Bananas for Weight Gain: How They Help

Are you curious how you can use bananas for weight gain?

This article is going to dive into how bananas can help you on your weight gain journey. And how you can pair bananas with other high calorie foods to help with weight gain.

Why Weight Gain?

The internet is full of information on weight loss, but it can be pretty hard to find some good resources on weight gain.

Some people need more calories in their day (and not less) to help them stop weight loss and/or promote weight gain.

Someone may want to gain weight because they are underweight, lost weight due to illness, or has a medical condition that makes it hard to keep on weight.

Or they may just burn a lot of calories throughout the day as an athlete or body builder.

How to Gain Weight

To successfully gain weight, you need to eat more calories than your body burns.

We burn calories through exercise, but also through simple movement throughout the day. Our bodies even need calories to work (for example, to breathe or for your heart to beat).

Think of calories like fuel for a car.

If you use too many calories or aren’t able to eat enough calories, you will lose weight.

Gaining weight may seem simple- just eat more calories. But it can be quite challenging. For those who have poor appetite or nausea or are just frustrated with knowing what to eat, gaining weight can be hard.

My Weight Gaining Tip

My biggest tip for gaining weight is to eat calorie dense foods throughout the day.

Calorie dense means a food is jam packed with calories. Per volume it has more calories than another food. An example would be lettuce versus butter- you can imagine the same weight of each of these foods provide very different amounts of calories.

Eating 3 meals per day plus snacks helps you to spread out your calorie intake throughout the day. So you aren’t getting too full in a single sitting.

I have more information on gaining weight in my e-book Weight Gaining Secrets or my online course Gaining Weight Made Easy.

Bananas for Weight Gain

Now lets talk about why bananas can help you gain weight.

Bananas are a high calorie fruit. Many fruits are lower in calories (like berries), but bananas have a good amount of calories.

And bananas are jam packed with other nutrients like fiber, potassium, and other vitamins and minerals.

Calories in Bananas

The number of calories in a banana vary depending on the size.

You likely notice that the size of bananas you purchase in the store can vary greatly. Sometimes bananas are small, other times they are huge!

The calorie count in bananas can range from 90 calories for a small banana to 135 calories for an extra large banana.

Here is a breakdown of the calorie count based on the size of the banana you are eating. Keep in mind these numbers are just estimates. It’s difficult to know the exact amount just by eyeballing it.

Calories in Bananas

Size	Length	Calorie Count
Small	~6 inches	90 calories
Medium	~7 inches	105 calories
Large	~8 inches	121 calories
Extra Large	~9 inches	135 calories

I generally assume most bananas have around 105 calories when I do my calorie counts.

Incorporating Bananas for Weight Gain

You can incorporate bananas into your diet to help you gain weight many ways. You can eat them alone as a snack (a high calorie, on the go snack!). Or you can pair them with other high calorie foods for a meal or snack.

Other High Calorie Foods

Other high calorie foods that pair nicely with bananas include:

Peanut Butter
Almond Butter
Whole Milk
Cream
Ice-Cream
Whole Yogurt
Nuts
Dried Fruit
Etc.

These are just a few ideas. You can find more information in our High Calorie archive.

Some of our favorite articles include:

Weight Gain Meals Using Bananas

Let’s dive into some ideas for using bananas for weight gain at the different meal times throughout the day. Keep in mind these are just ideas and the sky is the limit with how you can use bananas to help you gain weight.

Breakfast

An easy way to add some extra calories to your breakfast (in the form of a banana!) is to add sliced bananas to your cereal.

This can include a cold cereal like corn flakes or Cheerios or raisin bran (which is high calorie cereal from the dried fruit).

Or this can include a hot cereal like oatmeal or cream of wheat.

To maximize the calories with cold cereal, use whole milk. It has more calories per volume than 2%, 1% or nonfat milk.

To maximize the calories with hot cereal, use creamer, butter, and brown sugar. Check out our high calorie oatmeal article to get even more ideas on boosting the calorie count of hot cereals.

High Calorie Cereal with Bananas

1 cup raisin bran (190 calories)
¾ cup whole milk (110 calories)
1 medium banana, sliced (105 calories)

Calorie count: 405

High Calorie Oatmeal with Bananas

1 cup oatmeal (166 calories)
¼ cup cream (79 calories)
1 Tbsp butter (102 calories)
1 Tbsp brown sugar (51 calories)
1 medium banana, sliced (105 calories)

Calorie count: 503 calories

Pair either breakfast with a glass of whole milk or juice for even more calories.

Lunch

One of my favorite sandwiches happens to be high calorie- a peanut butter banana sandwich. This tasty lunch includes a hearty bread, heart healthy peanut butter, and sliced bananas.

Another good high calorie lunch idea is a high calorie smoothie. They are delicious and can be consumed on the go.

Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich

2 slices wheat bread (160 calories)
2 Tbsp peanut butter (188 calories)
1 medium banana, sliced (105 calories)

Calorie count: 453 calories

Read the nutrition labels on your bread choices to find higher calorie breads. Slab on some extra peanut butter for more calories.

Pair with a glass of whole milk for even more calories.

High Calorie Smoothie

2 cups strawberries
1 medium banana
1 cup whole milk
½ cup Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp honey

Calorie Count: 650

You can find more high calorie smoothie ideas in our article 31 Best High Calorie Smoothies for Weight Gain.

Dinner

Dinner is admittedly harder to incorporate bananas, but it is possible! Bananas can be a great side dish or dessert by themselves or mixed into a fruit salad. You can also have a high calorie smoothie with dinner or after dinner.

Weight Gain Snacks Using Bananas

Remember, a banana by itself is a snack! But there are lots of fun ways to pair other high calorie foods with bananas to help you gain weight. Here are some ideas.

High Calorie Banana Snack Ideas:

Bananas with peanut butter spread
Bananas with peanut butter and chocolate chips
High calorie smoothie with bananas
Banana bread (with butter for more calories)
Power bowl topped with sliced bananas
Banana milk shake (check out the recipe on our sister website)
Banana split (it’s high calorie & delicious!)

High Calorie Recipes

Here are some high calorie recipes that contain bananas from our sister website, High Calorie Recipes.

Avocado Banana Smoothie
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
High Calorie Banana Delight Pudding
High Calorie Banana Milkshake
High Protein Banana Nut Muffins
High Calorie Overnight Oats with Bananas

Be sure to bookmark our website High Calorie Recipes– we are always adding new recipes to help you gain weight!

Conclusion: Bananas for Weight Gain

Gaining weight can be challenging, but coming in at 105 calories (medium) bananas can help you get some extra calories. I hope this article gave you some ideas on how you can use bananas for weight gain.

Best of luck to you!