Green Banana Flour Is a Gut-Boosting Superfood That Speeds Weight Loss

If you haven’t already heard about the health benefits of green banana flour, you will soon. This trendy new superfood is a gluten-free flour replacement that speeds up weight loss while boosting gut health — it’s no wonder people are going bananas for it.

What is green banana flour?

To make green banana flour, the fruit must be peeled, sliced, dried, and then ground into a powder. The baking ingredient is popular in regions where green bananas grow (such as Africa and the Caribbean), and it’s also a cheaper alternative to wheat flour. You can also find it pre-made online (Buy on Amazon, $14.90).

This flour is mostly known here in the US by those who have celiac disease or who maintain a gluten-free diet. That said, it can be enjoyed by everyone not just as a wheat-flour replacement, but also as a thickening agent in soups and sauces, as well as a coating for meat and veggies.  

Green Banana Flour Health Benefits

Beyond its appeal to gluten-free eaters, this flour is also a great source of resistant starch. Enzymes in the small intestine typically convert starches to sugar, but resistant starch — as the name implies — cannot be digested. 

What happens then is the undigested starch reaches the colon where it acts like a prebiotic, which is what your good gut bacteria eats. Feeding on the resistant starch not only strengthens the gut, it also reduces insulin resistance, according to a study published in The Journal of Nutrition; burns fat, per a study in Nutrition Journal; and leaves you feeling fuller faster, another study from British Journal of Nutrition reported.

In addition to the resistant starch benefits, it’s an easy way to get essential vitamins and minerals like zinc, magnesium, manganese, and vitamin E. Of course, it goes without saying that green bananas are full of potassium. In fact, just two tablespoons of green banana flour have as much potassium as seven bananas. 

Green Banana Flour Recipes

So, what’s the best way to introduce and incorporate green banana flour into your diet? There are dozens of delicious recipes available on the internet. You name it, someone’s made it: pancakes, muffins, bread, cookies, tortillas, and even biscuits. And don’t worry — it doesn’t make everything taste like bananas. In fact, it has a very subtle flavor that you can remove completely by baking.

When using it as a substitute for wheat flour, remember that less is more. If the recipe calls for one cup of wheat flour, you only need 1/2 to 3/4 cup of green banana flour to replace it. 

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Once you master using this flour for cooking, you’ll quickly learn there’s no end to the number of genius ways to harness the health benefits of this prebiotic flour through food. So, why don’t you give the superfood a shot?

If you’re looking for another healthy flour swap, check out our story on the benefits of consuming chickpea flour!