Smoothies are a fast and scrumptious solution to load up on vegatables and fruits, however some ingredient combos might not be as wholesome as they appear. Scientists from the College of California, Davis, found that the forms of fruits blended collectively can change how a lot diet your physique truly absorbs.
Their analysis, printed within the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Meals and Perform, examined how polyphenol oxidase (PPO) — an enzyme discovered naturally in lots of vegatables and fruits — impacts the physique’s skill to soak up flavanols. These bioactive compounds are linked to improved coronary heart and mind well being and are considerable in meals like apples, pears, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, and cocoa (all standard smoothie components).
Lead writer Javier Ottaviani, director of the Core Laboratory of Mars Edge, a part of Mars, Inc., and adjunct researcher at UC Davis, defined: “We sought to know, on a really sensible stage, how a typical meals and meals preparation like a banana-based smoothie might have an effect on the supply of flavanols to be absorbed after consumption.”
Anybody who has sliced an apple or peeled a banana has seen the fruit shortly flip brown. That browning happens when PPO reacts with oxygen after the fruit is lower or bruised. The UC Davis staff wished to know if that very same enzyme exercise impacts how a lot of those useful flavanols the physique absorbs when fruits are blended collectively in smoothies.
Bananas vs. Berries: The Smoothie Showdown
To check this, members consumed two totally different smoothies — one made with banana, which has excessive PPO exercise, and one other made with blended berries, which have low PPO exercise. Additionally they took a flavanol capsule for comparability. Afterward, researchers measured flavanol ranges in blood and urine samples.
The outcomes had been putting. Individuals who drank the banana smoothie had 84% decrease flavanol ranges in comparison with those that took the management capsule.
“We had been actually stunned to see how shortly including a single banana decreased the extent of flavanols within the smoothie and the degrees of flavanol absorbed within the physique,” Ottaviani mentioned. “This highlights how meals preparation and combos can have an effect on the absorption of dietary compounds in meals.”
What Are Flavanols?
Flavanols are pure compounds present in meals like cocoa, berries, apples, and grapes. They’re half of a bigger group of plant vitamins referred to as polyphenols and are identified for supporting coronary heart and mind well being. Analysis means that flavanols might help enhance blood move, help reminiscence, and scale back irritation when consumed recurrently.
Selecting the Proper Fruit Pairings
In 2022, the Academy of Vitamin and Dietetics really useful consuming 400 to 600 milligrams of flavanols every day for cardiometabolic well being. Ottaviani famous that for folks aiming to achieve that focus on, it helps to pair flavanol-rich fruits equivalent to berries with components which have low PPO exercise, like pineapple, oranges, mango, or yogurt.
Bananas are nonetheless a nutritious fruit, however Ottaviani suggested that in the event you take pleasure in banana smoothies, it could be finest to not combine them with flavanol-heavy meals like berries, grapes, or cocoa. The identical precept applies to different meals with excessive PPO exercise, together with beet greens.
Ottaviani added that these findings might open the door to extra research on how meals preparation impacts nutrient absorption. As an illustration, tea is a serious dietary supply of flavanols, and the way in which it’s brewed might alter what number of of these compounds develop into obtainable for the physique to soak up.
“That is definitely an space that deserves extra consideration within the area of polyphenols and bioactive compounds generally,” mentioned Ottaviani.
Jodi Ensunsa, Reedmond Fong, Jennifer Kimball and Alan Crozier, all affiliated with the UC Davis Division of Vitamin and researchers affiliated with the UC Davis Division of Inside Medication, College of Studying, King Saud College and Mars, Inc. contributed to the analysis.
The examine was funded by a analysis grant from Mars, Inc., which collaborates with researchers to check potential advantages of cocoa flavanols for human well being.
