9 Surprising Banana Benefits That Go Beyond Your Daily Dose of Potassium

A banana is an elongated, edible fruit botanically a berry produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. 

9 Surprising Banana Benefits That Go Beyond Your Daily Dose of Potassium.

Bananas not only taste delicious, but they're also packed with potassium, antioxidants, vitamins, biotin and minerals that nourish your hair and skin. Here are some of the many benefits of bananas.

1. Get a Boost of Energy

Need a little pick-me-up during the middle of the day? Bananas have a combination of complex carbs, amino acids, natural sugars and other minerals that provide a natural energy boost.

2. Moisturize Skin

Bananas are the secret to well moisturized skin. The vitamin A in bananas restores moisture and repairs dry skin. Mash a ripe banana and apply it to dry skin, avoiding contact with your eyes. Leave on for 20-25 minutes, then wash off with lukewarm water for instantly moisturized skin. This LOVLUV Real Milky Banana Face Mask will also leave your face hydrated.

3. Condition Hair

Bananas offer many natural benefits to keep your hair looking fabulous, like folic acid that makes hair shine, while also keeping it moisturized and well hydrated. Try making our two-ingredient deep-conditioning hair mask for super soft strands.

4. Treat Dry Feet

The moisturizing benefits of bananas are also great for treating dry, cracked heels. Mash two ripe bananas and apply to clean, dry feet. Leave on for 10 minutes, then rinse feet with lukewarm water. The nourishing banana pulp will give you soft feet.

5. Relieve Tired and Puffy Eyes

Banana peels can be used to reduce puffy eyes. Enjoy a banana for breakfast, lie down and gently place the banana peels on your eyes. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, remove the peels and rinse with cool water for a bright, refreshed look.

6. Relieve Itchy Mosquito Bites

The sugars in the banana peel help draw the fluid out of itchy mosquito bites. Sanitize the affected area first, then rub the inside of the peel on the bite. Banana peels also help relieve the itch from poison ivy when used the same way.

7. Treat Acne

Bananas have anti-inflammatory properties which reduce the appearance and redness of acne. There’s been some success treating acne blemishes by gently rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana peel for a few minutes, rinsing with cool water and repeating a few times a day.

8. Sleep Better

Try eating a banana before bed if you’re having trouble falling asleep (try these other foods, too). The potassium and magnesium in bananas help relax muscles and promote sleep.

9. Whiten Teeth

Ripe banana peels can also be used to help whiten teeth. Cut off a piece of the peel and gently rub the inner part over your teeth for a couple of minutes. Wait about 10 minutes before you brush with toothpaste. Repeat 1-2 times for best results.

The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, Musa sapientum, is no longer used.

Skincare benefits:

Skin moisturizer

“Bananas are the secret to a well-nourished skin as it helps keep it hydrated. It also helps moisturize dry skin, making it soft and supple. Vitamin A in banana restores the skin’s moisture and smoothens out the rough texture by healing dry and parched skin,” says Plabita Sharma, skincare expert, The Body Shop.

Bananas are considered a superfood. Many people also use bananas as a face pack and hair mask. Beauty experts believe that bananas are very beneficial for hair and skin as well. Eating the fruit on a daily basis can also enhance your beauty along with your health. Bananas contain antioxidants in rich quantities and hold various nutrients that directly affect our skin tissue to make our skin more beautiful.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of this easily available and wonderful fruit.

Oil control

Bananas act as a great exfoliator and help in sloughing off excess sebum on the skin’s surface.

Anti-aging effects

Bananas contain high level of antioxidants and act as nature’s Botox, preventing fine lines and wrinkles from forming.

Treats acne

Bananas are loaded with many nutrients like vitamin A, zinc, and manganese, which are anti-inflammatory. Rubbing a banana peel on your face acts as a blemish banisher, and also helps in treating acne.

Makes skin soft

 In bananas, potassium and manganese are found in abundance, which are very essential elements for making our skin soft and healthy. Manganese helps in increasing the amount of collagen in human skin. Collagen is a type of protein produced by the skin cells and helps in softening the skin and removes aging signs on the face.

Conclusion

Banana is one of the most consumed fruit as it is easily available across the globe. But this fruit is not only tasty to eat, it also has multiple benefits for one’s health, skin, and even hair. While eating banana helps boost energy, its puree is an excellent way to get amazing skin and silky and smooth hair. It is also useful to fight off premature aging of the skin. Hence, it is a great idea to include banana in your beauty regimen and enjoy the benefits of the fruit which is rich in potassium and vitamin A, B, and C. Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between "bananas" and "plantains". Especially in the Americas and Europe, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains". In other regions, such as Southeast Asia, many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the binary distinction is not as useful and is not made in local languages.