Importance of Bananas for athletes

Bananas are easy and quick to eat, that’s why they’re a hit with sportspeople, before, during, and after sport. A banana smoothie with its protein and carbs, is the perfect energy boost. But there’s a lot more to bananas than just carbs and protein. They also provide the body with vitamin B6, folate, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C, and there’s absolutely no fat.

The best banana for any athlete is one starting to spot. This is because a lot of the starch has broken down to natural sugars, making it both sweeter and quicker to digest. The sugars can then readily replace the glycogen stores in the muscle and the glucose burned during an event.



IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS IN BANANAS

Carbohydrate

Bananas have long been a favourite with athletes and active people. That’s because the carbohydrate in a banana becomes glucose in the blood providing an excellent source of long lasting muscle energy. The carbohydrate will also help replace muscle fuel stores after exercise and that makes bananas a great recovery food. A high-carbohydrate diet reduces endurance while a low carbohydrate diet reduces endurance. Wholesome carbohydrate sources like bananas also help keep blood sugar levels normal.

Magnesium

Another mineral that is found in the banana is magnesium, which is involved in more than 300 enzyme systems in the body, and is especially important in energy generation in the muscles.

Potassium

The potassium found in bananas plays an essential role in muscle function. Deficiencies in potassium can lead to abnormal cramping and discomfort. During exercise, your body loses potassium through sweat, and prolonged periods of physical activity can significantly reduce your potassium levels. By eating bananas during and after exercise, potassium levels can be restored.

Bananas are famous for being rich in potassium, a mineral essential to optimise athletic performance. This mineral is a critical element in several bodily functions such as the movement of muscles, regulating the water levels in the body, and preventing cramps. A medium-sized banana typically has around 450g of potassium, making it an excellent source for getting this vital nutrient.

EAT AT A PROPER TIME

Like most things in life, timing is crucial. If you plan to eat a banana before you exercise, try and do it an hour before to allow for sufficient time for digestion. Eating right before you exercise will direct blood flow to your stomach and intestines to assist digestion rather than directing blood flow to your muscles and maximising performance.

OTHER BENEFITS OF BANANAS

INSTANT ENERGY

Bananas also provide athletes with quick and effective energy source through its substantial carbohydrate and sugar content. These carbs and sugar from bananas can provide the added energy to help keep the mind and body sharp throughout activity. With around 30g of total carbohydrates in each medium-sized banana, it’s an excellent and delicious way to get an instant boost of energy.

HEALTHY SLEEPING PILL ALTERNATIVE

Healthy people need a good night's sleep right? Eating a banana before bed can help you do just that. Bananas are an excellent source of magnesium and potassium which help relax overstressed muscles. Because they also contain tryptophan, which converts to serotonin and melatonin (the brains key calming hormones) they have a relaxing effect on the body in general. This is good news for poor sleepers.

CHEAP AND CONVENIENT

Because bananas are one of the most common and accessible fruits around, they’re perfect for athletes who want a healthy, performance-enhancing snack that doesn’t break their wallets. Not only that, but  they’re quick to eat and very easy to get a hold of. 

If you are an athlete or fitness enthusiast, it’s a no-brainer. Bananas should be one of your go-to snacks and an essential part of your diet. If the pros love it, so should you.

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mohl's half leaf experiment

Image
Experiment to demonstrate Moll’s half-leaf experiment for showing that CO 2 , light, chlorophyll and water are necessary requirements for photosynthesis: Requirements: A potted plant, caustic potash, wide- mouthed bottle, iodine, split cork, water Method: 1. De-starch a potted plant by putting it in complete darkness for two days. 2. Fill partly a wide-mouthed bottle with strong solution of caustic potash and fit a split cork on its mouth. 3. Insert about half of the portion of a leaf of the de-starched plant into the bottle through the split cork (Fig. 36). 4. Place the whole apparatus in light after applying grease on the upper portion of split cork, and test the leaf for stach after about 10 hours. Observations: Portions of the leaf inside the bottle as well as in between the split cork show negative test for starch indicating the absence of photosynthesis while the portions outside the split cork show positive test for starch indicating the presence of process of photosynthesis in
Read more

EUTROPHICATION

Image
When water bodies such as lakes, estuaries and slow moving streams receive excess nutrients ,it results in excessive plant (algal) growth . This process is called eutrophication. This excessive growth of plants such as  Water hyacinth and algae reduces the dissolved oxygen (BOD- biological oxygen demand) in water. The water body then becomes incapable of supporting fishes and  other forms of aquatic life. Excessive growth of algae in such water bodies is described as algal bloom. Nitrates and phosphates are the two main substances(nutrients) that causes such condition, which is a direct result of pollution. These nutrients come from a variety of sources,such as fertilizers applied to agricultural fields and golf courses, excessive use if detergents, erosion of soil containing nutrients,untreated sewage and discharges from sewage treatment plants. EUTROPHICATION not only leads to reduced oxygen but also produce foul odour and slow death of water body. Thus, biodiversity in t
Read more

Hydrilla plant experiment

Image
Experiment to demonstrate that oxygen is evolved during the process of photosynthesis: Answer Requirements: Beaker, water, test tube, funnel, Hydrilla plant. Method: 1. Fill the beaker with the water and take an aquatic plant, such as Hydrilla, in the beaker. 2. Cut the bases of the plants, tie them with a thread and cover them with an inverted funnel in such a fashion that the cut ends of plants are towards the neck of the funnel.  3. Fill a test tube with the water and invert it on the upper end of the funnel. 4. Keep the whole apparatus in sunlight and observe for some time. Observations: From the cut ends of the plant some bubbles are coming out continuously and they are collected at the top of the test tube by displacing the water.  Test for the gas: To test the gas released, bring a burning match stick near the mouth of the test tube which would burst into flames. This shows that the gas released is oxygen.  Results: The liberated gas is oxygen and it is evolved due to the photol
Read more