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One of the biggest food myths that keeps rearing its ugly head is that carbs are bad for you. At some point you’ve probably heard all about how carbohydrates can make you gain weight and should be eliminated from your diet in order to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
There are refined carbs — like white bread, white rice, and potato chips — and then there are unrefined carbs that contain fiber and plenty of healthy nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. Those types of carbs are important — and can actually help you lose weight.
This is the one carb you can eat all you want without gaining weight.
Bananas
There are really few foods, save for celery and lettuce maybe, that you can eat all you want without gaining weight, since weight gain is as simple as taking in an excess number of calories that the body can’t use as energy. With that said, eating one banana a day is one of the best uses of your daily carb intake imaginable.
Bananas are made up of 23 percent carbohydrates, according to Healthline, which isn’t the highest you’ll find (healthy foods like buckwheat and raw oats have a far greater percentage of carbs). But when you examine the nutrients that make up that carb content, it’s easier to see why this is an excellent fruit to pack in your daily lunch tote.
When you’re reading labels for carbohydrate content, it’s also important to examine the breakdown of those carbs. In the case of bananas, if one medium banana has 27 grams of carbohydrates, 3.1 grams is made up of fiber, which fills you up and boosts your digestive system, and 14 grams is sugar, which can be used for fast fuel (making this the perfect pre-workout snack). It’s important to remember that this sugar content isn’t exactly low, so one banana a day is a good goal — but considering how filling they are, you probably won’t be tempted to eat an entire bunch of bananas.
The number of nutrients in your average banana also cancels out the carb factor — unlike with potato chips or processed and refined carbs, bananas contain a wealth of vitamins and minerals. Bananas are a great source of potassium, which can lower your blood pressure and contribute to better heart health, vitamins B6 and C and manganese.
If you're up to your ears in bananas and have exhausted the few ways you can whip up bananas into recipes (try these healthy banana muffins before you totally tired of bananas), this delicious smoothie is a great way to get your vitamins and minerals in a glass.
You'll need:
Ice cubes
Banana
Greek yogurt
Orange juice
Vanilla extract
Orange zest
Large orange
Flaxseed
Agave or maple syrup
