We all have a preference for how ripe (or unripe) bananas are.
However, each bite could provide very different nutrients depending on when you choose to eat them.
Taking to TikTok, NHS doctor Dr Karan Raj said: “Each stage of a banana offers a completely different nutritional profile.”
While overripe bananas with brown dots indicate higher catechin levels, an antioxidant also found in green tea that is good for heart health and inflammation, underripe bananas contain particularly good properties for one group.
The amount of fibre you get from eating one changes slightly depending on how ripe a banana is. This is particularly useful for those with diabetes because getting enough fibre can help manage the disease.
While fibre is always present in bananas, Dr Raj explains that the fibre drops slightly when a banana is overripe.
For those with diabetes, an underripe and green banana contains 3.5g of fibre per 100g, which can help control blood sugar fluctuations and general gut health.
For diabetics looking to increase fibre in their diet, eating bananas that are still green in colour is an easy way to do this. At the underripe stage, it’s also lower in sugar, with only 10g per 100g compared to 17g in an overripe, brown banana.
According to Diabetes UK, foods with a high source of fibre are lower in glycaemic index, which can help control appetite and have less of an effect on glucose levels. This is crucial to managing the disease and preventing blood sugar spikes.
Increasing your intake of fibre can also help reduce the risk of cardio-metabolic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and obesity, which diabetics are at higher risk of.
Bananas are also a great way of keeping the gut healthy, which is important to general health and well-being. In their early stages of ripening, bananas can “act like a prebiotic to feed your gut bacteria and leave your microbiome happier,” says Dr Raj.
According to Diabetes UK, studies have shown that people with type 2 diabetes have a less diverse and less balanced gut microbiome than healthy individuals. Eating bananas while slightly underripe is an easy way of supporting good bacteria in the gut.
