Short answer: No. Bananas are a high-carb food to avoid. A single medium banana (118 g) carries about 24 g net carbs — almost the entirety of a strict 25–50 g daily Banting carb budget.
| Per 100 g | Total carbs | Fibre | Net carbs | Fat | Protein | Carb band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banana, raw | 23 g | 2.6 g | 20.4 g | 0.3 g | 1.1 g | High-carb |
A medium banana (118 g) has about 27 g total carbs, 3 g fibre and 24 g net carbs.
Source: USDA FoodData Central.
What to watch for
Bananas are the fruit people miss most, but the metabolic maths is uncompromising. Eating one banana at breakfast leaves virtually zero room for any carbohydrates for the rest of your day — every green vegetable, coffee splash, and dressing would push you over your limit. Green, unripened bananas are sometimes promoted for resistant starch, but their carbohydrate load remains high enough to spike insulin in insulin-resistant individuals.
Commercial smoothies are where bananas cause severe stalls. A cafe smoothie blended with a banana, honey, yoghurt, and fruit juice can easily exceed 60–80 g of sugar, triggering a massive glucose spike. Dried banana chips are even worse: around 60 g net carbs per 100 g, often deep-fried in industrial sunflower or palm oil and sweetened with refined syrup.
If you are at goal weight, metabolically healthy, or doing heavy endurance athletics, half a small banana post-workout might fit your lifestyle. But for weight loss on Banting, bananas should remain strictly off the menu.
What to eat instead
Berries are the only fruit recommended on Banting (medium-carb):
- Strawberries: ~5.8 g net carbs per 100 g
- Raspberries: ~5.4 g net carbs per 100 g
- Blackberries: ~5.0 g net carbs per 100 g
A generous 100 g bowl of fresh strawberries topped with double-thick fresh cream has a fraction of the carbs of a banana while delivering sustained fullness. Avocado (technically a fruit, low-carb) blended with unsweetened cacao, fresh cream, and erythritol creates a creamy chocolate pudding with under 3 g net carbs.
Related questions
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General information only, not medical advice. If you take medication for diabetes or blood pressure, talk to your doctor before changing how you eat. Last updated: 2026-09-19. Sources listed on each page.