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Multiple posts on Fb make a collection of statements about the added benefits of consuming bananas, which include that the fruit can “cure” constipation and migraines. This is misleading wellbeing industry experts informed AFP that the posts overstated the positive aspects of feeding on bananas.
The promises were shared in this Thai-language Fb put up on April 9, 2022.
It translates to English as: “Bananas have loads of dietary advantages. They treatment constipation and migraines. They assistance decrease anxiety and enable you snooze greater. They increase your vision. They are also superior for [your] eating plan.”
A screenshot of the misleading write-up, taken on April 22, 2022.
The article involves a picture of sundried bananas, a usual snack eaten in Thailand.
Thai-language posts about the health and fitness added benefits of bananas have circulated on Facebook given that at least 2017, like here, and were being much more recently shared in April 2022 in this article and in this article.
Similar statements have also been shared in English-language posts on Twitter in this article, listed here and here.
But health specialists informed AFP that quite a few of the claims overstated the overall health added benefits of bananas.
Declare: ‘Bananas remedy constipation’
Kanitha Tananuwong, head of the Department of Meals Know-how at Chulalongkorn College, informed AFP that whether bananas could relieve constipation depended on the ripeness of the banana.
“This declare is deceptive — despite the fact that bananas can support ease constipation, it is not a magic fruit for [curing] that,” she claimed. “Bananas have fibre written content which assists you to excrete, but it also relies upon on the ripeness of the banana.
“If you take in them when they are completely ripe, the flavour is sweet and there is reduced fibre content material. If you take in them semi-ripe, the fibre information is better which will assistance with constipation.”
Wareethip Phuengpan, a nutritionist at the Bureau of Nutrition in Thailand’s Department of Overall health, told AFP: “In order to help with constipation, you need to consume the bananas when they are possibly not way too ripe or way too unripe.”
Assert: ‘Bananas remedy migraines’
Wareethip stated there was “no evidence to assist the added benefits of bananas in aiding with migraines”.
The Thai Food and Drug Administration revealed this assertion on Facebook on September 26, 2020, in which it stated the declare was “untrue”.
The Thai-language statement translates to English as: “The declare — ‘banana will help with migraine’ — has been falsely shared. Bananas have no healthcare houses to treat migraines in any respect.”
Kanitha said: “There is no proof to support the [claim].”
Assert: ‘Bananas lower tension and assist sleep’
Wareethip said there was no evidence that right hyperlinks consuming bananas with lessening pressure amounts.
“There is no scientific evidence to prove the impact of fruits in encouraging humans to chill out,” reported Wareethip.
In accordance to Kanitha, “we won’t be able to ensure that bananas will make you sleep improved or minimize one’s anxiety level.”
Claim: ‘Bananas boost your eyesight’
Vitamin A — which is out there in meat, fruits and vegetables — has qualities to strengthen eyesight, authorities discussed to AFP.
Nevertheless, bananas do not have an superb amount of money of Vitamin A, in comparison to brilliant-coloured greens such as pumpkins and carrots, Wareethip stated.
“Bananas do not have a high information of Vitamin A, it is much better for you to take in other fruits with higher content material for that,” Kanitha spelled out.
Declare: ‘Bananas are part of a healthier diet’
Wareethip said men and women ought to try to eat bananas in moderation, and avoid overconsuming them.
“Don’t forget that bananas have a large amount of sugar,” she claimed. “Even so, if you are hungry, it is of training course improved to consume a single banana than a person bar of chocolate”.