Health experts have revealed there are nutritional benefits to eating bananas that are still slightly green and underripe – and why you shouldn’t throw away the peel.
Green bananas appear not to taste as sweet, contain less sugar than the ripe fruits and contain more healthy starches.
Dietitian from Sydney Susie Burrell told FEMAIL that green bananas contain high-resistant starch, which is beneficial for intestinal health.
“Green bananas in particular provide a significant dose of the powerful prebiotic resistant starch that has been linked to a number of positive health outcomes,” she said.
‘Then we have resistance starch, a type of fiber that remains undigested until it reaches the colon, where it helps produce good bacteria that help keep the gut healthy.
Sydney-based dietitian Susie Burrell (pictured) told FEMAIL that green bananas have additional health benefits because they lose dietary fiber as they ripen
‘Resistance starch is only found in a few specific foods, including cooked, refrigerated potatoes and green bananas.’
Susie suggested that those who prefer yellow, ripe bananas use green banana flour which can be used in baking or added to smoothies.
According to HealthlineUnripe bananas contain mainly resistant starch that breaks down as they become yellower and browner.
As they ripen, the starch is converted into simple sugars, so yellow bananas contain only 1 percent starch.
Green bananas are also a good source of pectin, a dietary fiber that helps fruits maintain their structural shape.
Resistant starch and pectin can improve blood sugar control and digestion and have been linked to an increased feeling of fullness after eating.
Susie, who is co-host The food bank podcast, which reportedly preserves banana peels and adds them to smoothies, baked goods and curries to significantly increase the fruit’s nutritional intake.
Green bananas appear not to taste as sweet, contain less sugar than the ripe fruits and contain more healthy starches
“Specifically, you will increase your total fiber content by at least 10 percent because there is a lot of dietary fiber in the peel of the banana,” she said.
‘You get almost 20 percent more vitamin B6 and almost 20 percent more vitamin C and you increase both your potassium and magnesium intake.’
She suggested boiling the peels to soften them, make them edible and increase their nutritional value.
‘Rather than cooking the skin to soften it, it breaks down some of the cell walls in the skin, making the nutrients easier to absorb,’ explains Susie.
‘Then, mixing the skin into recipes or smoothies is the most practical way to use them. Here you increase the volume and nutritional value of recipes with minimal change in the taste and texture of the cooking process.’
Susie recommended making smoothies with whole, unpeeled bananas by removing each end and chopping them into small pieces.
“For recipes like muffins or banana bread, an easy way is to cook the peel first before mixing it into the recipe,” she advised.