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What Happens If You Eat 2 Bananas Every Day? — Transcript

by Dr. John Meyers · 3,130 words · 485 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00For years, somebody has probably told
0:02you to go easy on bananas. Too much
0:04sugar, too many carbs, a fruit to ration
0:07if you're watching your weight or your
0:08blood sugar. And I understand where that
0:10comes from because a soft, brown,
0:13speckled banana really is close to pure
0:15sugar by the time it gets there. So,
0:17that advice has a point. It's just
0:19working off half the picture. Here's
0:21what nobody sat you down to explain. A
0:24banana is not one food. The very same
0:27fruit, depending on one thing most
0:29people never even look at, can either
0:31spike your blood sugar like a spoonful
0:33of honey or feed the good bacteria in
0:36your gut and barely move your blood
0:38sugar at all. Same banana, completely
0:41different effect on your body, and
0:42almost no one knows which one they are
0:44actually eating. I'm Dr. John Myers. A
0:47lot of the people I've cared for over
0:49the years were quietly avoiding bananas
0:51for the wrong reason, while they were
0:53short on the exact mineral a banana is
0:55best at delivering. A mineral that
0:58roughly three out of four adults in this
0:59country don't get enough of. Two bananas
1:03a day, eaten the right way, quietly
1:05closes that gap. And the effects reach
1:08further than you would guess. They touch
1:10your blood pressure, your heart's
1:11rhythm, your gut, your sleep, even how
1:14steady your energy is on a long walk.
1:17Before you click away because you assume
1:19this is just another eat more fruit
1:21video, give me a few minutes because it
1:23isn't. I'm going to show you exactly
1:25what two bananas a day does inside your
1:27body day after day. What it does to your
1:30blood pressure and your stroke risk. The
1:32strange thing that happens in your gut
1:35that depends entirely on how ripe the
1:37banana is. What it really does for your
1:39sleep and your mood, including one
1:42popular claim that is mostly a myth. And
1:45the one situation where you should
1:47actually be careful with bananas because
1:49for a small group of people, they are
1:51genuinely the wrong choice. Before I go
1:54further, one quick thing because it's
1:56the reason I make these videos at all.
1:58Everything I'm about to tell you about
2:00bananas is one small piece of a much
2:02bigger picture. The handful of everyday
2:05habits that quietly decide whether
2:07you're still strong and independent at
2:0980 or slowing down at 65. I took
2:12everything I tell my own patients about
2:14living well in these years and I put it
2:16into one simple plan. It has already
2:19helped thousands of people live their
2:20best life after 60. If you want it, the
2:23link is right there on your screen. You
2:25don't need to write anything down and I
2:27would never make you sit through me
2:29reading out a web address.
2:31So, let's start with that mineral,
2:32because it is the threat that ties
2:34almost everything else together. It's
2:36potassium. And your body is in a quiet
2:38tug-of-war over it every single day. On
2:41one side is sodium, salt. The modern
2:44diet is drowning in it, hidden in bread,
2:46canned soup, deli meat, and restaurant
2:49food.
2:50Sodium pulls water into your bloodstream
2:52and pushes your blood pressure up. On
2:54the other side is potassium, which does
2:56the opposite. It helps your kidneys
2:58flush that extra sodium out. It relaxes
3:01the walls of your blood vessels and it
3:03eases the pressure back down.
3:05For most of human history, we ate far
3:07more potassium than sodium. Today, that
3:10is flipped and it's flipped hard. One
3:12number should get your attention.
3:14According to the National Academies of
3:16Sciences, most adults should be getting
3:18somewhere between 2,600 and 3,400 mg of
3:22potassium a day. And based on the
3:24government's own nutrition surveys,
3:26roughly three out of four Americans fall
3:28short of that. Not by a little.
3:31Chronically short for years.
3:33It's one of the most common nutrient
3:35gaps in the entire country and hardly
3:37anyone is talking about it.
3:39Two medium bananas give you around 840
3:42mg of potassium. Call it a quarter to a
3:45third of what you need in a day from a
3:47fruit that costs about a quarter with no
3:49fat, no cholesterol, and essentially no
3:52salt. That's the lever. And And the
3:55second thing that decides what a banana
3:56does to you, the ripeness sitting on
3:59your counter, is where this gets
4:00genuinely surprising.
4:02Let's take potassium straight to your
4:04blood pressure because this is where it
4:06earns its reputation.
4:08When you're low on potassium and high on
4:10sodium, your blood vessels stay a little
4:12tighter and your body holds on to a
4:14little more water than it should.
4:16Both of those nudge your pressure up and
4:18keep it there.
4:19Feed your body more potassium and you
4:22help it release the sodium and relax
4:24those vessel walls. This is the exact
4:26principle behind the DASH diet, the
4:28eating pattern the National Heart, Lung,
4:30and Blood Institute built specifically
4:32to bring blood pressure down.
4:34It leans heavily on potassium-rich foods
4:37like bananas.
4:38Now, this is where it stops being about
4:40a single number on a cuff and starts
4:42being about your life.
4:43In 2013, the British Medical Journal
4:46published a large review pulling
4:48together the data on potassium intake
4:50and stroke.
4:51People whose diets were higher in
4:53potassium had roughly a 24% lower risk
4:56of stroke. 24%.
4:59Think about what a stroke actually takes
5:00from a person, the independence, the
5:03speech, the use of a hand. What you put
5:06on your plate is one of the very few
5:08levers you genuinely hold in your own
5:10hand there.
5:11I want to be precise about this because
5:13you deserve that. A banana is not a
5:15drug. Two of them won't undo a bad diet
5:19or replace your blood pressure
5:20medication and you should never stop a
5:22medication on your own.
5:24What the evidence shows is that people
5:26who eat this way, over time, tend to
5:29have lower pressure and fewer strokes.
5:31Bananas are simply one of the easiest,
5:34cheapest ways to swing that daily
5:36potassium balance back in your favor.
5:38That is the first thing two a day
5:40quietly does for you.
5:42Now, the part almost nobody knows and
5:44it's the reason I said a banana isn't
5:46really one food. Look at the bananas on
5:49your counter.
5:50A green, firm one and a soft, brown
5:53spotted one are on the inside almost two
5:56different foods because as a banana
5:58ripens, something dramatic happens to
6:01what it's made of. A green, under-ripe
6:03banana is packed with something called
6:05resistant starch.
6:07The name tells you what it does. It
6:09resists being digested. It travels all
6:12the way through your small intestine
6:14without being broken down into sugar,
6:17which means it barely touches your blood
6:18sugar.
6:20Then it reaches your large intestine and
6:22this is the part that matters.
6:24Down there, the bacteria in your gut
6:26ferment that starch and in the process
6:29they produce a substance called
6:30butyrate.
6:32Butyrate is the preferred fuel for the
6:33cells that line your colon.
6:36It's one of the best things you can
6:37possibly feed the ecosystem living in
6:39your gut. And researchers at Harvard
6:42have pointed to resistant starch as one
6:44of the reasons a firmer banana behaves
6:46so differently in the body.
6:49Now let that same banana sit for a week.
6:51As it ripens and the skin freckles,
6:53enzymes convert that resistant starch
6:55into simple sugars.
6:57That is why a brown banana tastes sweet
6:59like candy because chemically it has
7:01moved much closer to candy.
7:03Its effect on your blood sugar climbs
7:05right along with the sweetness.
7:07You can see this in the numbers. A
7:09green, firm banana has a glycemic index,
7:12which is the measure of how fast a food
7:14raises your blood sugar, of around 30.
7:17That's low.
7:18A very ripe, spotted banana climbs up
7:20toward 50 or 60.
7:22Same fruit. The ripeness quietly moved
7:25it from a slow, gentle food to a much
7:27faster one.
7:29So here is what that means in your
7:30kitchen and it may be the single most
7:32useful thing I tell you today.
7:34If you're watching your blood sugar or
7:36you just want steady energy without a
7:37crash, buy your bananas a little green
7:40and eat them while they're still firm
7:42with only a hint of give.
7:44Once those brown spots show up, the
7:46sugar has arrived. And if you ever have
7:48a banana that's gone too far, don't eat
7:50it alone on an empty stomach. Slice it
7:52over some Greek yogurt or eat it with a
7:54handful of nuts so the protein and fat
7:57slow everything down.
7:58Let's go back to potassium for a moment
8:00because it does something you never
8:01think about until it goes wrong.
8:04Potassium runs your heartbeat. Every
8:06single beat of your heart is an
8:07electrical event and potassium is one of
8:09the main minerals carrying that
8:11electrical signal.
8:12It is part of what keeps the rhythm
8:14steady and even.
8:15When your potassium drops too low, that
8:17rhythm can turn erratic. Skipped beats,
8:20flutters, in some cases a genuinely
8:22dangerous irregular heartbeat. The same
8:25mineral sits behind a lot of muscle
8:26cramps, especially those Charlie horses
8:29that seize your calf in the middle of
8:30the night and wake you out of a dead
8:32sleep.
8:33Potassium and its partner magnesium help
8:35your muscles contract and then relax
8:37properly. Come up short and they can
8:39lock up.
8:41I'll be straight with you about one
8:42thing. A banana is not a magnesium
8:44powerhouse. It gives you about 8% of a
8:47day's worth, which is a pleasant bonus,
8:49not the main event. The potassium is the
8:51star.
8:52But for the everyday business of keeping
8:54your heartbeat regular and your muscles
8:56from cramping, two bananas a day is a
8:58quietly excellent habit. There is a
9:00reason you see bananas at the side of
9:02every tennis court and in the hand of
9:04every marathon runner and it isn't
9:06marketing. In 2012, researchers at
9:09Appalachian State University ran a study
9:12published in the journal PLoS One on
9:14trained cyclists during long grueling
9:17rides.
9:18They compared eating bananas to drinking
9:20a standard sports drink. The bananas
9:22kept the athletes just as well fueled
9:24with blood sugar just as steady as the
9:26sports drink did. And the banana came
9:29with antioxidants and nutrients the
9:31sports drink simply didn't have. Now,
9:33you're probably not riding 40 miles on a
9:36bike, but the principle is exactly what
9:38you want for a long walk, an afternoon
9:40in the garden, or an active day chasing
9:43the grandkids.
9:44A banana gives you natural, usable
9:46energy that arrives steady, rather than
9:49as a sharp spike and crash, especially
9:51remember, if it's on the firmer side.
9:54It's real food your body knows how to
9:56use. That's a far better companion for
9:58an active hour than a cereal bar or a
10:00cookie.
10:02Let me pause for one quick favor,
10:03because this is a natural spot for it.
10:06If any of this has been useful to you,
10:08please subscribe, tap the like button,
10:10and leave me a comment telling me how
10:12you take your bananas, green and firm,
10:15or soft and sweet. I read every one, and
10:18it honestly shapes what I make for you
10:20next. That's it. Now, let's talk about
10:23what a banana does once the sun goes
10:25down. You've probably heard that a
10:27banana can help you sleep or lift your
10:29mood because of something called
10:30tryptophan.
10:32There's a real kernel of truth in there,
10:34and there's also a popular exaggeration
10:36I want to clear up, because you're smart
10:38enough to want the honest version.
10:40Here's the true part. Bananas do contain
10:43tryptophan, which is a building block
10:45your body uses to make serotonin, the
10:47calming, feel-good chemical. And
10:50serotonin, in turn, helps make
10:51melatonin, the hormone that brings on
10:54sleep. Bananas are also unusually rich
10:57in vitamin B6 for a fruit. A single one
11:00gives you around a quarter of your day's
11:01worth, and B6 is a required helper in
11:04that whole conversion. So, the raw
11:06materials really are there.
11:08Now, the honest catch. Eating one banana
11:11does not flood your brain with serotonin
11:14and make you happy on command. That is a
11:16myth. The tryptophan from a food has to
11:18compete with other nutrients just to get
11:21into the brain, and the amount in a
11:22banana is modest. So, don't expect it to
11:25work like a sleeping pill or an
11:27antidepressant, because it won't. What
11:29is fair to say is this, as part of a
11:31calmer evening, a lighter dinner, less
11:34screen time, a warm drink, a banana
11:37quietly supplies some of the raw
11:39materials your body uses to wind down.
11:42If you struggle with sleep, having one
11:44of your two bananas in the evening is a
11:46small, harmless thing that fits that
11:48pattern. Just keep your expectations
11:50honest, and don't reach for the overly
11:52ripe, sugary one right before bed.
11:56Two more things bananas do that surprise
11:58people, and then I need to give you an
11:59important warning.
12:01The first is what a banana can do for a
12:03sensitive stomach. If you've ever had
12:05heartburn, gastritis, or a touchy gut,
12:08you may have noticed a banana is one of
12:10the few things that goes down easy.
12:12There's real science under that. In a
12:14laboratory study published back in 1999
12:17in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology,
12:20a compound found in unripe banana was
12:23shown to thicken the protective layer of
12:25mucus lining the stomach.
12:27That mucus is the barrier that shields
12:29your stomach wall from its own acid.
12:31I'll be careful here. That was a study
12:33on an isolated compound, not a promise
12:36that bananas cure ulcers, but it fits
12:38what a lot of people notice, and
12:40combined with the fiber and resistant
12:42starch we talked about, it is part of
12:44why a banana is so gentle and so good
12:47for keeping you regular.
12:49The second is a fact almost no one
12:50knows. That same banana contains
12:53dopamine. Yes,
12:55the same name as the brain chemical.
12:57Inside the fruit, it works as a powerful
12:59antioxidant, one of the compounds that
13:02mops up the daily cellular damage that
13:04ages us.
13:05To be clear, the dopamine in a banana
13:07does not travel up to your brain and
13:09give you a lift. It does its work as an
13:12antioxidant inside the fruit and inside
13:15you.
13:16But it's one more reason this cheap,
13:18ordinary fruit punches well above its
13:20weight. Now the warning, and please
13:23don't skip it, because for a small
13:25number of people, everything I've said
13:27flips around.
13:28Potassium is wonderful right up until
13:30your body can't clear it. Your kidneys
13:33are what keep your potassium in a safe
13:35range. If you have advanced kidney
13:36disease or you're on dialysis, your
13:39kidneys may not be able to get rid of
13:40the extra and potassium can build up in
13:43your blood to a level that becomes
13:44dangerous for your heart rhythm.
13:46The same caution applies if you take
13:48certain blood pressure medications.
13:50The ones called ACE inhibitors or ARBs
13:53or a water pill called spironolactone
13:57because they can raise your potassium,
13:58too.
13:59For these folks, a couple of bananas a
14:01day may genuinely be too much.
14:04So, here is the clear line. If you have
14:06normal kidney function and you're
14:08generally healthy, two bananas a day is
14:10a safe, excellent habit for the vast
14:12majority of people.
14:14But, if you have kidney disease, you're
14:16on dialysis, or you take one of those
14:18medications, talk to your doctor or a
14:20dietitian before you load up on
14:22potassium-rich foods.
14:24That warning is for that group and only
14:26that group. For everyone else, two
14:29bananas a day is a green light.
14:31Let me tell you about someone. I'm going
14:33to call her Ruth and she's really a
14:35blend of several people I've cared for
14:37over the years, so nobody's privacy is
14:39on the line.
14:40Ruth was 66 and she had been told years
14:43earlier to cut bananas out because she
14:45was watching her weight and her blood
14:46sugar had started creeping up.
14:48So, she banished them and instead her
14:51afternoon slump got filled with whatever
14:53was in the cupboard. A couple of
14:54cookies, some crackers, a granola bar
14:57that was basically a candy bar in
14:59disguise.
15:00Her blood pressure was sitting a little
15:01high. Her energy sagged every single
15:04afternoon.
15:05We didn't do anything dramatic. I asked
15:07her to do two things. Bring bananas
15:09back, two a day, but buy them firm and
15:12green and eat them before the spots
15:14came.
15:15And use one of them to replace that
15:17afternoon cookie habit. That was it. I
15:20want to be honest about what happened
15:21because I'm not here to sell you a
15:23miracle. Her blood pressure didn't
15:25magically drop into perfect numbers
15:27overnight.
15:28But over a couple of months with that
15:30one swap and a few other small changes,
15:32it drifted down noticeably.
15:34The afternoon crash softened because a
15:36firm banana gives steadier energy than a
15:39cookie ever did.
15:40She stopped feeling ruled by the
15:42cupboard at 3:00 in the afternoon. And
15:44the thing she told me she was most
15:46grateful for was simple. She had stopped
15:48feeling guilty about a fruit that was
15:50helping her the whole time. The banana
15:52was never her problem. The sugary snack
15:54that took its place was.
15:56So, let's pull this together into
15:57something you can actually do starting
15:59today.
16:00One, aim for two bananas a day. That's
16:03the sweet spot. Enough to meaningfully
16:05close that potassium gap without
16:07overdoing the sugar or the calories.
16:10Two, buy them a little green and eat
16:12them while they're still firm. That's
16:14when you get the resistant starch, the
16:15gentler effect on your blood sugar, and
16:17the steadier energy. The brown spots
16:20mean the sugar has arrived.
16:22Three, use a banana to replace the worst
16:24snack in your day. The cookie, the
16:26chips, the pastry. That single swap is
16:29where most of the real benefit hides.
16:31Four, if sleep is your struggle, have
16:34one of them in the evening as part of
16:35winding down. Just not the overly ripe
16:37one right before bed. Five, and if you
16:40have kidney disease, you're on dialysis,
16:42or you take an ACE inhibitor, an ARB, or
16:45spironolactone, check with your doctor
16:47first. For everyone else, this is one of
16:49the simplest, cheapest, most genuinely
16:52good for you habits I know. That's it.
16:55If this helped you see an ordinary
16:56banana a little differently, do me that
16:59quick favor. Subscribe, give it a like,
17:02and leave a comment. It genuinely helps
17:04me keep making these for you. Take good
17:06care of yourself and be kind to that
17:08body of yours. It's the only one you
17:10get. I'm Dr. John Myers, and I'll see
17:12you soon.

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