A Low Calorie Banana! M&S Baby Bananas

Most of us who have been on the dieting treadmill, soon learn that there are some foods, even healthy ones, which should be eaten in moderation. 

One of these is the banana.  Although bananas are full of useful vitamins and minerals and even come neatly packed in their own wrapper, one large banana can contain over 120 calories.

So, although it’s healthy to eat plenty of fruit, pigging out on bananas isn't the way to a speedy weight loss. Even eating half a banana isn't an ideal option because the other half goes brown, unless you share it with someone.

But now Marks & Spencer have found the ideal banana for dieters – ripe and sweet ‘Baby Bananas’ which have less than half the calories of a regular small banana.

M&S have started importing baby bananas from Costa Rica. As I can never seem to resist buying mini versions of food, these adorable, perfectly formed miniature bananas were too cute to leave on the shelf.

But even better, here was a banana I could happily eat without worrying about extra calories.

The number of calories in a banana varies according to its size (as with all fruits). But even a small banana, which is around 100g, has 95 calories. The only nutritional information on this pack of baby bananas is that eating 2 bananas = 1 of 5 a day.

The length of the edible part is 9cm or 3.5"

So, after weighing them myself, I discovered their average weight is 44g. This in turn gives each banana only 42 calories, about the same as a large peach or nectarine. With regards to their taste, They are indeed, exactly the same as a regular sized banana. Yum.

Of course, these baby bananas aren't being specifically targetted at dieters, but for the calorie conscious amongst us, it's great discovery.

On the downside, they do cost the same amount of a regular pack of small bananas. And of course, having been imported all the way from Costa Rica, they're not particularly green (excuse the pun)!

You can find baby bananas in Marks & Spencer Foodhalls in bags of six.