Bananas are a very nutritious food with plenty of potassium and fiber offerings benefits to your health.
Banana chips are made by frying or dehydrating slices of banana.
Typically, banana chips are fried in sunflower or coconut oil. If you can find the coconut oil varieties, they will be the best and contain a healthy saturated fat. Sunflower oils vary – if a hydrogenated sunflower oil is used it will contain trans fats that can greatly increase your risk of heart disease..
When you consume a fresh banana, your body gets roughly 420 milligrams of potassium which can help improve digestion and muscle function, maintain a normal heartbeat, and balance electrolytes. Unfortunately, when you turn that same banana into chips, you only get about a quarter of that amount. The rest is lost to heat and processing.
Fiber is another great benefit in eating bananas. The processing of forming banana chips has a slight impact on fiber content. Where a fresh banana may provide around 3 grams of fiber, a 1-ounce serving of banana chips will drop that amount to about 2 grams. Fiber is important to keep in your diet to lower heart disease and diabetes risk. It also helps keep your digestion and bowels healthy and regular.
Dehydrating banana chips is a healthier way to go. This method requires no extra oil or seasoning. Slice, dehydrate, and eat! The result is nothing other than a dried banana.
