Calories in a Banana: 81 kcal [16 Minutes of Walking]

Q: How many calories are in a banana?

A medium peeled banana (about 100 g) has 81 kcal (339 kJ). A large one at roughly 120 g comes to 97 kcal, while an 80 g NHS 5-a-day portion is 65 kcal. Almost all of that energy is carbohydrate — fat is just 0.1 g per 100 g.

Q: How many calories are in banana per 100g?

Peeled banana flesh has 81 kcal per 100 g, with 20.3 g carbs, 18.1 g sugar, 1.2 g protein and 1.4 g fibre. If you weigh the fruit unpeeled, use 51 kcal per 100 g instead — the skin adds weight you won't actually eat.

Q: How many calories are in banana bread?

Homemade banana bread has 331 kcal per 100 g — four times the fruit itself. It also carries 36.3 g sugar, 12.4 g fat and 0.427 g salt per 100 g. A generous slice can rival a small meal, so weigh it rather than guessing.

Q: Is banana bread healthy?

At 331 kcal and 36.3 g sugar per 100 g, banana bread is closer to cake than fruit. The banana contributes flavour, not virtue — flour, butter and added sugar do the rest. Enjoy it as an occasional treat, and don't count it toward your 5-a-day.

Q: How many calories are in a banana shake?

The banana itself contributes 81 kcal; the total depends entirely on what you blend it with. Milk, ice cream, honey or peanut butter can multiply that figure several times over. If you're tracking, log each ingredient separately rather than searching for a generic shake.

Q: Is a banana a berry?

Yes — botanically, the 81-kcal banana is a true berry, because it develops from a single flower with one ovary and holds its seeds inside the flesh. Strawberries, oddly, are not. It changes nothing nutritionally, but it wins pub quizzes.

Q: Is a banana a fruit?

Yes — and an 80 g portion (65 kcal) counts as one of your NHS 5-a-day. A medium banana slightly exceeds that at around 100 g and 81 kcal, so one fruit fully covers a portion. Only one daily fruit portion can come from juice, but whole bananas have no such limit.

Q: Is banana good for dogs?

Plain banana is generally considered safe for dogs in small amounts — but at 81 kcal per medium fruit, a whole one is a lot for a small dog, so offer a few slices at most. Skip banana bread entirely: 331 kcal per 100 g plus 0.427 g salt, and recipes may contain ingredients unsafe for pets. Ask your vet if unsure.

Calories in a banana: a medium peeled banana (about 100 g of flesh) has 81 kcal (339 kJ), which is also the per-100 g figure. A large banana is around 97 kcal, and an 80 g NHS 5-a-day portion is 65 kcal. Fat is almost zero; the energy comes from carbs.

You'd need to walk about 16 minutes to burn the 81 calories in a medium peeled banana (~100 g).

How long does it take to burn off a banana?

A medium peeled banana (~100 g) is 81 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:

Your weight Amount

Activity	Time to burn 81 kcal
Walking, brisk	16 min
Cycling, moderate	10 min
Swimming, moderate	12 min
Jogging	10 min
Weight training, moderate	18 min

Times are for a 154 lb (11 st) adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (100 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.

Quick facts (per 100 g and per medium banana)

The numbers below are for peeled flesh. A medium banana weighs roughly 100 g once peeled, so the per-portion column matches the per-100 g column almost exactly — a rare bit of luck for anyone logging food.

Nutrient	Per 100 g	Per medium banana (~100 g)	% RI (portion)
Energy	81 kcal / 339 kJ	81 kcal / 339 kJ	4%
Protein	1.2 g	1.2 g	2%
Carbohydrates	20.3 g	20.3 g	8%
Fat	0.1 g	0.1 g	<1%
Fibre	1.4 g	1.4 g	—
Sugar	18.1 g	18.1 g	20%
Salt	0.0 g	0.0 g	0%

Two things stand out. First, a banana is effectively fat-free and salt-free. Second, 18.1 g of sugar per 100 g is a fifth of the 90 g daily reference intake — but because it comes packaged in whole fruit, the NHS does not count it as free sugar, the kind we're told to cut back on.

Verified nutrition data

Numbers on this page come from CoFID, the UK government’s Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified August 2026. How we verify our data →

If your tracker works in kilojoules, the conversion is already done above: 339 kJ per 100 g. UK labels print kJ first and kcal second, so a banana logged from a supermarket label and one logged from this page should land on the same number.

Portion sizes in UK terms

Bananas vary more than most people think. The gap between a small-ish 80 g portion and a large fruit is about 32 kcal — not huge, but it adds up if you eat one every day and always log "one banana".

Portion	Weight (peeled)	Calories
NHS 5-a-day portion	80 g	65 kcal
Medium banana	~100 g	81 kcal
Large banana	~120 g	97 kcal

The NHS 5-a-day portion for fresh fruit is 80 g, so even a smallish banana comfortably counts as one of your five. If you're logging by eye, "medium" at 81 kcal is the safe default; call it large only when it genuinely fills your hand.

Ripeness, on the other hand, changes nothing worth logging. As a banana ripens, its starch converts to sugar, so a speckled fruit tastes far sweeter than a green one — yet the energy stays put. Weigh it, log it, and let the colour be a flavour decision.

Timing is a preference too, not maths. Carbs with barely any fat make bananas a favourite before a run or a gym session, but the 81 kcal count the same at breakfast or at midnight; no eating window shrinks them.

With skin, and banana bread

CoFID lists two other banana entries worth knowing, because both trip people up in food diaries.

Weighed with skin: 51 kcal per 100 g. If you put a whole unpeeled banana on the kitchen scale, use this figure — the skin is weight you won't eat. Per 100 g as weighed: 51 kcal, 0.8 g protein, 12.8 g carbs, 0.0 g fat, 0.9 g fibre, 11.4 g sugar, no salt. Logging peeled numbers against unpeeled weight inflates your entry by roughly 60%.

Homemade banana bread: 331 kcal per 100 g. This is where the healthy halo collapses. A typical loaf slice carries 4.4 g protein, 53.9 g carbs and 12.4 g fat per 100 g, with 36.3 g sugar — double the sugar of the fruit itself — plus 0.427 g salt. The banana in the name does not make it fruit; the flour, butter and added sugar make it cake.

How does it compare?

Food (per 100 g)	Calories
Banana (this page)	81 kcal
Grapes	65 kcal
Pear	44 kcal
Strawberries	30 kcal
Porridge	381 kcal

Verdict: the banana is the heaviest of the common fruits here, nearly three times the calories of strawberries gram for gram — but it's still a bargain next to most snacks, and it beats sliced banana bread by 250 kcal per 100 g. Pick it when you want something filling; pick berries when you want volume.

The "bananas are fattening" myth

You'll hear that bananas should be dropped first when cutting calories. The maths disagrees. At 81 kcal, a medium banana costs about 4% of a 2000 kcal day, arrives with zero fat and no salt, and counts toward your 5-a-day under the Eatwell Guide. No single fruit is fattening at one a day. The realistic risk isn't the fruit — it's what the fruit gets baked into.

The official figures behind this page come from the UK's CoFID dataset, the same source dietitians use.

Most popular banana brands in the United Kingdom

Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United Kingdom, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each label. Loose supermarket bananas are unbranded; Fyffes is the label you will actually see on the bunch sticker.

Product	Calories (per 100 g)
Fyffes Bananas	90 kcal

Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels.

FAQ

How many calories are in a banana?

A medium peeled banana (about 100 g) has 81 kcal (339 kJ). A large one at roughly 120 g comes to 97 kcal, while an 80 g NHS 5-a-day portion is 65 kcal. Almost all of that energy is carbohydrate — fat is just 0.1 g per 100 g.

How many calories are in banana per 100g?

Peeled banana flesh has 81 kcal per 100 g, with 20.3 g carbs, 18.1 g sugar, 1.2 g protein and 1.4 g fibre. If you weigh the fruit unpeeled, use 51 kcal per 100 g instead — the skin adds weight you won't actually eat.

How many calories are in banana bread?

Homemade banana bread has 331 kcal per 100 g — four times the fruit itself. It also carries 36.3 g sugar, 12.4 g fat and 0.427 g salt per 100 g. A generous slice can rival a small meal, so weigh it rather than guessing.

Is banana bread healthy?

At 331 kcal and 36.3 g sugar per 100 g, banana bread is closer to cake than fruit. The banana contributes flavour, not virtue — flour, butter and added sugar do the rest. Enjoy it as an occasional treat, and don't count it toward your 5-a-day.

How many calories are in a banana shake?

The banana itself contributes 81 kcal; the total depends entirely on what you blend it with. Milk, ice cream, honey or peanut butter can multiply that figure several times over. If you're tracking, log each ingredient separately rather than searching for a generic shake.

Is a banana a berry?

Yes — botanically, the 81-kcal banana is a true berry, because it develops from a single flower with one ovary and holds its seeds inside the flesh. Strawberries, oddly, are not. It changes nothing nutritionally, but it wins pub quizzes.

Is a banana a fruit?