You had me at yellow.
People, on common, eat practically 27 kilos of recent bananas annually, making the elongated berry essentially the most generally consumed recent fruit within the US.
There are various causes to go bananas for bananas — they’re an important supply of potassium, which helps regulate blood strain, they comprise fiber, which aids in digestion, they usually boast pure carbohydrates the physique makes use of for vitality.
However not all bananas are nutritionally equal. They undergo seven levels of ripeness — from strong inexperienced to yellow with brown spots.
Right here’s a have a look at the well being advantages of every section. Some may say this shift is bananas.
Strong inexperienced
“Inexperienced bananas comprise a comparatively excessive quantity of resistant starch,” Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Northwell Huntington Hospital, instructed The Publish.
“It is a sort of fiber that takes longer for the physique to digest and doesn’t spike blood sugar as shortly or severely as a ripe banana would.”
Resistant starch travels to the massive gut, the place intestine micro organism ferment it. The ensuing short-chain fatty acids may help stability the intestine microbiome and scale back irritation.
As a result of they’re excessive in fiber and resistant starch, inexperienced bananas assist with starvation management.
“The greener the banana, the higher in your well being,” Schiff stated. “But it surely’s going to style extra bitter and grainy, so I don’t eat them once they’re fully inexperienced.”
Inexperienced with yellow traces
As bananas ripen, the inexperienced chlorophyll pigment breaks down, letting the yellow xanthophyll pigments change into extra seen.
The banana’s starches additionally rework into easy sugars, making it style sweeter.
UK surgeon Karan Rangarajan, often known as Dr. Karan Rajan, described the hardly ripe Stage 2 banana as a “balanced king” due to its excessive fiber and low sugar ranges.
“You additionally get a little bit potassium enhance as extra of it turns into bioavailable as a consequence of decreases in fiber and resistant starch,” he stated in a February TikTok. “Excellent for many who concern dedication however need a little bit of intestine well being and a few sweetness.”
Extra inexperienced than yellow
“I desire a less-ripe banana that’s tinged with lots of inexperienced,” Schiff stated. “That’s what I like to recommend to my sufferers with diabetes.”
Schiff famous that riper bananas are simpler to digest than unripe ones as a result of the conversion of starches to easy sugars makes the sugars extra available for absorption and utilization.
Extra yellow than inexperienced
Yellow and inexperienced bananas are wealthy in potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin A.
Inexperienced bananas are likely to have extra folate, which performs an important position in DNA synthesis and restore.
Yellow bananas “comprise increased ranges of antioxidants, vitamin C and sugars,” New Jersey chiropractor Suzi Schulman stated on Instagram this month.
The ripening course of results in a rise in antioxidants, together with catechins, which have been linked to coronary heart well being and decrease irritation.
Yellow with inexperienced suggestions
The FruitGuys, a California-based firm that delivers fruit to places of work and houses, calls Stage 5 “the proper stage.”
“At this stage, the banana is sturdy sufficient for transport, but will ripen in a few days to a full yellow,” the FruitGuys wrote in a put up final 12 months.
Stage 5 bananas make an important pre-workout snack due to the stability of vitality and fiber.
Fully yellow
The yellow crescents at the moment are absolutely ripe.
“Absolutely ripe bananas are loaded with antioxidants and fiber, boosting your immune system and digestion,” the superfood blends firm Organifi not too long ago posted. “They’re naturally candy, straightforward to digest and ideal for smoothies or baked items.”
Yellow with brown spots
Brown in your banana shouldn’t make you frown.
The brown spots — often known as “sugar freckles” — characterize excessive catechin ranges.
“Overripe (brown) bananas are the sweetest and most simply digestible, and whereas nutrient ranges might barely decline, they’re nonetheless an excellent supply of vitality and potassium,” Schulman stated.
