Banana chips are everyone’s favourite food. Today let us discuss nutrients in banana chips and whether they are good for your health.
This will help you to solve your doubts and health queries regarding banana chips.
Below is the data were taken for the USDA website which is considered a reliable source of information regarding the contents of food.
You can go through this data quickly so that we can discuss it and analyse some facts based on that.
| Water | 3 gm |
| Protein | 1.6 gm |
| Carbs | 42 gm |
| Total fatSaturated fatsMono unsaturated Poly unsaturated | 24.2 gm20 gm1.5 gm0.456 gm |
| Energy | 372 Cal |
| Fibres | 5.55 gm |
| Sugars | 25.4 |
| Calcium | 13 mg |
| Iron | 0.9 mg |
| Magnesium | 54.7 mg |
| Phosphorus | 40 mg |
| Sodium | 4 mg |
| Vitamin C | 4.5 mg |
| Thiamin | 0.061 mg |
| Riboflavin | 0.012 mg |
| Niacin | 0.511 mg |
| Vitamin B-6 | 0.187 mg |
| Folate total | 10.1 µg |
| Vitamin A | 2.88 µg |
| Beta carotene | 24.5 µg |
Banana chips contents course: USDA in cup or 72 grams of banana chips
Banana chips nutritional value
As you can see in the above chart showing data taken from USDA shows the nutritional values that banana chips contain.
All the above numbers are given for the banana chips 72 gm or 1 cup serving. It shows that one serving of banana chips contain 372 Calories, 42 gm of sugars and 24 gm of fats. Another value that is significant is dietary fibres that are around 5.5 gm.
Most of the time banana chips are advertised and marketed as beneficial because of dietary fibres and vitamins in it. In fact it contains miniscule amount of vitamins.
Benefits for health
There are few benefits of banana chips.
- It is good when you eat energy dense food like when you are participating in some vigorous physical activity or sports.
- It indeed contains dietary fibres and they are helpful for digestion.
- Banana chips is a good junk food loaded with lots of energy and relatively small amounts of fibres.
Not good for health
Though there are some benefits of banana chips if you are vigorously active there are effects that are not good for health.
- Lots of calories that are easily available. Yes you may not restrict yourself to single serving because of its very nice taste. It will simply add lots of calories to your diet.
- Weight gain: As a source of simple sugars and more lipids you may gain weight if you consume them regularly.
- Some preparations may have added sugars and salts to enhance the taste and that may cause you hypertension in the long run.
- They may contain added spices and coloring agents that may not be good if consumed excessively.
- If the oil used in the process of cooking and frying is used repeatedly, it may undergo changes and form lipid forms that may be dangerous for consumption in the long run.
- They may not be fresh when you consume it and may not be good for health if not consumed fresh.
- They may contain preservatives like all other readymade foods. If preservatives are used beyond the limit they may be harmful for the people consuming it.
Should you totally avoid banana chips?
Anything in excess is bad for health even if it is good food. You should buy them from a trusted place or you should cook them for your family.
Considering it is not healthy food you should eat that once or twice a month for a change of taste. It is not good for daily consumption.
If you have any additional co-morbidity like diabetes and hypertension you should follow your doctor’s advice regarding that.
Additional health tips:
- You should drink an adequate amount of water.
- Avoid drinking carbonated drinks as they also provide refined easily digestible calories.
- Stay physically active and regular exercise.
- Also eat other fruits like apples, oranges, and fruits locally available in your area.
- Avoid smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol.
- You may like to read about banana allergy.