Banana

What it does

High potassium counters sodium; unripe banana has resistant starch for the gut.

• Potassium for blood pressure

Where the number comes from

Banana sits in the fruit group of the Fadnes model, the only peer-reviewed model that converts eating into years of life. The lifetime gain for that group is spread across the days you actually eat it — a daily serving from age 20 to 80 — which gives +10 min per serving. The authors rate the evidence behind this group as low.

What it is made of

• Potassium
• Resistant starch
• Vitamin B6

Which kind

• Green banana — highest resistant starch
• Ripe banana — more potassium, less starch
• Plantain — cooked staple across tropics

How to eat it

Greener = more resistant starch.

Minutes derived from Fadnes LT, Økland J-M, Haaland ØA, Johansson KA. Estimating impact of food choices on life expectancy: A modeling study. PLOS Medicine 19(2):e1003889, 2022. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003889