Hey guys, lately I was chatting with a friend of mine and I told him that I have 4 bananas in my daily meal plan. He thought that this is too much and eating four bananas a day may cause health problems because of the high levels of potassium.

Personally I chose bananas on the first place because of the high levels of calories and this way I could fill my macros easily (I am trying to gain muscle btw). So what are your thoughts on that??

Jafarakos;

Too many depends on the individuals needs for certain vitamins and minerals. Eating too many bananas can have some unpleasant side affects.

To to name a few;

headaches

sleepiness

hyperkalemia

nerve damage

The appropriate number of bananas daily will vary from person to person. Most health professionals recommend no more than two per day. Personally I often have two a day, but occasionally I sometimes feel that one extra banana post workout can help replenish my glycogen storages.

Hope this helps 💪🏻😃

Evagelos,

I agree with Jason. You will know if you are eating too much bananas as you will first get some serious abdominal cramps and diarrhea from all the potassium. Your body will exhibit other side effects before it leads to nerve damage or affects your heart beat. The body has amazing ways to eliminate an over-abundance of nutrients especially water soluble ones like potassium. That being said, 4 bananas is quite a bit and you are also taking in a lot of fructose - even though it is in its natural state and combined with fiber - it still is a sugar you need to watch as it is processed in the liver differently than glucose.

John

Both previous posts are correct with the high pottasium levels, but you said you were eatingthem for the high calories to build muscle. As a substitute I would reccomend you eat 2 banannas a day, and replace the other two bananas with some other food that is around 200-225 calories. You could buy some almonds those will give you the essential fats you need and also have high protein and calories for a small amount. Blue Diamond is a fairly cheap brand you can buy and have a bag of them for the whole week. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the information guys.! I wish I knew some time ago, though the truth is I never noticed such symptoms and I always thought that as for fruits and vegetables anyone can have as many of them as he wants without any damage caused, I guess that isn't true...