Are Bananas Keto Friendly? All You Need To Know In 2024

Many people who maintain a healthy lifestyle consume bananas. Eating one medium banana a day can help you get plenty of fiber as well as a good serving of healthy vitamins. Since they do have so many health benefits, you might wonder, are bananas keto friendly?

However, if you are following a keto diet, you will have to avoid eating bananas. Even one tiny banana can contain enough carbohydrates to get your body out of ketosis. If you want to incorporate bananas into your ketogenic diet, you will have to find some low-carb banana substitutes.

Banana Nutrition Facts

Bananas are a great food that offers rich amounts of fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and vitamin C. Despite all of these nutrients, bananas are high in carbohydrates and have zero grams of fat. Bananas are the opposite of foods you want to consume while on a keto diet.

One medium-ripe banana contains about: 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 28 grams of carbohydrate, 15 grams of natural sugar, and  3 grams of fiber.

Health Benefits Of Bananas

While you may have thought bananas are just full of sugar, they are actually quite healthy. For someone eating a regular diet, there are many health benefits of bananas.

• Reduce inflammation: A study published in the Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences^[1] showed that bananas are high in antioxidants and have the potential as a medicine to treat many different diseases. Antioxidants are known to reduce inflammation and reduce the risk of chronic health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.
• Help with digestion: According to the United States Department of Agriculture, adults should consume at least 14g of fiber per 1,000 calories of food. For most people, this equals roughly 28g per day. Unfortunately, most Americans consume far less than the recommended daily amount of fiber each day. While one banana does not contain enough fiber to meet those goals, it does help get you there.
• Easy on the Gastrointestinal System: Bananas are easy to digest and have plenty of fiber. In fact, pediatricians sometimes recommend a diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast for children who are sick with gastrointestinal viruses. Children can undoubtedly consume bananas as part of a healthy diet, but they are especially helpful for children with nausea or diarrhea. These starchy, easy-to-digest fruits give children the calories and nutrients they need while recovering from a viral illness.
• Give you energy: The high sugar and carbohydrate content of a small banana isn’t always a bad thing. Many athletes eat bananas before long endurance races to give them a boost of energy before their event. In fact, extreme endurance swimmers^[2] who successfully completed a marathon swim in the Lake of Zurich reportedly consumed bananas as their main source of fuel during their race.
• Weight Loss: Are bananas good for weight loss? Despite being off-limits on a keto diet, bananas can be included as part of a healthy weight-loss diet. Since bananas are low in calories and high in fiber, they are generally a healthy food choice.

Fruits And Veggies With Similar Nutritional Characteristics

Fortunately, there are some fruits that share many of the health benefits of bananas, but with fewer carbs.

Some keto-friendly fruits include:

• Blueberries: Many people are aware of the benefits of blueberries including their high antioxidant content and high fiber.
• Avocado: Avocado is a great choice if you are looking for something to add texture to your baking dishes or to put on a sandwich. 
• Olives: Olives are a great low-carb replacement for bananas. Keto dieters can replace just one banana with 186 olives and get the same carb-count. Olives contain lots of heart-healthy fats, fiber, and vitamin E. 
• Coconut: Coconuts are high-fat foods, a low-carbohydrate snack that can take the place of a banana. Coconut oil can replace bananas in some recipes, and coconut flakes can be eaten as a filling snack. 
• Tomatoes: Tomatoes, like bananas, contain plenty of antioxidants. However, tomatoes have less than 4g of carbohydrates per serving.

Using a good keto app can help you track your carbohydrates, find low-carb banana substitutes, and watch your weight loss progress.

The Way To Eat Banana On A Keto Diet

Keto Banana Bread

If you are trying to transform bananas into a more keto-friendly food, you can try making banana keto bread. Banana keto bread contains just one banana per loaf, allowing you to incorporate bananas without raising the carbohydrates too high.

Keto Banana Cookies

Like keto banana bread, making keto cookies with just one banana allows you to have a banana flavor without going over your allotted carbs for the day.

Natural Banana Extract

The banana extract gives you the chance to add banana flavor to any kind of recipe without the carbohydrates. Natural banana extract is made from water, sugar alcohol, and real bananas. This replicates the taste of a ripe banana quite well.

If you are trying to lose weight while on a ketogenic diet, it may help to add a supplement like Keto Complete. These types of supplements can help you maintain ketosis while on your low-carb eating plan.

3 Keto Bananas Substitutes 

Since it is so difficult to make bananas keto-friendly, you may want to use a more keto-friendly substitute instead.

Chia Seeds With Banana Extract

Banana extract with Chia seeds can be added to pudding, keto oatmeal, or smoothies to give them both banana flavor and texture. They are an excellent source of fiber and other nutrients and are good for a keto diet.

Avocado With Banana Extract

While they don’t taste the same, avocados have a similar texture to bananas. Keto-friendly avocados with some banana extract can be added to recipes to give them a creamy texture and banana flavor. Avocados are high in fat and low in carbohydrates, making them a perfect choice for someone on a keto diet.

Cottage Cheese With Banana Extract

Cottage cheese contains only 4.3 grams of fiber per serving and has a very mild taste. With a little banana extract, cottage cheese can have an authentic banana flavor. You can combine other low-carb fruits in a bowl of cottage cheese to add even more flavor and variety to your diet.

Conclusion

Although bananas have a lot of health benefits, you should avoid eating bananas while on a ketogenic diet. Even one tiny banana can contain enough carbohydrates to get your body out of ketosis. One medium banana contains more carbohydrates than most people can consume in an entire day while on a keto diet.

Frequently Asked Questions

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