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Amazing benefits of green banana!

04 May 2021

Dhow X Soulsfood Nutrition

Thimpika Sachdej, a qualified & registered nutritionist, founded and currently runs Soulsfood Nutrition (@soulsfood_nutrition). A great solution for translating scientific evidence regarding health & nutrition into daily, achievable steps to practice at the comfort of your own home. Soulsfood mainly focuses on the benefits of whole foods and a plant based diet.

Let's go bananas for Muffins 

⁣Muffins make everyone happy, but these ones in particular make our gut bacteria extremely happy! Make yourself a batch of freshly baked double banana & choc muffins!

Ingredients / yield 5 medium muffins⁣

2 ripe bananas, mashed⁣
2/3 cup Dhow Nature Foods green banana flour⁣
2/3 cup almond meal⁣
1/4 cup coconut sugar & stevia ⁣
3 tbsp cacao powder⁣
1 1/2 tsp baking powder⁣⁣⁣⁣
1/4 tsp salt⁣⁣⁣⁣
1 tbsp flax meal⁣⁣⁣⁣
2 1/2 tbsp water⁣
1/4 cup milk⁣⁣⁣ of choice⁣
1 tsp vanilla extract⁣⁣⁣⁣
1 tsp coconut cider vinegar (or acv)⁣

Method⁣⁣⁣⁣

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan-forced).⁣
2. Mix flax meal and water in a small bowl and let it sit. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
3. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.⁣⁣⁣⁣
4. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
5. Pour the wet ingredients as well as the mixture from step 2 into the dry ingredients. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
6. Mix well and transfer to the muffin tray. ⁣⁣Sprinkle some almond meal on top for the aesthetics ✨⁣
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, let them cool for 10-15 minutes and enjoy! ⁣⁣⁣⁣

Bananas at different stages of ripeness offer unique health benefits, hence the combination of both, overripe (yellow) and underripe (green) bananas in this recipe to get the best of both worlds! The perfect mid-morning, afternoon or evening snack! 

But why are green bananas's so healthy?

Bananas are a great snack and base ingredient for baked goods that are packed full of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Plus, they are creamy, sweet and delicious! While most of us would naturally reach for a yellow, ripe banana, science shows that green, underripe bananas also come with their unique benefits. And you don’t want to miss out on these health benefits!

Rich in resistant starch

While yellow, ripe bananas are sweeter in taste, green bananas are high in resistant starch. Resistant starch is a prebiotic, meaning it serves as food to your gut microbes. This kind of starch resists digestion in your stomach and ends up in your intestine where it is consumed and broken down by your friendly gut microbes. As these microbes (mainly bacteria) feed on the resistant starch from green, underripe bananas, they return the favour by providing you with beneficial compounds and short-chain fatty acids. And the cells in your colon (large intestine) rely on these short-chain fatty acids to multiply and function well.

Green bananas may not taste sweet, but they definitely make life sweeter for your gut microbes!

Lower in GI

Because green bananas are high in resistant starch and low in sugar, they do not raise your blood sugar levels rapidly the way yellow bananas do. This is why they are categorised as a low glycemic index (GI) food. The starch in green bananas needs to be broken down into sugar first, then released into the bloodstream, which occurs over a period of time. This leads to a slower and sustained release of sugar, which we all should aim for. 

This makes green bananas particularly useful for people suffering from both Type 1 and 2 diabetes as well as other metabolic diseases.

FODMAP friendly

A low-FODMAP diet has been increasingly adopted as a nutritional treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and similar digestive issues. At the core, FODMAP represents a group of naturally-occurring and artificial sugars that are fermentable in your gut. FODMAPs are not at all bad, but they can trigger symptoms for people with sensitive tummies or digestive issues. 

Green bananas are considered low-FODMAP because they don’t contain as much fructans (a kind of sugar) as yellow bananas. This makes them suitable for people for IBS, especially in the powder form like Dhow green banana flour. Monash University has lab tested green banana flour and claims it to be completely FODMAP-friendly at 100g or ⅔ cup!

Even if you have a perfectly healthy digestion, opting for a low-FODMAP option like green banana flour will put less pressure on your digestive system and allow it to rest.

Dhow's green banana flour is not only an excellent source of resistant starch, it is also packed with zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese ⎼ all the trace minerals that are essential for your organs to function well. In addition, it is gluten-free, organic and grown in a sustainable permaculture farm! 

There are so many ways to incorporate Dhow's green banana flour into your diet. For example, you can use this instead of your normal flour in baked goods such as muffins, brownies, pancakes, waffles, cookies or bliss balls. This ingredient also works well in smoothies and porridge to provide a little fibre boost!

 

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