Blueberries vs Banana – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing blueberries to banana, we picked the banana.

Why?

Surprise, that which is more expensive is not always commensurately more healthy! A lot of the price difference between bananas and blueberries comes down to:

• ease of transport (unripe bananas can be transported quite easily without too much risk of bruising; unripe blueberries can’t even be usefully picked)
• shelf-life (unripe bananas will take their time to ripen; the already-ripe blueberries will often go bad very quickly)

For this reason, frozen blueberries are a great option for budget-friendly berries. But, onto the comparisons:

In terms of macros, bananas have slightly more protein, carbs, and fiber, and the slightly lower glycemic index. Really, both are good, but by the numbers, bananas win.

When it comes to vitamins, blueberries have more of vitamins B1, C, E, and K, while bananas have more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, and choline. Another win for bananas, though of course we could quibble which vitamins are most likely to be not found in sufficient abundance in the rest of one’s diet, but as it is, we just compared the nutrients head-to-head without trying to guess the rest of someone’s diet.

In the category of minerals, blueberries have more calcium and manganese, while bananas have more copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. Another win for bananas.

As for polyphenols, this is where blueberries shine, with a lot more than bananas (difficult to calculate exactly due to variations, but, in the order of hundreds of times more). A win for blueberries this time.

Adding up the section gives us an overall win for bananas, but by all means enjoy either or both; perhaps even together!

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

Blueberry & Banana Collagen Baked Oats ← You will love this recipe! And… Good news for vegans/vegetarians: while we include an optional tablespoon of collagen powder in this recipe, the whole recipe is already geared around collagen synthesis, so it’s very collagen-boosting even with just the plants, providing collagen’s building blocks of protein, zinc, and vitamins C and D (your miraculous body will use these to assemble the collagen inside you).

Enjoy!