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Bananas and palpitations
I have noticed that after every time I eat a banana, my heart has fairly strong palpitations for 1-2 minutes. It is the oddest thing. Does anyone have any information about this? I have never had a food allergy, but for some reason these episodes happen like clockwork immediately after I eat a banana.
I currently take atenolol 50mg once per day to deal with another minor arrythmia, but this seems much different.
I currently take atenolol 50mg once per day to deal with another minor arrythmia, but this seems much different.
banana = potassium
google a search on the affects of potassium in the heart.
It is always wise to study the foods you eat. Check the vitamin contents and you can learn to balance them to benefit your system
google a search on the affects of potassium in the heart.
It is always wise to study the foods you eat. Check the vitamin contents and you can learn to balance them to benefit your system
I'm not sure what to tell ya on this. I guess if it were me I would just stay away from bananas. Do you notice this with other high potassium foods/drinks such as orange juice or tomato juice? I have certain foods and drinks that agitate my IST and I've just learned to stay away from them even though I would LOVE to devour some chocolate from time to time! :-)
it was pretty funny, after I originally answered it I walked past a television that was on for noise and heard a commercial about a birth control pill that increases potassium. Yaz.
Yeah I know I'm actually considering trying that! I have had chronically low potassium so I thought what the heck!?
It is absolutely ridiculous to think for one minute that the potassium in a banana could trigger PVCs immediately after eating it............you are reading too much into this banana coincidence.
1 Comments
I believe it's the sugar
No not really!! I too have noticed it myself. In fact I just brought a banana to work cause im hungry and I have been putting it off eating it because the same thing happens to me. So go figure....
Although I have quit chocolate and caffine for the last five yrs due to this well I have taken a big step there recently and I ate some chocolate and nothing happend yeahhhhh...
Although I have quit chocolate and caffine for the last five yrs due to this well I have taken a big step there recently and I ate some chocolate and nothing happend yeahhhhh...
sooo................"and nothing happened"...........are we making flase connections, maybe? what about orange juice? what about when you wear the color red, or blue, or yellow? Do you have more PVCs on certain days? Mondays are bad for me, or the full moon? There is no way a banana will raise your potassium level to the point of ventricular arrhythmias, and if anything, it would cause a block. People with normal kidney function will have normal potassium levels. Brat was making a connection that is false. caffeine (sp) can trigger some PVCs in certain people...............that is my point. Please don't deprive yourself of things............BTW...if you had such reservations about a banana.......why bring it to work?
In fact, I made no assumption. Jill noted that bananas had an effect on her heart. I simply stated that bananas were high in potassium to check the other foods she ate. I have no idea why she has the reaction. Maybe she eats it at a particulary stressful time of day, maybe like green eggs and ham she eats it in odd places. Fact: bananas are a good source of potassium. Potassium levels are important to your heart. I love bananas, I enjoy every one I eat. Taking in a good balanced diet is not harmful to your health. Learning about what you eat is a good thing to do. THIS was my point, not that a banana was harmful.
thank you for your clarification..............you know I will always bust you. lol.
Well obvisouly have over come your palpitations or whatever it is that you have. However someone of us still have fear of them. Which I do everyday. I took the banana to work it was the only thing that was basically to go at my house. Considence maybe, but the point is when you do eat something and you have palps or nsvt it makes you think twice about eating it again. Every time I take vitamines my heart does have alot of extra palps so No I dont take them. Its not worth it to me. And yes I have tried several different times on this one and every single time it happens. Its like touching a hot stove if it hurts the first time and you get burned Im not going to do it again!! Why put yourself through that???
We have such infinite choices in fresh fruit and vegetables in the southeastern US. Not sure where you are located. I like to cut a large bowl of fresh fruit salad on Sunday and keep it in the fridge. I usually do it while I am catching up with friends on the phone so I feel like I am multitasking. I will usually have to cut more in a couple days, but it stays pretty well. My husband's doctor told him to lay off bananas, so I dont keep them around. (HAH!) Lots of types of melons and say strawberries, raspberries or blueberries, whatever season is running. Some grapes. Pineapple if it looks good. I got some reusable / throwaway bowls and I have snack to go. Beats being limited to just one flavor anyday. If you dont have a refrig at work, buy a small lunchbox size cooler. Well worth it.
If it bothers you...don't eat it. That's a good bit of advice. It does seem to me that the potassium in a banana causing palps immediately after eating it may be a stretch. I am NOT saying that it doesn't happen, nor am I admonishing the possible connection. I am just saying that the potassium in a banana would not even begin to be absorbed into the bloodstream until at least 30 minutes after ingestion, and so the potassium link is probably nullified. Maybe, if bananas cause you a consistent problem with palps, there is another mechanism involved. Some claim a vagal response to swallowing...do you eat bananas the way many of us do??? Three gigantic bites and it's gone :-)?
Anyway...I read the posts, and wanted to say that...while the connection between bananas and palps may be more than coincidence, it's probably not the potassium that presents the trigger.
Anyway...I read the posts, and wanted to say that...while the connection between bananas and palps may be more than coincidence, it's probably not the potassium that presents the trigger.
1 Comments
I believe it's the sugar
By the way...read Celeste77's post about potassium/magnesium connections to IST. Really good stuff, and deals with some of this amazingly well!!!
Consider that it could be the "sugar" and not the "potassium" in the banana bringing on more pvcs. I absolutely have more pvcs when I eat sugar or carbs.
3 Comments
Yes, I believe it's the sugar in the banana. I read where eating a banana is like having 12 teaspoons of sugar. I had a banana earlier, and now I have rapid heart beats. I'm begining to think it's sugar.
Yes, I believe it's the sugar in the banana. I read where eating a banana is like having 12 teaspoons of sugar. I had a banana earlier, and now I have rapid heart beats. I'm begining to think it's sugar.
I tested my glucose (because I'm type II diabetic), and it was 112, which is good.
The reason I came to this web site is because I was wondering if anyone else besides myself experienced palpitations after eating a banana. I've been near being a basket case for two months now, but have had them before. I've had echocardiograms and all prove nothing more than stress. So what the heck causes the darned things?
I try to power up on potassium because diuretics in my BP med depletes the potassium. I'd much rather keep a good balance of potassium by eating the proper foods than take those white caplets large enough to choke a horse. The body can get rid of excess potassium it gets from food, but cannot dispose of excess potassium by supplements when there's too much in the system. But back to the banana thing, I've noticed the palpitations start up after I've had my morning banana.
I try to power up on potassium because diuretics in my BP med depletes the potassium. I'd much rather keep a good balance of potassium by eating the proper foods than take those white caplets large enough to choke a horse. The body can get rid of excess potassium it gets from food, but cannot dispose of excess potassium by supplements when there's too much in the system. But back to the banana thing, I've noticed the palpitations start up after I've had my morning banana.
1 Comments
Happens to me, too. It's happening right now. I think it's the sugar in the banana. As I've got older, I get a reaction from sugar. I very seldom have anything with sugar anymore. Didn't think the banana would bother me, but when I researched it, it said it was like eating 12 teaspoons of sugar.
Google "Help I am allergic to banana" and you will find an article by David Cowley. It really explains allergies from bananas and other fruits. Some of the proteins in a banana can cause heart palps! AND YES if it is an allergy...it can happen immediately! Look what happens to someone allergic to peanuts. They can just smell one and go into shock. A friend of mine had to be intubated immediately because of his peanut allergy. He ate a cookie which he didn't know had been sitting next to a peanut butter cookie. Went into immediate swelling. Check into this!
Cindy
Cindy
Again, I don't think it is the potassium in the banana, although I'd never rule anything out with these bodies we've got. Possibly, it is just the type of food. As stated before, people with GERD and indigestion, gas, etc can get a lot more PVC's with that. Maybe your body has trouble digesting them, as I do. When your body is struggling to digest, the vagus nerve is activating and since it is the same nerve responsible for the cardiac....it may be doing what we GERD sufferers know....giving us fun days!
This cant possibly be the effect on blood biochemistry if it happens immediately after eating only one (I assume you eat only one at a time even though your write does leave a loop hole --- if every time you have A bananna, you also eat Ten additional bananas... well, I think you see what I am getting at). More likely the geometry, mechanical properties, or acidity. You know you would have to absorb some of that potassium for it to affect you, and that takes time, so I am thinking it must be affecting the way you sense things in your esophagus. May be it is creating pressure, or acid build up is affecting something there. It is hard to say.
However, I can tell you that I have never had a banana I didn't like, nor one the ever gave me even a single PVC.
However, I can tell you that I have never had a banana I didn't like, nor one the ever gave me even a single PVC.
Excuse me for making light of this. (I read the earlier posts and lost track of dates.)
Its crazy how you can find such diversity on the internet isn't it? Most of us have no problem with bananas, but yes the reality of the situation is that there are millions of us and statistics would have it that if it anything could happen then it will.
I am really sorry about my inappropriate post...
Its crazy how you can find such diversity on the internet isn't it? Most of us have no problem with bananas, but yes the reality of the situation is that there are millions of us and statistics would have it that if it anything could happen then it will.
I am really sorry about my inappropriate post...
I found this thread A-peeling. I don't want to slip up though, and make a monkey out of myself. Could make my heart skip a beat......
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This thread is really old, but I found it because I looked up palpitations and banana's. Why you ask, because I started realizing that everytime I ate a banana I would get a short run of PAC's (palpitations). Nothing major, but I found it interesting that I would get them ten minutes after eating a banana. So Jill you are not crazy.
I have more frequent heart palpitations when I eat bananas too. I thought it was a one time thing so several months later, ate a banana and my palpitations were more frequent. I was curious so I googled, "bananas mek my hear palpitate" and came across this discussion. I've been to the doctors several years ago and had an eco done, but was told that there was nothing major wrong. I should go back and mention the banana thing. I don't get the reaction from any other food or drink that I usually consume. It's kind of nice to know that I am not the only one with this reaction.
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