Super food Let’s go bananas!
Nutritionist Laura Hilton looks at what makes nature’s bestpackaged fruit such a fabulous food choice for runners
Ask any group of runners what they regularly eat before a run or pack in their race-day bag and you can guarantee one of the most popular foods will be bananas. But why? What is it about nature’s bestpackaged snack that makes it such a great choice for runners? It turns out there is a lot going for this humble, bendy yellow fruit.
Low calorie, low fibre carbohydrate source
One of the banana’s most redeeming features as far as runners are concerned is that it off ers a decent serving of carbohydrate wiThless fibre than many other fruits. Fibre is the non-digestible part of a given food and although it’s vital for good digestive health, it does slow down the rate of absorption of a food’s nutrients. This is not ideal when a runner is soon to tackle a run as they need to absorb the energy available in the food they’re eating as quickly as possible, in order for their body to be able to use that energy. Not only does fibre slow down the rate of energy absorption but it can also be particularly problematic, as any runner who’s experienced gastric distress (otherwise known as runner’s trots) during events can attest.