Depressed? Try eating bananas

Among people suffering depression, many feel much better after eating a banana.

“This is because bananas contain a natural mood enhancer called tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts to serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier,” the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) said yesterday.

Serotonin is known to make the body feel relaxed and improve one’s mood, preventing seasonal depression, the reports said.

The “Daily Nutritional Guide Pyramid for Filipino Adults,” developed by the FNRI, recommends two to three servings of fruits (1 serving = 1 medium size or 1 slice of big fruit) to meet the daily requirement.

This means two to three pieces of bananas a day, providing 20-30 grams of carbohydrates and 80-120 kilocalories, the FNRI said.

The Institute added that bananas such as saba, gloria and latundan contain 400 milligrams of potassium, making it a source of instant energy.

Like most fruits, banana contains no fat, sodium or cholesterol. A low fat balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer.

Banana is also rich in vitamins A, C, K and B6, fiber, and magnesium. Lack of vitamin B6 in the diet can cause weakness, irritability, and insomia. Vitamin B6 regulates blood glucose level which can affect your mood, the FNRI added.

Vitamin K helps regulate blood pressure and may reduce the risks of high blood and stroke. It is also essential in helping muscles contract properly during exercise to reduce cramps. Banana contains plenty of carbohydrates, the body’s main source of energy.

The fruit can be a substitute for sweets to satisfy sugar craving, the FNRI said.

“The convenience and superb nutritional value of banana makes it a wonderful post-exercise snack to recharge the body.”

The FNRI also stressed that banana is good for babies as a first solid food because it has no fat, which makes it easy to digest, although some infants are allergic to the fruit. It also meets the energy needs of growing children.

Meanwhile, reports said many people found tryptophan to be a safe and reasonably effective sleep aid, probably due to its ability to increase brain levels of serotonin (a calming neurotransmitter when present in moderate levels) and/or melatonin (a sleep inducing hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to darkness or low light levels).

“Clinical research tended to confirm tryptophan’s effectiveness as a natural sleep aid and for a growing variety of other conditions typically associated with low serotonin levels or activity in the brain,” the reports said.

The FNRI, an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology, is the principal research arm of the government in food and nutrition.

[Thanks, E.* for this email.]