Saba banana
is one of the staple foods in tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia. It
is a species of banana that is cooked rather than eaten raw like dessert
bananas. Ripe Saba bananas are more delicious and have many culinary uses, and
unripe or green Saba bananas also have their share of usefulness as food. Unripe
Saba is cooked by boiling it whole with its peel on. It can also be roasted.
Boiled green Saba is eaten to pair with kinilaw, a Filipino version of
Mexican raw fish dish ceviche or to roasted fish. Most often it is eaten alone
as snack or eaten together with salted fish or salted shrimp or alamang which
are called bagoong in Filipino. A linupak or linusak in
Cebuano is a banana snack on which a boiled green Saba is mashed in a
mortar and pestle and mixed with grated coconut, brown sugar and butter or
margarine.
What is
good about Saba is that it is one of the cheapest foods in the local market and
is always available all year round.
Green Saba
banana, a fruit that is good for diabetes.
Green or
unripe Saba banana may be a fruit that is good for diabetics because of its low
glycemic index that means its consumption results in slow rise of blood sugar
in the body. It is rich in dietary fiber and contains a resistant starch that
acts as prebiotic that feeds gut bacteria. Eating cooked green Saba may improve
long term blood sugar management and gut health.
An unripe
green banana has a glycemic index of 30 which is low while ripe banana has a
medium glycemic index of 60. For this reason, green bananas should be cooked
and eaten within three days after purchase or harvest to benefit from their low
glycemic index because they easily ripen.
Like all foods,
green Saba bananas should be consumed in moderation. Consult a health care
provider or dietician if you would like to incorporate green Saba banana as one
of your chosen foods for your long-term diabetic management.
