I was on Facebook the other day and noticed on someone’s wall that they commented on the shock on how many calories a banana has. According to Livestrong, a small banana between 6 inches and 6 7/8 inches contains about 90 calories, 0.33 g of fat and 23.1 g of carbohydrates.

90 calories is not bad…yes, the sugars don’t look too great on the “box” at 12 grams a banana however what most people aren’t looking at are the benefits of bananas. With the Queen City welcoming Chiquita to the city, I figured this was a good post on the benefits of eating a banana a day.

Lifescript had a great article on the benefits of eating bananas, here’s a summary:

• Bananas have natural vitamins which give you energy (Try and eat a banana in the afternoon instead of coffee to help get that natural energy
• As many people know, they have LOTS of potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain.
• Bananas help bowel health. (Enough said)
• Had no idea…Bananas have a chemical called tryptophan – the same chemical that turkey contains.
• The natural ingredients in bananas and their ability to replenish the body’s vitamins make them an ideal way to reduce the effects of a hangover.

Other uses of Bananas:

• Rubbing the inside of a banana along a mosquito bite will help reduce the itching and swelling
• To stop ulcers, bananas help to reduce the acidity that some foods can leave in the stomach.
• To get rid of a wart, use the outside of the banana peel to get rid of it.

So the point here is…don’t stop your intake on bananas because of the amount of calories a banana has.  Bananas are healthy calories, good all around and important for your health.