The reason why some doctors say to not eat bananas is because of medication interactions, blood sugar management, people with kidney disease and for migraines.
These are the 4 main reasons why some doctors tell their patients not to eat bananas or to avoid bananas.
Bananas are healthy to eat, although bananas are also highly concentrated in potassium as well as natural sugars.
So bananas can cause serious health complications for some people with certain medical conditions like kidney disease or kidney failure or other medical conditions and for people that take certain specific prescription medications that bananas could interact with.
The tyramine that is found in bananas can also act as a trigger for migraines or even severe headaches in some people who eat the bananas.
A medium sized banana also contains around 26 grams of carbohydrates as well as naturally occurring sugars that can cause significant blood sugar spikes, which can be bad for people with diabetes, especially uncontrolled diabetes.
And people with kidney disease should limit or avoid bananas as the kidneys are responsible for filtering out excess potassium out of the bloodstream.
So for people with chronic kidney disease, the persons doctor will restrict banana intake to prevent potassium from accumulating to dangerous or even fatal levels in the body.
Bananas are also rich in potassium and if you take ACE inhibitors or beta blockers for high blood pressure or heart failure, eating potassium rich foods can cause dangerous potassium buildup called hyperkalemia, which leads to irregular heartbeats.
Bananas are healthy for most people, but people with kidney disease and diabetes should watch or limit their intake of bananas or may want to avoid them.
Even nutrition experts consider one to two bananas a day completely safe for most healthy adults, as they provide essential nutrients like fiber, potassium, and vitamin B6.
A medium banana contains about 105 calories, 27 grams of carbohydrates, and 14 grams of natural sugars.
As long as the banana is part of a balanced diet, it's a great habit.
However, if you have specific dietary restrictions, you should be mindful:
Diabetes: The carbohydrate content can cause blood sugar spikes, so portion size and pairing it with protein is important.
Kidney Disease: Because bananas are rich in potassium, individuals with impaired kidney function must monitor their intake to avoid high blood levels of the mineral.