It is just so easy to gain weight. Right now two out of three men and one out of two women are overweight. Why do people put on excess body fat? The answer is surprisingly simple. People gain weight because they eat more kilojoules than they burn during the day. The excess kilojoules are stored as body fat.
The most effective way to lose weight is to burn more kilojoules during the day (increase activity) and eat less kilojoules, mainly by eating less fatty foods and cutting back on alcoholic drinks. Wholesome carbohydrate foods are rarely the cause of anyone getting fat.
You certainly won’t get fat on a banana. Bananas have a high satiety effect, that is, they are very filling for the amount of kilojoules they provide. A medium banana has 378 kJ, which is 90 Calories in the old language. Many commercial snacks are now being sold in portions that have less than 100 Calories. Well, the medium banana has been doing that for years and you get a lot more banana and a lot more nutrition than you will with most snack foods.
Bananas have fibre, a low Glycaemic Index and virtually no fat, a combination that prevents you from over-eating. Imagine eating a medium sized serve of fries. Not particularly filling are they? Imagine eating four bananas at once. You would probably stop at one or two. Well, four bananas have the same number of kilojoules as a medium fries. Bananas are so much more filling than a fatty snack for a lot less kilojoules.
If you are trying to maintain a healthy weight then eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and go easy on the fatty foods. Enjoy a banana as a snack. A banana for morning tea will easily get you through until lunch. So relax about bananas – they will help to keep you lean. As there is no fat in a banana it is almost impossible to get fat on a banana!
