要的矿物质, 尤其是在血压管理方面,斯佩斯说。. (It's true other foods – including lima beans and beet greens – are higher in potassium, 她说, 而是有多少人在吃甜菜?") Bananas also are a source of magnesium (32 mg), beneficial phytochemicals and antioxidants.

一个中号香蕉, 含有113卡路里, 还含有大约5克的膳食纤维, 什么能让人有饱腹感. And the fiber in bananas has "really interesting" qualities, spe说.

Unripe and slightly unripe bananas contain resistant starch, which serves as prebiotic fiber. These indigestible prebiotics serve as food for probiotics, the "good" microbes that live in the gut. These beneficial gut bacteria are essential for digestion and have been linked to immunity, 大脑健康和更多.

As a banana ripens, the resistant starch is broken down into natural sugars, spe说. "That's why a riper banana is a little bit sweeter than a slightly unripe banana."

她说，某些特殊情况需要谨慎.

虽然香蕉, 像大多数水果一样, can be part of a healthy dietary pattern for people with uncontrolled diabetes, 一根中等大小的香蕉含有大约26克碳水化合物, 对于严格节食的人来说，哪些是必须考虑的.

People with late-stage kidney failure need to closely monitor potassium consumption. Foods high in potassium also can interfere with some medications for high blood pressure and heart failure. It certainly would take more than one banana to raise potassium levels to a dangerous level for the average person, spe说. But she recommends anyone with medical conditions or concerns check with their primary care physician to see if bananas are safe for them.

是什么问题, 虽然, is to assume slipping them into a banana split or banana bread makes those desserts healthy, 她说. 香蕉片也是如此.

“大多数香蕉片实际上是干燥和油炸的，”Spees说. "And some of them are coated with either an oil or a syrup that then contributes a significant source of added sugars, 卡路里和脂肪."

But bananas work well at thickening and sweetening smoothies, spe说. “如果你把冷冻香蕉和, 说, 希腊酸奶, 冷冻浆果和其他健康成分, 那太好了."

她说，香蕉的优点之一是方便. In the morning, it can be sliced and added to whole-wheat cereal. 在一天的晚些时候，“这是一种很棒的零食." Some people enjoy bananas with nut butters or mixed with yogurt.

So at the end of the day, for most people, her tally firmly favors the banana. Spees supports the idea of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables and said "absolutely, 香蕉正好在彩虹里."

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