I saw this and just had to share. What are your thoughts?
Lisa Eirene
About Lisa Eirene
Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.
Tricia
I’ll have to agree…it makes sense!
Lisa Eirene
Doesn’t it? I’ve talked about this before with my own experiences eating bananas and finding that I’d crash like I ate a candy bar. But I kept resisting the fact because bananas are FRUIT and healthy! But I think it’s true.
jeanette
Not so for me…. I eat 2 bananas a day ( once in morning once in afternoon with pb) and I am satiated and satisfied. If I eat a cookie in the morning and one at night I am not content and just want more. Cookies = bananas…..I don’t think so. JMHO.
Lisa Eirene
Interesting! Goes to show you everyone is different.
Karen@WaistingTime
I don’t think they are equal in nutrients, but for me personally, I tend to not eat bananas, choosing other fruits instead, lower in calorie and on the glycemic index.
Lisa Eirene
I’ve learned my lesson with bananas and rarely eat them now. Once in awhile I crave one and I eat it, and then regret it immediately. 😛
Courtney
I think this really depends on the person. I agree with their statement overall. Your body doesn’t know if it is eating a cookie or a banana, it just knows what macro and micro nutrients it is receiving. My body usually contradicts that satiety chart. If I eat an apple I am usually ravenously hungry within 30 minutes.
I learned a lot about this kind of thing in my nutrition class. Protein keeps you full for longer compared to carbs and fat, but you will feel instantly better from eating something with sugar (natural or processed) because it is absorbed through the mouth.
tl:dr- Nutrition is crazy.
Lisa Eirene
It really IS simple: protein, fiber = better. Carbs, sugar = not as good. But this poster made me think of the book The Four Hour Body. One of the chapters talked about whether a calorie was a calorie…like could you eat 1900 calories a day of cookies and weigh the same as someone who ate 1900 calories of veggies?
Courtney
I think you definitely could as long as you were maintaining the same amount of activity. Kind of like the guy who did the potato diet and the other who lost weight on a Twinkie diet. Obviously, you should diversify your food intake, but it is possible.
Sarah
I’ve known for a long time that bananas have the same satiety index with regard to the glycemic index. That being said, I think bananas are an excellent source of potassium and good when combined into a meal with a good source of lean protein. The chart puts me off a little bit because it feels like they’re trying to vilify another food. Everything in moderation!
Lisa Eirene
Good point! The common comment I’m getting is people eat bananas with peanut butter and that helps them.
Sarah
I’m a big fan of putting peanut butter and bananas into oatmeal. 😀 Well, that’s how I eat my bananas anyhow.
Lisa Eirene
I have not tried the banana and oatmeal thing yet, or adding peanut butter. I should try that. I might be converted back to bananas. 😉
Jill
I think it depends on the person. I can eat bananas and feel good. They don’t seem to cause me any crashing. They are my favorite fruit and I am glad they don’t cause me any problems.
Jess
I just had a banana for breakfast (Not really hungry this morning!). You’re telling me I could have had a cookie instead! Damn, should really blog read before breakfast, huh?
Lisa Eirene
😉 Let me know how that works out for you next time!!!!
Jodi @ Jodi, Fat or Not
I gave up bananas for a month (I was eating at least one a day for a WHILE) and just started eating them again. My system just likes them, whether it’s the potassium or even the sugar, I feel better eating a banana every day. In fact, I didn’t have any yesterday and really missed it! But like the people who commented I’ve started to make sure i pair them with protein and fat to stay fuller longer.
Lisa Eirene
If you love it, EAT it! That’s what I say. And I used to love bananas. I ate them all the time until I couldn’t take the crash afterwards anymore. But every once in awhile I have a peanut butter and banana sandwich and it’s delicious. 🙂
Sable@SquatLikeALady
In terms of satiety alone, and in *my* personal experience, yeah, bananas are on par with cookies. Possibly even less satisfying because let’s face it, they don’t taste as good! 😉 Of course there’s the whole micro-nutrient issue that is absolutely important and should be considered but if we’re just talking about satiety, give me a cookie over a banana any day of the week!
Lisa Eirene
I’m with you. I’d rather have the cookie. 😉
It’s a very personal experience and while I don’t mean to demonize bananas because they are healthy and nutritious, I am now avoiding them as much as I can. What’s weird is that if I put a banana in a smoothie, I do not have the same sugar crash.
Deb
I finally read this… and it sounds pretty true. Bananas are delicious, so are cookies. And both of them keep my tummy happy for about 20 minutes at best… lol. And like cookies, once I eat one banana, I want to keep on eating them. It doesn’t end til one or the other is gone. Meh. Shame on you, banana!
Lisa Eirene
That’s funny! ODing on bananas!
Diane, fit to the finish
I just do not like to single out foods or food groups to eliminate unless they are obviously unhealthy like Twinkies. 🙂
I think it has been shown that you really can lose weight eating junk if you keep the calories low, but to me, if you are eating whole, healthy foods, you can choose those that you enjoy as long as your calories are within line of your goals. I am positively stuffed after eating an apple but not at all stuffed after eating the same number of calories in candy.
Lisa Eirene
I experience the same–full after I eat an apple (which is my usually morning snack choice) but not so with bananas for me. It’s odd.
Kelly
Really interesting post! I run a blog for a residential weight loss center in Durham NC and may have to run this pic by our dietitians to see what they think. I do agree that pairing protein with the sugar/carb (like the peanut butter and banana example you mentioned) will go a long way in prolonging our satiety. I do hope that the chart doesn’t cause people to swear off bananas. Just because they have a naturally higher sugar content than other fruit doesn’t mean their nutritional content isn’t beneficial-at least the sugar isn’t in the form of high fructose corn syrup or some other form of processed additive. I love having one as a snack before exercise!
Lisa Eirene
My intention was in no way demonizing the banana. I still eat them, just not as frequently. I would love to hear what your dietitians say about the poster! And yes, I would much rather get my sugar from fruit than actual candy or HFCS.