Banana: the breakfast that starts the day properly

A banana at breakfast is one of the oldest and most reliable pieces of food advice going, and it survives scrutiny better than most.

Why it works so early

A banana carries fast sugar and slower sugar in the same package, so the lift it gives does not arrive and vanish inside twenty minutes. It is soft, so the stomach does very little work for it. And it is one of the better everyday sources of potassium, which matters for muscle and for blood pressure.

For anyone who exercises in the morning, this is close to an ideal pre-workout food: it is fuel that will not sit heavily while you move.

The bowel

Bananas carry soluble fibre and a good deal of moisture. Both help a smooth, regular digestive day, which is the quiet foundation under a great deal of what people call feeling well. A slightly under-ripe banana carries more resistant starch; a ripe one is sweeter and gentler on the stomach. Neither is wrong.

Fitting it in

One banana with breakfast is a habit worth building. It sits well with curd, with oats, or with nothing at all. Where a fast-food breakfast would have left you hungry again by eleven, this generally does not.