Banana And Milk – Are They Compatible?
Sarika Bahl
Milk and banana are both healthy but having them together is rather debatable. Read on to know more.
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A chilled banana shake or smoothie often works as a savior during the hot summer days, especially when your appetite for anything hot takes a hit and your energy levels are low. A perfect blend of banana, milk, and ice with your favorite toppings can put the smile right back on your face.
Happiness aside, did you know that how you combine food has a great impact on your digestive system? Blending or mixing different kinds of foods can make them delicious but it can also hinder the absorption of nutrients, which is quite important for the body to function properly. So let’s find out if the magical combination of banana and milk is magical indeed.
Table of Contents
A Difficult Combination
Even though the combination of milk and banana sounds and tastes fine but banana and milk contain completely different nutritional qualities. Milk contains protein, vitamins, and minerals such as riboflavin, calcium, and vitamin B12. However, it does not contain vital vitamins such as vitamin C. It also does not have any dietary fiber and is extremely low on carbohydrates. Bananas on the other hand contain vitamins B6 and C, manganese, dietary fiber, potassium, and biotin. Now we might think that one would compensate for what the other lacks, but they actually don’t work together when they enter our systems, and therefore their pairing is not as beneficial as we might think.
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They Can Hamper Digestion
The combination of milk and banana can be quite heavy for our digestive system and therefore disrupt it. It also affects our bodily functions in the long run and can cause cold and cough, congestion, allergies, vomiting, rashes, and even diarrhea. If you have any sort of allergies, you would do much better if you avoided having them together. It can also cause congestion of the sinus.
The Age-old Wisdom Of Ayurveda
According to Ayurveda food breaks down in three particular categories:-Rasa or taste, vipaka or post-digestive effect, and virya that is heating and cooling energy. Ayurveda doesn’t recommend these three coming together. Banana has heating properties and takes a long time to digest. On the other hand, milk has a cooling effect and digests quickly. Even though a banana can be quite sweet, when it breaks down in the stomach it turns sour. And everyone knows what happens to milk when it comes into contact with a souring agent. Therefore this combination can be quite toxic for the body. The concept of incompatible food combinations in Ayurveda is called Viruddh Aahaar and banana and milk together fall into the same category.
Ayurveda teaches us that impaired agni (digestive fire) is the root cause of every imbalance that causes diseases in the body.
Also Read: Health Benefits Of Fibrous And Mineral-Rich Bananas ,Side- Effects
How Bad Is The Combination Really?
Incompatible food combinations can be seen everywhere including homes, restaurants, even in the kitchens of famous chefs and on the table of food bloggers. It’s really hard to follow the whole chart of good food combinations according to Ayurveda but milk with banana is an impaired combination and should be avoided. If you have it once in a while it might not affect you, but refrain from making it a habit. To reduce the side effects of this combination, add a bit of cardamom and nutmeg in the banana shake when you make it.
How Can We Consume Milk And Banana Together?
Even though the combination of milk and banana is excellent for adding fat or instant energy to the body, many experts and dietitians suggest we stay away from this combination. It’s ideal to have them separately and with at least a gap of 20 minutes between them. You can drink a glass of milk and then have a banana. But if you still can’t go without banana and milk for breakfast, you can replace your regular banana shake with this Ayurveda inspired banana and milk smoothie. Here’s the recipe:
Also Read: 11 Popular And Astonishing Benefits Of Coconut Milk
- Take a ripe banana, water, a couple of dates, a few almonds, ½ cup coconut milk ( fresh coconut milk is recommended), chia seeds, a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg to support the digestion.
- Blend them in the blender.
- Serve it cold and enjoy it!
