How Many Calories in a Banana and When Bananas Can Be Bad for You
Updated 11.12.2011
This post will answer the question on how many calories in a banana.
After that, we will go into more detail on the nutritional nature of bananas, if they’re actually good for you, and more imortantly: WHEN they’re good for you, and when bad.
Naked Banana Nutrition
How many Calories in a Banana, the short answer:
Bananas contain many valuable micro nutrients, such as potassium, magnesium, manganese and vitamin B6.
Now let’s go into little it more detail on bananas on the whole…
But first: If you’re looking for a good diet program, this one here comes highly recommended.
I should take the time to watch the video: it’s worth it! 
OK, back to bananas…
Bananas are great! I call them
Nature’s Mars Bar, because they come in this nice and practical wrapper …
But there is one thing about bananas you really must know:
A lot of athletes eat bananas regularly, it’s a habit, nearly something of a tradition.
The reason for that is probably the potassium content and the cramp preventing properties this mineral can have. This post gives you all the background on that: How much Potassium in a Banana?
So far, so good …
But a lot of athletes eat them before training or a match, and that can be bad…very bad. In fact,
THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD NOT DO!
But before I explain why, here some more specifics on Banana Nutrition, for those who want the details:
|
|
So why should you never eat bananas before practice/before any rigorous training?
I see a lot of football players have bananas before a game or during half-time, often they’re even provided by the soccer club, right in the dressing room.
There’s only one problem with this:
Bananas have a pretty high G.I. (Glycemic Index, meaning how much does this food raise insulin levels), the riper the higher usually, and a bunch of sugar is NOT what you want to eat right before or during strenuous physical activity!
Why?
Because this can result in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels), and these are the symptoms:
Cold Sweat, Dizziness, Cloudy Vision, Aggression, Weakness.
Not what you want at the best of times, especially not during an important sports competition.
Now I understand that this might seem counter-intuitive: how can you have low blood sugar just after eating something that’s high in sugar, right? Doesn’t seem to make sense …
Well this is how the body works:
When ingesting sugar or anything with a high G.I., the body jacks up insulin to shuttle that sugar into the cells where it’s needed.
Problem is, the higher the G.I., the higher the odds that insulin kinda “over-shoots”:
a little more is produced than you really need at the time, so too much of the sugar gets taken out of the blood.
The result is low levels of glucose in the blood.
Add a lot of physical activity into the mix, which burns up glycogen/glucose at the same time, and you’re heading for disaster: the brain and central nervous system are not getting enough energy because there’s no sugar left in the blood at the moment.
Sure, this gets up-regulated again, with a hormone called Glucagon (that’s kind of the opposite to insulin, it releases sugar back into the blood out of the muscles), but the kicker is: this process takes a while!
And if you’re zapping around like a madman –-just as in a soccer game— then during this crucial phase, energy supplies for the brain can run low … and the above described symptoms usually do result.
The long and short of it:
Bananas are great … POST workout/game, so after training/competition.
I have to strongly recommend against having them, or any other high sugar/carb food with a G.I. above 40-45, before any kind of physical exercise.
In case you’re wondering, this post on How many Carbs in a Banana covers that subject in-depth.
So what should you eat?
Right before a game? Best nothing. It’s good to have a balanced meal no closer than 1.5-2 hours pre-training: say some eggs and wild rice or beans.
As far as fruit:
Apples, Oranges, Blueberries and pretty much any kind of other berries are fine pre-comp/training.
I summary: how many calories in a banana is an important question when you want to lose weight, but the G.I. and the TIMING of this awesome fruit are possibly even more important, especially for athletes!
BTW, if you want to lose weight, the G.I. is also something that’s not to be sneezed at. And calories do count of course, so that part of the equation is important, too.
On that subject, here are the calories and other nutrition information on eggs, and here is the general nutrition and supplementation links page.
Have a Good One,
Mark
P.S.
This Post was inspired by my comment on Kris’ Blog Post on bananas! 
Kris is an Icelandic Student of Medicine and he sure knows his stuff!
Thanks y’all!
Mark
What’s next? Things you can do right now:
Shape a Surfer’s Body, get lean, womens fitness, or go all the way.
Get a free email consultation
Enter your email below for a free email consultation with Mark
9 Comments
Leave a Reply
Great article and I completely agree. Before training I like to get something that gives me sustainable energy instead of a quick surge of blood sugar. I feel that apples work great.
I also like to have some oats with breakfast if I’m working out later in the day.
Hey Kris,
thanks for your comment!
Yeah, absolutely: Whole grain oats, barley, wild rice or even better beans in the morning, or at least 1,5-2 hrs before a game/training is the way to go!
Apples? Great fruit no doubt! Low G.I., high soluble fiber, chock-full of vits and minerals … perfect pre-training food!
Mark
Hey Mark
,
Excellent article and great breakdown of how the body responds to high G.I. foods! As you pointed out, you really have to pay attention to the timing of when you eat high G.I. foods like bananas.
Ray
Hey Ray,
great to hear from ya man!
Thanks yeah, it’s kinda important to understand these basics, isn’t it?
Hey I subscribed to your fed via email but I didn’t get any yet? You surely have written more in the meantime, right? Mebbe check my spam folder …
Thanks man,
Mark
I don’t know where you get your information but at 55, bananas are LOW GI foods, not even medium. Certainly not high.
Kevin,
We –who work with elite athletes– consider anything above 50 as high G.I.
Additionally the banana has a pretty high Insulin Load, considering the serving size of about 80-100 gram (1 piece, usually consumed whole)
Probably most importantly though, empirical evidence has shown repeatedly that athletes who consume bananas before or during comp./training tend to become dizzy/woozy with hypoglycemia.
Does it apply to everybody? Probably not. But is has happened often enough to warrant care.
Are bananas bad? Most certainly not. They are quite suitable … AFTER a workout.
Banana is a POST Workout fruit, period.
But thanks for sharing your opinion,
Have a Good One,
Mark
Is it “ok” to eat a banana 30-45 minutes pre-workout? I do it all the time and have not felt any of the symptoms you described.
Sure, if you feel no adverse effects you should be fine… though you might try to switch it around: why not have an apple instead, then the banana afterwards? You might have a better workout.
It’s kinda like wheat products, and other grains. I never had a problem eating for instance pasta…or so I thought, I never noticed anything see?
But when I cut out grains, my energy and strength levels where way higher afterwards!
So you don’t always notice that something is not good for you, or you might not make the connection: Like, “I’m a little tired today, dunno why…”
Well maybe it’s because of the grains, for example.
And the biggest problems of course only show over the long haul: metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes …
But back to the banana: some are fine with it, but might still be better off with something better, like an apple or an orange, say.
Mark
useful information.I am one of those who wondered about the amount of calories in a banana
….so here i go,found the answer through your Hub.A interesting writing!!!