How Much Potassium in a Banana

Bananas are not just your average tropical fruits, but there are many health benefits attached to it. Bananas are easy to peel, non-messy and sweet delectable fruits, that easily form a part of an average diet. You can even carry them around in your lunch boxes as a filling snack and earn some brownie points on health.

Your average banana contains two times more carbohydrates, as compared to an apple. It has more vitamin A, iron, phosphorus, as well as natural sugars. Apart from these banana nutritional facts, it is also known as a potassium rich food. Potassium is vital for delivering oxygen to the brain and other parts of the body through the circulatory system. Banana health benefits also includes regulation of blood pressure, heartbeat and maintenance of water balance in the body. If you ever find out you are suffering from low potassium levels in blood, you should consider eating bananas.

How Many mg of Potassium Are in a Banana
There are certain myths that one can suffer from high potassium levels by eating one full, or more than one, banana per day. But, this is a false as one cannot suffer from a high potassium levels due to a banana. There is about 400 potassium (in mgs) in average banana. This is just about 10 to 20% of the daily requirement of potassium by the human body. Thus, in no way can a banana cause overdose of potassium levels in blood.

Potassium mEq in a Banana
For those who do not know what is mEq, it stands for milliequivalents. An equivalent (eq or Eq) stands for molar equivalent that is a unit of amount of substance that is used in chemistry as well as biological sciences. Milliequivalents or mEq is the amount of substance in equivalents of a very, very small magnitude. The term milli is used to denote the measure that is divided by 1000. This measurement is used to measure milliequivalents of solute per liter of solvent. Thus, commonly used to measure potassium levels in the human blood (3.5 to 5.0 mEq/l normally).

Now, that you have understood what is mEq, and why are we measuring potassium in a banana using this measurement, let's move on to the answer. There is about 11.6 mEq of potassium in an average sized banana.

Potassium in a Banana Peel
A banana peel is loaded with potassium and you can add it to your compost to be used as a fertilizer. Also, you can rub a fresh peel of banana, the yellow side out around your eyes. This will help reduce eye wrinkles, worry lines and eye bags. You can even rub these banana peels on insect bites and reduce the swelling, as well as itching. There peel contains about 40% of the total potassium (in mg) in average banana.

Many of you might be wondering, potato contains more potassium than a banana. Then why the fuss over this yellow tropical fruit. The reason being banana also contains vitamin B6, vitamin C and high fiber content. They also contain tryptophan, that helps relax your mind and make you feel happy. The high fiber content helps in restoring normal bowel movements and boost your brain power with the high potassium levels. It is also an excellent fruit to be eaten with some plain yogurt or honey as a cure for a bad hangover. Sooth your ulcers and eat a banana to cover up your iron deficiency.