Bloated after bananas? Here''s what not to eat with them

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Bloated after bananas? Here''s what not to eat with them

Guardian NG Apr 17, 2025

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On National Banana Day, its only fair to spotlight one of natures most beloved fruits. Bananas offer potassium, fibre, and energy on the go. But while this creamy yellow fruit boosts heart healt...

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Published 16 Apr 2025

On National Banana Day, its only fair to spotlight one of natures most beloved fruits. Bananas offer potassium, fibre, and energy on the go. But while this creamy yellow fruit boosts heart health and digestion, it doesnt always sit well with everything else on your plate. If youve ever felt unusually gassy or bloated after a banana snack, your food pairing might be the real culprit.

Banana when consumed with certain foods can stir up digestive drama. You must avoid this. Read through to see foods you should not pair with banana:

Mixing bananas with milk may sound like the ideal breakfast, but your gut might disagree, especially when you are lactose intolerant. The World Health Organisation highlights that people with lactose intolerance already struggle with bloating from milk. Combine that with a starchy, slow-digesting banana, and your stomach could bubble up like a lab experiment gone wrong. Ayurveda also cautions against this combo, saying it creates toxins and heaviness.

So this may be quite strange as a smoothie lover who just wants to add all the fruits for an amazing breakfast or dessert, but you have to pause at this point and reassess your meal.

Beans bring the protein, but they also pack raffinose, a sugar that ferments in the gut and causes gas. Eating bananas alongside a plate of beans or lentils can slow down digestion, trap gas, and cause serious bloating. If your post-meal belly feels like a balloon, this combo could be the reason. What you can do is to take banana at least one hour after consuming beans or legumes.

Fizzy drinks already introduce air into your digestive system. Throw in a fibrous banana, and you add bulk to the bloat. This duo doesnt digest well together, often leading to discomfort, belching, and trapped gas. Your body wants balance”not bubbles and bananas. And weird food pairings happen but this could land you at the hospital if care isnt exercised.

Bananas help regulate sodium in the body, but when you eat them with salty foods, you make your kidneys work overtime. High sodium levels can cause water retention, and bananas, due to their natural sugars and starch, can slow down fluid release, leading to that puffed-up feeling.

Cruciferous vegetables are cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and other vegetables that belong to the Brassicaceae family. These veggies offer loads of nutrients, but they also contain sulfur and fibre that trigger gas. Pair them with a banana, and you risk creating a bloating bomb. Both foods are tough on the gut when eaten together and can lead to slow digestion and fermentation.

Fats slow down digestion. Bananas are naturally slow digesters. Put them together, and your digestive tract hits the brakes. This combo sits in your gut longer than it should, giving gas more time to build up and cause bloat. So saying you crave banana and Akara or fried potato is just your gut telling you its ready to freeze up and cause you bloatedness. Run!

Guardian Life