When food combinations go wrong: DO NOT pair these 'healthy' fruits together
Smoothies are the current breakfast obsession for both millennials and Gen Z. It's indeed a nutritious breakfast option, which requires very little time to make. While some people like to throw in their leafy greens, veggies, and fruits together, others opt for yogurt and fruits.
Berry smoothies are the rage nowadays, and people often add a banana to them for more sweetness and texture. But guess what? You are not supposed to pair blueberries with a banana! Surprised?
Amy Shah, M.D., a double-board-certified doctor and wellness expert trained at Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia, specializes in food allergies, hormones, and gut health, has now explained why mixing blueberries with bananas may not be a good idea.
Blueberries and bananas
are not the best of friends
'Blueberries are my favorite fruit because they have fiber, they have vitamin C, and they are full of manganese and B6. Honestly, these are one of the biggest sources of flavonoids in our diet, and they are so good for our brain. In fact, they improve the health of your brain in an hour,' Dr. Shah said, in a video shared on Instagram.
But if you mix them with a banana, that's where the problem begins. If you make a smoothie like a lot of people do, a banana and blueberry smoothie. The problem is that bananas have an enzyme called PPO, and this actually breaks down the flavonoids. So if you leave them there, there will be a composition of flavonoids,' she
explained
.
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The nutritionist shared that one can eat them separately, but eating them together is not good if you want the health benefits.
So, what can you mix with blueberries?
Dr. Shah recommends adding probiotics like yogurt, kefir, or probiotic cottage cheese. 'This makes a powerful intestinal combination. Prebiotics, probiotics. This is something you should be doing,' the nutrition expert said. She also added that you can always buy frozen blueberries if you can't get the fresh ones.
'Frozen ones are just as good, if not better.'
Should you be concerned if you mixed blueberries and bananas
If you have already consumed a blueberry and banana smoothie before coming across this article, should you be concerned? 'It's not a big deal if you mix blueberries with bananas once in a while. The study is small, and the risk is more theoretical and more if you're only consuming it that way,' Dr. Shah said.
The study
A 2023 study published in the journal
Food and Function
found that when banana was combined in s smoothie maded with mixed berries, they had 84% lower levels of flavanols in their body, compared to the control group.
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'We were really surprised to see how quickly adding a single banana decreased the level of flavanols in the smoothie and the levels of flavanols absorbed in the body. This highlights how food preparation and combinations can affect the absorption of dietary compounds in foods,' lead author Javier Ottaviani, director of the Core Laboratory of Mars Edge, which is part of Mars, Inc., and an adjunct researcher with the UC Davis Department of Nutrition, said in a statement.
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