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T<\/span>his year was shaping up to be a banner year for bananas: they were lauded as \u201c2026\u2019s big viral taste\u201d, landed pride of place as Prada\u2019s new lip balm flavor, and were even deemed \u201cthe next pumpkin spice\u201d.<\/p>\n But this summer, the Mel Robbins Podcast featured Dr Rhonda Patrick, a biomedical scientist, who said that adding banana to a blueberry smoothie could adversely affect the nutritional benefits of the berries.<\/p>\n Could the beloved mashup of blueberries and bananas really be a bad match?<\/p>\n Patrick\u2019s claim involved an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, which appears in bananas, and polyphenols, an umbrella term for a diverse family of antioxidant compounds found in plants \u2013 including blueberries.<\/p>\n \u201cPolyphenol oxidase, it\u2019s essentially an enzyme that\u2019s breaking down the polyphenols. And there have now been studies \u2026 showing if you add bananas to blueberries, you\u2019re not getting as many polyphenols. In fact, it\u2019s quite a bit lower. So the banana is killing the benefit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The most likely source for Patrick\u2019s claim is a 2023 study that explored how polyphenol oxidase affected the body\u2019s absorption of particular polyphenols called flavanols.<\/p>\n The study found that participants who drank banana smoothies with added flavanol had lower blood levels of these antioxidants than those who drank mixed-berry smoothies with the same additive.<\/p>\n There are a few reasons not to rely too heavily on this study for this specific claim.<\/p>\n First of all, the researchers \u201cnever, ever made a smoothie with bananas and blueberries together\u201d, says Dr Joe Schwarcz, a science communicator and director of McGill University\u2019s office for science and society.<\/p>\n Further, the study \u201conly had eight subjects \u2026 not a big enough number to have significant conclusions\u201d, says Schwarcz.<\/p>\n But zooming out to the effects of polyphenol oxidase on flavanols, \u201cthere is a statistical difference in the amount of polyphenols that may be present in your smoothie as the result of the banana,\u201d says Schwarcz.<\/p>\n I reached out to Patrick at her health content company, FoundMyFitness, to clarify her claim. A spokesperson, Dan (their full name was not provided on request), responded by email: \u201cThe fact that this enzyme breaks down some polyphenols is essentially beyond reproach and not dependent on any one study she cites.\u201d<\/p>\n A body of research does support that polyphenol oxidase influences the antioxidative capacity of different compounds in fruit and vegetables in various different ways.<\/p>\n Graphic with three lines of text that say, in bold, \u2018Well Actually\u2019, then \u2018Read more on living a good life in a complex world,\u2019 then a pinkish-lavender pill-shaped button with white letters that say \u2018More from this section\u2019<\/p>\n But context is important. Blueberries contain several types of polyphenols. Anthocyanins, which are responsible for the color of blueberries, are proportionally more significant and abundant in the fruit than flavanols, says Schwarcz.<\/p>\n Anthocyanins are associated with a range of potential health benefits, including reduced risk of overall mortality, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n Thus, what this study measured was \u201cnot even the important compounds of blueberries\u201d, says Schwarcz.<\/p>\n Finally, this study was funded by the Mars company \u2013 and the flavanols used in this project were derived from cocoa.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it just so happens that [Mars] sells flavanol supplements\u201d and chocolate, which contains flavanols, says Schwarcz.<\/p>\n Yes, they can. \u201cNutrient interactions in food are actually quite common,\u201d says Alyssa Northrop, a registered dietitian based in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Sign up to Well Actually<\/span><\/p>\n Practical advice, expert insights and answers to your questions about how to live a good life<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cSome nutrients enhance the absorption of other nutrients, like vitamin C and iron. Others can reduce absorption, such as the oxalates in spinach, which bind to calcium and reduce its bioavailability.\u201d<\/p>\n But in the grand scheme of your diet, Northrop says you shouldn\u2019t lose sleep over such interactions.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than trying to micromanage every food combination, I encourage people to focus on the bigger picture: eat a varied diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and other nutrient-dense foods to meet your body\u2019s needs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Eating too few fruits and vegetables is a bigger concern than optimizing polyphenol absorption from every smoothie, says Northrop.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of us aren\u2019t consuming the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. If adding a banana makes a berry smoothie more delicious and encourages someone to eat more fruit, I see that as a win,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cBananas are often added to smoothies for their natural sweetness and unique texture that can make the smoothie thick and creamy,\u201d says Sheri Gaw, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Furthermore, bananas are easily accessible, inexpensive and healthy. They contain potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese and magnesium, along with about 3 grams of fiber per medium fruit.<\/p>\n Polyphenol-rich foods have been associated with a range of potential health benefits, including supporting cardiovascular and metabolic health, promoting a healthy gut microbiome, and helping prevent chronic diseases, says Northrop.<\/p>\n Evidence suggests that consuming between 400 and 600mg of flavanols daily from foods such as green tea, cocoa and apples may support cardiometabolic health, including potential improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar regulation.<\/p>\n But unlike with vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which can cause distinct negative health effects, \u201cwe don\u2019t know the physiological effects of polyphenol insufficiency on health. Polyphenols are not considered essential nutrients, and there isn\u2019t an established recommended daily intake for total polyphenols,\u201d Northrop says.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re really worried about your berry smoothie\u2019s flavanol levels, add fruit that is lower in polyphenol oxidase than banana, such as mango or pineapple.<\/p>\n Or, experiment with different ingredients. \u201cOats, yogurt, silken tofu, kefir, avocado and frozen cauliflower are popular smoothie add-ins that can offer a similar creamy thickness as a banana,\u201d Gaw adds.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the context of your overall diet,\u201d the interplay of bananas and berries is \u201cinsignificant\u201d, says Schwarcz. Overall, it\u2019s good to eat a variety of fruits, and we benefit from their varied antioxidant compounds.<\/p>\n Schwarcz has seen the idea of focusing on a specific food component and its impact on human health bubble up in nutrition literature for years.<\/p>\n \u201cYour health is a very complex business of nutrition, of genetics, of your activity levels. And to try to make a big deal out of whether you put a banana in your smoothie or not \u2013 it\u2019s just scientific nonsense,\u201d he says. \u201cIt makes no practical difference in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year was shaping up to be a banner year for bananas: they were lauded as \u201c2026\u2019s big viral taste\u201d, landed pride of place as Prada\u2019s new lip balm flavor, and were even deemed \u201cthe next pumpkin spice\u201d. But this summer, the Mel Robbins Podcast featured Dr Rhonda Patrick, a biomedical scientist, who said that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[19586,561,25301,3534,2136,1933],"class_list":{"0":"post-52193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-bananas","9":"tag-benefit","10":"tag-blueberries","11":"tag-kill","12":"tag-scientist","13":"tag-true"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is the claim about bananas affecting the nutritional value of blueberries?<\/h2>\n
Does this study support the banana-blueberry claim?<\/h2>\n
Can nutrients actually \u2018cancel each other out\u2019?<\/h2>\n
Should we be worried about not getting enough polyphenols?<\/h2>\n
Do I really need to stop putting bananas in my berry smoothie?<\/h2>\n