How much potassium in a banana?

The sun is finally out here in the UK and with it comes the approach to the Wimbledon tennis championships. However, before that we have the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. As a keen tennis fan I will be glued to the television watching this for the next couple of weeks.

While watching one of the matches today, legendary former US tennis player Jim Courier raised an important point while commentating, and this was how important eating bananas is to the players. The key reason for this is that bananas contain a decent amount of potassium, and this is an essential nutrient that the body needs in order for muscles to recover, and also to provide energy. Here I am going to cover why it is important to keep your potassium levels topped up if you play sport and exercise, as well as answer the question 'how much potassium in a banana?'.

When you watch any tennis match on television you will notice that players will eat part of a banana during the change of ends, when they sit down for a brief resting period. You would also see many athletes and sportsmen/women eating these in the locker room before they head out to perform.

During the summer when the sun is out and the weather is hot and humid, competing at the top level of any sport is going to be that extra bit physically draining for the players. But the same can be said at any level, which is why if you play sport then you are going to be doing yourself a favor eating potassium rich foods in any meal you have before you play, and also to take a banana or two with you, as well as plenty of water.

A lack of fluid and potassium while you are exerting yourself playing sport and exercising, is going to lead to muscular fatigue, cramps and also dehydration. If you are going to be able to go out there for any length of time then you have to avoid these debilitating factors. This is easily done with plenty of water and also the potassium found in a banana or two.

So how much potassium is in a banana?

• Banana (raw) - 1 small banana weighing approx 3.6 oz - 361.6 milligrams of potassium
• Banana (raw) - 1 medium banana weighing approx 4.2 oz - 422.4 milligrams of potassium
  
• Banana (raw) - 1 large banana weighing approx oz - 486.9 milligrams of potassium

An adult with have approximately 140 grams of potassium in their body, and the daily recommended amount of potassium is 5 grams.

As you can see bananas are a good source of potassium and consuming a few more than you would normally before, during and after a workout is really going to help to avoid muscular fatigue, and help to give you a much needed energy boost. Let's face it, athletes such as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, along with their coaching staff, cannot be wrong!

Bananas are also available almost everywhere and cost next to nothing. They are a highly nutritious fruit that offer you a blend of other vitamins and minerals as well, so you are not just going to get the benefits of potassium when you consume them, but also a dose of vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese, and fiber too.

If you want to know more than just how much potassium is found in a banana then why not check out my page all about potassium rich foods, as well as an article I have written and published on hubpages all about the health benefits of bananas. Links to the free information on both of these are found below.

http://www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com/potassium-rich-foods-list.php

http://stevew13.hubpages.com/hub/What-are-the-health-benefits-of-bananas

What is a good breaskfast?

A healthy breakfast is something that is important for us all, and not just now and then, but every single day. What is a good breakfast though?

With breakfast being the most important meal of the day, it only seems right to highlight what constitutes a good and healthy breakfast containing many of the essential nutrients in foods.

Breakfast seems like an inconvenience to many people, taking up valuable time in the morning that they could be having that extra bit of sleep, or being a potential obstacle that could make them late for work or school. The same people probably don't see lunch and dinner as such an intrusion though do they? The main reason for that is because having skipped breakfast they are probably half starving by the time they come around! How do you think that your body is going to be fueled for the day ahead if you don't get some breakfast inside you?

You do not have to spend an hour in the kitchen cooking something for breakfast, in fact you don't really even have to eat it at home, it is something that can be started at home and also eaten on the journey ahead of you. Something like a banana is a well known Vitamin C food, high potassium food and also contains fiber, vitamin B6 and also manganese, it can be eaten at home or on the moved, and picked up just about anywhere.

One of the key things about breakfast, other than fueling your body for the morning ahead, is that it should include foods that are going to satisfy your hunger until your next meal, and prevent you from becoming hungry soon after and ending up snacking to combat this.

Here is a quick and easy solution to what a good breakfast is that anybody can memorise and get into the habit of eating:

What you need in your breakfast

I am now going to explain what the essential nutrients in foods are that you require at breakfast time, and some examples of where you will get them from.

Vitamins - There are plenty of vitamin C foods that you can enjoy at breakfast such as watermelon, oranges and orange juice. Vitamin B12 can be gotten through eating yogurt and drinking milk. Vitamins D and E can be obtained through eating eggs, and vitamin A from organic butter eggs and yogurt.

Minerals - The three essential minerals that you need more of than the remaining trace minerals are potassium, magnesium and calcium. Potassium can be easily consumed at breakfast time through eating high potassium foods such as a banana, an apple, or some raisins. You can cut these fruits up and add them to a healthy bowl of whole grain cereal. Calcium can be obtained from a glass of milk, or other calcium rich foods such as yogurt and oatmeal. Magnesium rich foods include apples, whole milk, cereals, and seeds such as sunflower seeds.

Fiber - A bowl of whole grain cereal can get you a great dose of fiber at breakfast time.

Protein - Bananas and various other fruits such as apples, raisins and oranges contain protein and can be eaten on the move.


Carbohydrates - If you have whole wheat toast the carbohydrates gained with be complex carbohydrates, they will be broken down slower and there will be a steady release of glucose, you insulin levels will remain  steady, and you will end up feel fuller for longer.

Now that you are aware of all of the nutritious components of a nutritious breakfast, what is a good breakfast that is quick and easy to make?

Here is an example breakfast for you that should not take long at all to prepare. I think we can all afford ourselves 15-20 minutes for breakfast in the morning, even if it does mean setting that alarm just a little bit earlier.

* Banana - Potassium, protein and fiber
* Whole grain toast with organic butter on - Carbs and Vitamin A
* Boiled egg - Vitamin D and E
* A bowl of whole grain cereal with raisins on - Fiber, potassium and protein
* A glass of whole milk - Calcium, magnesium and Vitamin B12
* A glass of orange juice - Vitamin C, protein

The above example of a good, nutritious breakfast is something that even the most amateur of the people in the kitchen can make, and it should not take very long at all to prepare. You could always get a carton or bottle of orange juice to eat on the move with the banana if you wanted as well.

Why do we need breakfast?

Well other than as one of three main meal opportunities a each day to get all of the essential nutrients in foods that you need, it is also critical for the following reasons:

* Breakfast fuels you until your next meal
* Breakfast will reduce you feeling hungry and snacking on unhealthy foods
* Breakfast will prevent tiredness caused by hunger
* Breakfast will help to regulate your insulin levels that will have dropped while you were asleep
* Breakfast will aid your concentration throughout the morning

As you can see there really are several important reasons that you should know what a good breakfast is, and make sure that you eat it each and every day.

For those of you are on a diet and want to consume less calories, it is important to remember that skipping breakfast is not the answer to cutting calories out. If you do that then you will only end up eating more due to increased hunger levels at meals later in the day, or giving into the temptation of snacking before another mealtime comes around.

For more ideas for breakfast foods that contain all of the essential nutrients that your body needs, check out my website www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com .

How to get more vitamin D

Although this blog is all about essential nutrients in food, it is possible that vitamins and minerals can be obtained from other sources. With this in mind, I have decided to write a short piece on how to get more vitamin D, as one of the primary sources may comes as quite a surprise for you.

So foods aside for the moment, how can you get more vitamin D? Well if I told you that it was as easy as making sure you step outside in the sunlight each day, would you believe me?

Just like all of the other essential vitamins and minerals that are needed for your body to carry out the processes that keep you alive, you have to get a sufficient amount of vitamin D. So here is some valuable information on how you can easily get yours.

Amazingly, vitamin D can be produced just by your skin being exposed to the light of the sun, as well as various other vitamin D food sources that I will list shortly. This may sound unlikely, or even impossible, but it is a scientific fact that the ultraviolet rays of the sun activate cholesterol that is present within your skin, and proceed to convert it into vitamin D. You are able to get your daily dose of vitamin D just by being outside in the light of day for and hour, or two each day, something that is surely possible for the vast majority of us right?

It sounds easy doesn't it, maybe even too good to be true? Well there are factors that vary the amount of vitamin D that the sunlight is able to produce. These variants include the time of year, where in the world you actually are, and the tone of your skin. Naturally this is because depending on where you are and what time of year it is, the strength of the sun's rays will vary, and your skin tone can determine how easy it is for the rays to penetrate it as well. Darker skin is obviously less susceptible to sunlight. This means that if everyone in the world went out and stood outside for an hour at the same time, they are not going to get the same amount of vitamin D from that period of exposure to sunlight. The warmer the area you live, and time of year it is, the easier it is to get the type of UV rays that you need. In colder months no matter where you are, you should be eating foods containing vitamin D and even think about taking a vitamin D supplement as well, just to make sure.

Generally speaking darker skin tones, more specifically non-caucasian skin tones, need more sunlight in order to produce the necessary vitamin D. The further North of the equator that you live, the fewer UV-B rays you get, the only type of ultraviolet ray that can cause your body to produce vitamin D.

In fact in the most northerly parts of North America, and Northern Europe, it may not always be possible to get the type of sunlight on your skin that is going to be able to get you the vitamin D that you need. So for anybody reading from there it is important that you also eat foods rich in vitamin D, and take a regular vitamin D supplement.

So basically in America and Europe, those in more southerly regions should get a couple of hours of sunlight a day. In the spring and summer months this will probably suffice, but in the fall and winter, you should up your vitamin D consumption in your diet, as well as look at supplements. Remember diet should always come before supplements. The further north you go, the less you should rely on sunlight alone. This should not be too much of a problem as there are so many vitamin D foods, that it is hard not to get it into your diet.

So going back to the idea of essential nutrients in food, what are the best food sources of vitamin D?

Here is a brief list of foods that contain vitamin D:

• Fortified milk - In the USA milk is fortified with 10 micrograms of vitamin D per quart (32 fl oz)
  
• Fish oils - Most notably cod liver oil
• Fatty cold water fish
• Cream
• Orange juice
• Cheese
• Fortified cereal
• Eggs - Most notably egg yolk
• Butter

To find out about the benefits of vitamin D click here.
For more information on a vitamin D deficiency click here.

I hope that this post has been able to help out all those wondering how to get more vitamin D, it really is as simple as making sure you step outside each day, and making a few small changes to your diet.


 

What does nutrition mean and why is it important?

On a blog that is going to talk about nutrition, it kind of makes sense to start with the basics. We have all heard the term 'nutrition', but what does it actually mean, and why do less and less people actually know about it's importance?

Nutrition begins and ends with the foods that we choose to consume every time we are hungry.

The sad truth is that if the education system actually implemented something into the syllabus of schools, kids could actually be taught about the basics of nutrition from an early age. If this were the case then there would not be a huge(no pun intended) obesity problem in major countries such as the USA and UK.

However, kids are growing up on junk food. It's cheap, available almost everywhere they turn, plastered all over every type of media that they are constantly exposed to, and they are not taught any better at school, and often at home either.

With kids not being taught about nutrition now, many of them will grow up ignorant to it's importance, and therefore will never be able to explain it to their children, a slippery slope that really will see the obesity issue balloon in years to come(yes the pun was intended again).

Talking about it online and hoping to get a following means that maybe someday, somewhere I will be able to help somebody out, we will see.

So what it nutrition?

* Nutrition is the body using foods that contain nutrients to function, grow and repair. The body absorbs and puts to work fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals and water, all of which are known as 'nutrients'.

* Nutrition is the body getting a healthy balance of the range of nutrients that it requires.

* Nutrition is about eating natural and fresh foods that are good for you, as opposed to processed foods that are generally bad for you.

* Nutrition is maintaining a healthy body.

 The above bullet points all sum up essentially what nutrition is, and why it is important to make sure that you remain nourished, as this is the best habit that you will ever get into, well that is if you value both your short and long term health.

If you do not make a careful effort to ensure that your body remains nourished, there are several short and long term consequences, which include:

* Poor health

* Obesity

* Premature signs of aging

* A slow metabolism

* Being susceptible to illness

* Weakening of the immune system

Why is nutrition important?

To be as blunt as possible, nutrition is important because it keeps you alive, and it keeps you well. In the third world people die of malnutrition every single day because they do not have access to food and water that will provide them with the essential nutrients that they need. If you are sat in front of a computer reading this then you more than likely live in the developed world, and that means you will have access to all of the nutrition that you need, whether or not you eat right and take advantage of that is down to you, but at least you have the choice.

You may not see it as being a choice between life and death, but it kind of is.

The best way to get the nutrients that the body requires is through your diet. Natural and fresh foods such as fruit and vegetables hold a plethora of nutrients such as water, vitamins, minerals, proteins, fiber. Meat and fairy products do as well as fats and carbohydrates.

Finding out which foods contain each essential nutrient can be done by checking out my page on vitamins and minerals in foods. This provides free information on the subject and can help you implement the right foods into your diet so that you can achieve the nourishment that your body craves.