Does Including a Banana to Your Smoothie Make It Much less Nutritious?

Bananas are a well-liked smoothie ingredient, however claims that they may intervene with the dietary advantages of different components might make you assume twice earlier than tossing one within the blender. Right here’s the news on whether or not bananas actually make your smoothie much less nutritious.

Relying on what you place into your smoothie, bananas might have an effect on its antioxidant potential. 

That’s as a result of bananas comprise an enzyme referred to as polyphenol oxidase (PPO), which may block the absorption of flavanols, a kind of antioxidant present in excessive quantities in fruits similar to berries, grapes, and peaches, Javier Ottaviani, PhD, director of the Core Laboratory of Mars Edge, advised Well being.

A 2023 research Ottaviani co-authored—the supply of bananas’ dangerous status as a smoothie addition—discovered that those that consumed a banana-based smoothie had, on common, 84% much less flavanol absorption than those that had a berry-based smoothie or took a flavanol capsule.

Nevertheless, extra analysis is important to substantiate these results. That research included solely eight individuals, which Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, proprietor of Toby Amidor Vitamin, PC, and Well being Pictures creator, referred to as “extraordinarily small.”  

Even when bananas do considerably scale back the absorption of some flavanols, Amidor famous additionally they contribute their very own antioxidants. Whereas maybe not as wealthy in antioxidants as berries, for instance, they do comprise flavanols, polyphenols, vitamin C, and carotenoids—so a banana in your berry smoothie doesn’t essentially make it antioxidant-free.

Whereas bananas would possibly scale back the antioxidant content material of sure smoothies, additionally they supply loads of dietary worth on their very own. 

For starters, bananas are famously wealthy in potassium, an electrolyte important for nerve operate, muscle contraction, and sustaining wholesome blood strain. “Nearly all of us don’t get sufficient potassium, and bananas are supply,” Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, creator of Learn It Earlier than You Eat It—Taking You from Label to Desk, advised Well being. One medium banana incorporates 375 milligrams of potassium (8% of the Every day Worth).

As well as, bananas “present vital vitamin B6, which is essential for immune operate and fetal mind improvement,” mentioned Jamie Mok, MS, RDN, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Vitamin and Dietetics.

Bananas’ fiber content material is one other noteworthy plus. A medium banana provides round 2 grams of fiber, and less-ripe bananas comprise extra resistant starch, a kind of fiber that feeds useful intestine micro organism and promotes total intestine well being, Mok advised Well being.