What is the potassium content of bananas? How much potassium is there in just one banana? How much potassium per 100 grams of banana? What are the benefits of potassium in bananas? Is it better to get your potassium from bananas rather than from other fruits? Just how much more potassium do you get from a banana?
How much potassium in bananas?
There are 358 mg of potassium per 100 grams of banana, or 3.5 oz. This represents around 7.6% of daily potassium values for the average adult. There are 537 mg of potassium per one cup of sliced banana at an average estimated weight of 150 grams, the equivalent of 11.4% of daily requirements of the nutrient. There are 806 mg of potassium one cup of mashed banana at an average estimated weight of 225 grams, the equivalent of 17% of daily values.
How much potassium in a banana?
- One extra small banana weighing 81 grams has 290 mg of potassium which is 6.1% of daily values.
- One small banana weighing 101 grams has 362 mg of potassium which is 7.7% of daily values.
- One medium sized banana at a weight of 118 grams has 422 mg of potassium which is 8.9% of daily values.
- One large banana at 136 grams has 487 mg of potassium which is a little over 10% of daily values.
- One extra large banana at 152 grams has 544 mg of potassium which is close to 11.6% of daily values of the mineral.
On average, a banana provides between 6% and 11% of daily potassium, depending on size. But because the fruit come in different sizes, the best way to determine how much potassium there is in one banana is to weigh it.
How much potassium in banana chips?
There are 536 mg of potassium per 100 grams of banana chips which is 11.4% of daily requirements of potassium. However, compared to the fresh fruit, banana chips are often fried and pack a lot of calories from the oil. They also typically have added sugar, adding to their calorie content. This makes raw bananas better than the chips.
How many bananas do you have to eat to get your daily potassium?
The average adult needs an estimated 4700 milligrams of potassium per day, or 4.7 grams. This would mean that you would have to eat almost 10 large bananas in a day to get all the potassium you need (9.6 large bananas to be more exact). Or you would have to eat almost 13 small bananas to meet your daily potassium requirements (12.9 small bananas to be more exact). Or 8 and a half extra large bananas.
See also : Are Mushrooms High In Potassium?
What are the benefits?
What are the benefits of getting your potassium from bananas? Are there more benefits to getting your potassium from bananas specifically? If you choose to get your potassium from bananas, you will enjoy both benefits stemming from the good potassium content of the fruit, and benefits from other vitamins, minerals and bioactive components.
Potassium in bananas is good for high blood pressure, and lowers risks of cardiovascular events such as stroke. Meeting your daily requirements helps combat water retention and associated side effects such as face puffiness and swollen feet and ankles.
Potassium has beneficial effects on the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract, supporting food movement along the GI tract. It combats hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, together with the sugars present naturally in bananas.
Potassium helps maintain blood pH and prevents drops in blood pH that draw out calcium from bones and teeth, promoting good bone density and strong bones. As a result of its electrolyte properties, it helps you have quick reflexes and a short reaction time. Potassium is needed to regulate muscle function and holds benefits for muscle cramps, muscle spasms and muscle soreness.
What makes bananas a particularly good option to get some of your daily potassium from is, first of all, the fact that they are affordable and readily available. Bananas are one of the cleanest fruits you can eat in the sense that their thick skin protects the fruit inside from pesticides.
They provide quick energy to use, and actively help combat tiredness and fatigue with a good content of vitamin B6. Bananas boost fertility in both men and women, and you can even eat them if you are diabetic, provided intake is reasonable.
One of the most surprising benefits of eating bananas is they are good for anemia. The fruit is high in vitamin B6 (30% of daily values per 100 grams of fruit) which helps the body produce hemoglobin and boosts the capacity of hemoglobin to absorb oxygen, actively helping combat anemia and associated side effects such as fatigue and muscle weakness. Bananas are also a good source of vitamin C (10% of daily values per 100 g) and vitamin C boosts absorption of iron for anti-anemia effects. There are many reasons to eat more bananas.
But bananas are just one of many foods that are naturally sources of dietary potassium. While sweet tasting and full of benefits for health, it’s not a good idea to get all of you potassium from eating just bananas every single day. To reach your quota of potassium per day, choose to eat a variety of foods that contain potassium, such as Brazil nuts, cashews and almonds, spinach and chard, beets and beet greens, butternut squash and beans such as broad beans or fava beans. Variety in the diet is the best way to meet your daily nutritional requirements for both potassium and the dozens of other nutrients you need every single day.
