In daily life, people usually think that bananas have the effect of laxatives, and when they encounter constipation, they have to take bananas to solve the problem. However, some people obviously eat bananas, but the constipation situation is not relieved, or some people eat bananas, but caused constipation. So, do bananas have the effect of laxative in the end? Answer: Bananas are rich in dietary fiber and sugar, which does have a good laxative function, and bananas are rich in potassium ions (200mg of potassium ions per 100g of bananas), potassium ions have the role of promoting the peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract, so it also achieves the role of laxative. However, it should be noted that unripe bananas should be treated differently. Bananas are tropical and subtropical fruits. In order to facilitate preservation and transportation, when picking bananas, you can’t wait for them to be ripe, but have to take them off and put them into storage when their skins are green. Therefore, the bananas eaten in the north are usually ripe. When bananas are unripe, the outer skin is greenish, and when you peel off the outer skin, they are too astringent to swallow. The astringent taste of raw bananas comes from the large amount of tannic acid contained in bananas. When bananas are ripened, although they no longer taste astringent, the tannic acid content still exists. Tannic acid has a very strong astringent effect and can cause constipation by caking feces into dry, hard stools. The most typical is that the elderly and children who have eaten bananas rich in ellagic acid, instead of helping the laxative, can have significant constipation. It is for this reason that friends in the north can easily buy bananas that are not naturally ripe due to their geographical location, while people in the south generally buy bananas that are naturally ripe, which contain relatively less tannic acid and can play its role in promoting bowel movement and preventing constipation. In other words, the cause of constipation is not the plantain, but the immature bananas were picked after being ripe bananas contain a lot of tannic acid, while the real ripe bananas can really help laxative. In addition, raw persimmons and hawthorn berries contain a lot of tannic acid, which can cause gastrointestinal obstruction and constipation when consumed in large quantities. Since you can’t be sure whether the banana you buy is ripe or naturally ripe, you don’t have to dwell on bananas. In fact, in addition to bananas, there are many other foods that can play a laxative role, such as apples. Apples are rich in dietary fiber – pectin, pectin in apples can absorb 2.5 times their own volume of water, so that the stool becomes soft and easy to discharge, can relieve constipation worries. This regulating effect of apples is very gentle, especially for the elderly and infants. Therefore, when the stool is dry, eat more apples can play the role of laxative. In addition, sweet potatoes, corn, oats, buckwheat and other coarse grains are rich in dietary fiber, also has the effect of preventing constipation. Therefore, friends in the north can try to choose other foods such as apples to relieve constipation. Not all types of constipation patients are suitable to eat bananas, and bananas should be eaten scientifically. If the patient is addicted to alcohol, likes greasy and spicy food and rarely eats vegetables, which leads to heat in the body, thus making the stool dry and hard and difficult to discharge, then he can eat bananas to relieve constipation. And patients can eat 1 to 2 bananas a day, which can be eaten as a snack between meals, and it is not advocated to eat bananas on an empty stomach to avoid damaging the stomach. In addition, other foods can be eaten together, such as adding a little diced banana or honey when boiling porridge, which has a good effect on relieving constipation. Doctors remind: Traditional Chinese medicine treatment, acupuncture treatment and other traditional Chinese medicine therapies, together with dietary adjustment, proper exercise and regular medication are the key to treating constipation. In addition, patients with long-term constipation need regular visits to anorectal clinics to rule out early colorectal tumors, chronic intestinal obstruction and other serious intestinal diseases.