Bananas in Smoothies: Yes or No? (Presentation) 

Ok folks. No one is telling you what you have to eat. You can eat bananas in smoothies as much as you want. However, if you spend a lot of money on berries thinking you’re getting all the phytonutrient benefits, I think it’s helpful to know how to maximize those benefits. I don’t think anyone is saying bananas aren’t healthy. It’s just that you may be getting less than optimal benefits from berries I personally appreciate this video. Dr Greger himself said it’s not polished like his normal videos. He just wanted to get this preliminary rough video out there bc so many people had questions.

I can’t believe I watching a 20-minute video about if I should or shouldn’t put a banana in my daily smoothie. Damn you RU-vid, damn you 🤦‍♂️

Due to technical difficulties, Dr. Greger's live presentation didn't work out as planned last week. Instead of trying to reschedule again, he decided to record the presentation so you could get the information as soon as possible! Edited to add: here is a link to the sources cited in this presentation - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xRXidBKb59AO0x0x8FPJfz0Je5ehdjE0kdV16t4kb9I/edit#gid=0

The Impact of Bananas on Flavanol Absorption in Smoothies and Other Nutritional Considerations 🍌 The video discusses the importance of flavonoids, specifically flavanols, in cardiovascular protection and how polyphenol oxidase in bananas can affect their nutritional value. 00:58 Flavanols, a type of flavonoid, can provide cardiovascular protection. 00:58 A review suggests that an intake of 400-600 milligrams of flavonols per day would be beneficial for cardiovascular health. 01:47 The primary sources of flavonols are tea, berries, and cocoa. 02:20 Polyphenol oxidase in bananas can break down flavonols, reducing their nutritional value. 02:46 Bruised bananas and cut avocados can produce defensive compounds with antimicrobial activity. 03:19 Mixing banana with polyphenol-rich foods like berries or cocoa in a smoothie may result in less nutrition. 04:13 Research showed that adding cocoa flavanols to a banana-containing smoothie led to a decrease in nutritional value compared to a berry smoothie with no banana. 04:33 💡 Bananas in smoothies can decrease the amount of cocoa flavanols that make it into the bloodstream. 05:18 The enzyme in bananas, polyphenol oxidase, can break down cocoa flavanols in the stomach. 05:18 The levels of cocoa flavanols in the bloodstream decrease by 90% every 10 minutes. 05:51 Adding polyphenol inhibitors can block the effects of the enzyme in bananas. 06:06 The study participants had 37% less cocoa flavanols in their bloodstream when alternating sips of banana smoothie and chocolate milk. 06:57 Bananas can decrease the levels of cocoa flavanols in the bloodstream by up to 37%. 07:41 Polyphenol oxidase enzyme is deactivated in the stomach acid, but can still cause some damage. 08:23 Drinking a smoothie immediately after blending can reduce the polyphenol damage caused by bananas. 08:57 🍌 Bananas have high polyphenol oxidase activity, but white button mushrooms have even more. 10:25 White button mushrooms have more polyphenol oxidase activity than bananas. 10:25 Cooking mushrooms destroys the polyphenol oxidase activity. 12:10 Mango has significantly less polyphenol oxidase activity compared to bananas. 12:49 Apples turn brown due to polyphenol oxidase activity. 13:02 Kale has very low enzyme levels, making it a good choice for green smoothies. 13:48 🍌 Adding bananas to oatmeal or smoothies may decrease the absorption of certain nutrients, but heating or adding vitamin C and citric acid can help inhibit the enzyme responsible. 14:04 Adding bananas to oatmeal or smoothies may decrease the absorption of certain nutrients. 14:04 Heating bananas or adding vitamin C and citric acid can inhibit the enzyme responsible for nutrient absorption decrease. 16:01 Pasteurized smoothie drinks may not have the same nutrient absorption issue as fresh-made smoothies. 16:24 Adding lemon juice to fruit salad can prevent apples from turning brown. 16:57 Sulfites were previously used to inhibit the enzyme, but they are now banned due to respiratory problems. 17:33 Unsulfured dried fruits are recommended to avoid sulfite-induced respiratory problems. 17:47 Alternative methods are needed to inhibit the enzyme in banana smoothies. 17:53 🍌 Certain natural agents like onion extract and pineapple juice can prevent browning of fruits, including apples and bananas. 18:01 Onion extract and fresh/cooked onion juice can prevent browning of pears. 18:01 Pineapple juice seems to help keep apples and bananas from browning. 18:31 Lemon juice is more effective than white wine in preventing browning in pastry dough. 18:48 Bananas can be eaten anytime, but it's better to consume them separately from other healthy foods. 19:18 Having bananas in the stomach at the same time as a meal may impair nutrient absorption. 19:39 Uncooked mushrooms and avocado can also have similar effects on nutrient absorption. 19:55 The video provides important information on preventing browning of fruits and will be available on nutritionfacts.org. 20:09

Dr Greger you're breaking my heart but I love you.

When we ran across this unfortunate info, we split our smoothies into morning berry smoothies and afternoon banana smoothies. We mainly use smoothies as a way to get our Daily Dozen berries and our apple cider vinegar. Splitting it into two separate recipes allowed us to have our berries without reducing their innate goodness and to still enjoy banana smoothies later. To increase bulk and smoothness in the berry smoothies we added in ground chia and some raw oats.

Only Dr Gregor could make a 20 minute video on this topic lol

Thanks Dr Greger! I had already made the switch to frozen mangoes in my smoothie to replace the bananas' sweetness, so I guessed right! I'll skip the onion juice though.

Dr. Greger, this one truly bummed me out. 🍌 🍌 But thank you for keeping it real and for providing options of cooking and or adding citrus juices ie lemon / pineapple juice to yellow ( not brown) bananas to prevent / mitigate the negative impact.

In consideration of the fact that bananas are so widely used in smoothies to add sweetness, this is such an informative video on how to preserve the vital nutrients of berries. Thank you so much for the quick video.

At nearly 54 and over 7 years whole food plant based I am in the best shape of my life. I train most days ,have a six pack and eat a lot of bananas along with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. I will still eat 4-5 bananas a day because they are GREAT! All the best. ❤

Video of the year! Goodbye banana, hello mango (for smoothies)

This is very interesting. Valuable information. I’ve listened to you for years. Finally donated. Sincere thanks for all you do!

Super appreciate all the hard work to help us hack our way to the healthiest selves. Love this work.

I like fried bananas with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and date syrup. This video gave me the idea of adding cacao and blending the whole mess into a smoothie. I'm going to go try it right now.

Thank you Dr. Greger, I absolutely love learning these things from you😊 Just when you think you are eating healthy, there is always another level!

Phew... I always add bananas to my oatmeal, but I always add it before I add the oats to the boiling water. With the extra cooking time the bananas have time to brake down and mixed with the oats so every bite has this great banana flavor with a bit of sweetness to boot. And I guess all the berries I add later go unharmed.

For me: boiled sweet potato (preferably purple stoke potato) with my blueberries and strawberries, a little water and some dried fruits or Manuka honey. Yum. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 😊

Thank you so much. I've seen a video by another RU-vidr on this, or perhaps more than one, but this video is much better, explaining well as always and not stopping at pointing out the issue but going further to examine options for dealing with that antioxidant absorbtion blocking effect, and suggesting the best of these options. It's indeed good to get this information as soon as possible. 👏🙏

I wish he'd would start with the TLDW message, then go through the science and recap it again at the end. Start: "If you've been putting bananas in your smoothies you may want to stop. Here's why..."

So interesting ! Thanks for your ongoing work Dr. ! I so appreciate you ..

Hi Dr. Greger! I have a question. Since freezing some foods can help reduce their oxidative enzymes, then theoretically can adding FROZEN banana to smoothies reduce the amount of flavinoids destroyed?

Haha, glad to finally see this video, thanks for posting it ❤🔥 Sorry it took so long to sort out.

In our household we eat so much healthy food that even with a 90 % drop we would still get more than three times of what we need of all relevant nutrients. Only thing we are deficient of here are lifestyle diseases.

Frozen okra makes smoothies creamy without bananas.

What would happen if you cooked the bananas in a microwave, and subsequently froze them prior to making your smoothie? I think this is worth a try!

Would you be able to publish a smoothie matrix at some point to list the beneficial compounds of each common ingredient, and interactions that may eliminate them? Lol that would be appreciated for sure. It’s impossible to remember all of the data that comes out. It’s a mountain that never stops growing

Talk about taking the fun out of life. "Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?" And now instead of taking 2 seconds to peel a banana I have to spend 15 minutes peeling a mango and cleaning up after.

Anxiously awaiting your new book...How not to Age. At almost 70, I'm looking forward to whatever natural ways there are to stave off death, disease and aging. I previously purchased your, How not to Die Cookbook, and thoroughly enjoy the recipes. Would love another cookbook from you at some point too. Keep doing what you're doing...so many of us appreciate you more than you know.

I’ve been making smoothies for over 2 years now. Never added bananas, apples, pears etc. to my smoothies, just because they turn brown after cutting. It’s good to learn the science behind it now!! Thanks Dr. Greger!!😊

A good reminder to eat a more varied diet and not rely on whatever same smoothie or singular fruit/veg/etc or powdered supplement every day. I've been mostly using bananas in baking lately so I guess that's actually a little better.

Any studies testing frozen bananas? Does the freeze/thaw process deactivate the enzyme?

❓Not putting bananas in your smoothie is like not putting lentils in your dal!!!! I have a question, if you use frozen bananas and the smoothie stays super cold, wouldn't that also keep the enzymes inhibited until they warm up in the stomach which are then deactivated by the stomach acid?????❓

Wow. Really appreciate all that you do. A physician who alleviates suffering by prevention. Imagine that!

Thank you Dr Greger and the team. Very much appreciated. Knowledge is key. We're all free to do what we want but I prefer to know because I'm trying to make the most of the nutrition for myself and my family.

I wonder if you could microwave the banana for a minute or so then freeze it. So, when you're making a smoothie, just throw in the frozen banana and you can still get the creamy texture and flavor and preserve all the benefits of the phytonutrients.

Thanks for this video! Does microwaving the banana help?

Let's keep enjoying bananas. They taste enchanting and cream a smoothie and taste great in banana ice cream. There is quite a large amount of banana in the smoothie that has been examined. You can reduce the amount and vary with mango, nuts and seeds to cream a smoothie. All in all, I think it's important to vary your smoothies. If you eat plant-based, your other diet is also full of plant substances. So my recommendation as a dietitian is: Keep enjoying bananas, also in smoothies - with variety in mind!

What is the bottom line? Can I keep using bananas in smoothies ?

? What about freezing the banana Not sure if I missed that part Thank you Dr Greger and your team for all you do 🙏🌻💕

Not giving up bananas.

This would be better as a blog with key takeaways as much shorter!

It’s interesting and I believe the science, but I will continue to put bananas in my smoothies because that’s how I enjoy my smoothies. Thanks for the info, though.

Smoothie with mango and blueberries instead of banana or blueberries and Yukon sweetness? I wonder how it looks with that? I always froth up my oatmeal/soy milk and mix it into the blueberry smoothie, so delicious and creamy.

You can add vitamin C to your foods and it should also block the enzyme(that’s why lemon works well). If you want a natural source you can look into acerola cherry powder and add it to your oatmeal or smoothies.

Set alarm for 2:00am. Enjoy a banana. Go back to bed.

Okay so what if we cook the bananas then refreeze them, theeeeen put them in the smoothie? 🤔🤔🤔

Why not just put more berries, cacao, etc in the smoothie instead of avoiding the banana altogether? I think this is getting into the minutiae here. Just eat whole plants. Drink your smoothie right away; Don’t leave it to drink hours later. Same with your oatmeal and fruit including bananas. I don’t think anyone has gotten sick because their flavonoid levels were just a bit lower from eating bananas. Maximizing nutrients becomes a bit obsessive-compulsive, if you ask me. It’s not good when you want more people on this earth to eat more plant based when there are those so reductionistic that they become obsessed with the details. I love Dr. Greger and his work is immeasurable but this kind of stuff isn’t good for the plant based movement. Dr. Campbell said it right, I think. Eat whole plants…It’s the symphony of how plant foods work together in our bodies that provide good health; Don’t chase down nutrients.

what if your smoothie is just greens, chiaseed, bananas and water? Are Bananas ruining the nutritional value of chia and greens or are they only adversely impacting the flavonols in berries and cacao if you choose to include them in your smoothies?

For green smoothies, an option that I only recently started exploring (though it may not be for everyone) is to make them savory. You can experiment with so many different spice blends, herbs and vegetables, there's a whole new world without bananas :)

Let's try microwaving the banana for x seconds then freeze to store before using. If the banana does not turn brown then it has worked

I think this is where I get fatigue with all this stuff. Am I going to die as a direct result of putting bananas in my smoothies? No. And if I lose out on some of the benefits of berries in my smoothies? I'm still drinking tea and eating cacao at different times. Not to mention, parts of the video mention that adding Vitamin C negates this effect - what are berries full of? Vitamin C. Berries were not part of the study, but despite their Vitamin C content were just "assumed" to suffer the same loss. Sometimes, you've just gotta let these little things go and live your life that you are working so hard to keep.

I’ve been using ripe bananas to sweeten my oats (with berries) instead of sugar but now I’ll try to replace them with mango or pineapple. Shame. Thanks so much for the info!!

I….umm, ahh…really do…..umm ,ahh….love Dr Greger.

I typically cannot tolerate bananas. But, if I boil them I can. I've tried both green and ripe bananas. Boiling helped with digestion on both but the green bananas taste pretty crappy. The ripe boiled nanners are amazing. Not sure how it effects nutrient absorption but they don't bother my IBS and they add great flavors to my daily oats.

I have a question: would bananas/polyphenyl oxidase block the nutrients in greens at all? I love a banana to sweeten up my green smoothies (usually banana + kale + almond butter + cinnamon + soy milk).

What if you heat up the banana to temperature that kills the enzyme (as suggested in the video), can you then simply freeze it for later use in smoothies?

What about the impact of dates that is dried dates not fresh dates in smoothie? You mentioned when Brown apples have an impact and so do pears. And fresh dates have the texture of apples. When dates are dried, they get brown which reminds me of the apricots you showed in the video.

So I’m thinking that if I microwave a banana with lemon juice squeezed on it THEN freeze it it might be ok to use in a smoothie with the other good stuff?

If you add lemon juice it prevents browning.

Thank you for this video! I don't think it would be that big of a hassle to warm up a few bananas and then freeze the resulting goo to add to smoothies later. I wonder how that would change the texture. Bananas are just so great for adding a little sweetness.

Would dehydrating bananas to be added to oatmeal eliminate the conflict with berries?

I've learnt from a brasilian vlogger, Chef Jana, that you can cook bananas (green) and use them to replace eggs, creams, etc. And also, that you can cook the banana peel and they can replace meat.

ITS THE BIG BANANA CONSPIRACY

I'll forever be thankful to you dr..

Mango is a wonderfully creamy smoothie ingredient. I actually prefer it over banana.

To say that bananas ruin a particular aspect of berry nutrition is not necessarily to say that bananas ruin ALL berry nutrition. I would like to know how much nutrition we get from berries even after bananas have had their effect. For one thing, it looks to me as if you can get almost all of the recommended dosage of flavanols simply by drinking one cup of green tea per day. If you drink one cup of tea on its own (without anything to destroy its flavanols), and then eat a plant-based diet the rest of the day, you would be likely to get all of your flavanols even if you drank banana-berry smoothies, especially if you were to eat some berries on their own. Put another way, it seems like there's a reasonable path forward to both eat banana-berry smoothies, AND get your flavanols (while still POSSIBLY getting some nutrition from the berries in your banana smoothies, though that part is unclear...)

Great info. Hope you follow up on this if you find out any better ways of disabling the polyphenol oxidase. Would like to see what this actually does to a real endpoint. Like if they split people into a mango+green tea smoothie or a banana+green tea smoothie group; would the mango+green tea group actually have lower blood pressure, less LDL etc?

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:03 🍌 *Introduction to Bananas in Smoothies* - Introduction to the topic of using bananas in smoothies and their potential health implications. - Discusses the dietary recommendations for bioactive food compounds and the health benefits of flavonoids. 02:20 🍵 *Flavonoids and Polyphenol Oxidase in Foods* - Explains the role of polyphenol oxidase in fruits and vegetables and its impact on flavonoids. - Discusses how polyphenol oxidase leads to browning in foods like bananas and avocados as a defense mechanism. 04:08 🧪 *Impact of Bananas on Cocoa Flavanols in Smoothies* - Details a study on the effect of bananas in smoothies on the absorption of cocoa flavanols. - Demonstrates how banana enzymes can significantly reduce the levels of beneficial polyphenols in smoothies. 06:20 🥤 *Testing the Enzyme Activity in the Stomach* - Explores whether the polyphenol oxidase enzyme in bananas continues to be active in the stomach. - Finds that the enzyme can still reduce polyphenol levels even after ingestion. 09:20 🥭 *Alternative Ingredients to Bananas in Smoothies* - Discusses alternatives to bananas in smoothies, like mangoes, that do not have high polyphenol oxidase activity. - Suggests using ingredients like kale in green smoothies due to their low enzyme levels. 14:01 🍲 *Broader Implications for Food Combinations* - Explores how combining bananas with other healthy foods might affect the absorption of phytonutrients. - Advises against mixing bananas with foods high in polyphenols to maximize nutrient absorption. Made with HARPA AI

It would be interesting to hear ideas on different varieties of bananas. The modern grocery store "industrial" banana may be very different than local speicies. That said, most of us are stuck with what big stores sell.

Thanks for the presentation. Like this type of nutrition lecture.

You're a good sport, Doc! Thanks for trying until you got it!

I wonder if Dr Gregor ever listened back to his own presentations and considered how they could be improved.

The presentation came across as somewhat awkward. That being said, my takeaway is that I will not stop drinking frozen banana, cocoa smoothies (I could be drinking stuff a lot worse). I always include oat milk, vanilla, grapes and/or date syrup to further sweeten the concoction, as well as a teaspoon plus of maca powder. I usually drink it to down my mushroom capsules so how does that all play out in my stomach? Nutritional science is wonderful with all of its complications...

If i microwave banana firstly and then make smoothie with Cacao? This could Solve the problem with this enzyme in bananas.

I'm glad you tackled this subject, I"ve been wondering about this banana smoothie question.

Heating bananas reduces the PPOs. Would freezing peeled bananas have a positive effect in reducing PPOs?

…. How important are these 3-ols? What’s the risk/benefit here? Because, I like bananas in my smoothies.

Dr Greger what about microwaving the banana before adding to the smoothie? Many cultures fry bananas for dessert.

Will freezing the banana destroy the enzyme?

Thanks for not making it all polished and fancy. I totally enjoy listening to Dr Greger talk contemporaneously.

Did you say the black bananas are the problem? Does this mean bananas that are not black are not a problem? Did I miss something? In the study were black bananas used?

Thank you 🥦❤ So I'm wondering now what about that antimicrobial function of the browning going on there with the oxidation in the banana and the apple and does that help us thrive? Does it only antimicrobe against bad microbes? or is it universally hard on all microbial wellbeing? And is the brown in a ripe banana doing the same thing or is that a whole different world of brown? Are we supposed to stay away from all browned bits of banana or just keep them away from the berries and cocoa? Also cheers to Derek at Simnett Nutrition who has been suggesting for some time now to blend up banana in water and use that to cook oatmeal -- cooked banana, being neutered, will not then have a deleterious effect on the berry goodness

Join team mango, folks!!!

Wonderful and important video/presentation, thank you so much. One point though: beet greens (like spinach and Swiss chard and I think rhubarb leaves too) are extremely high in oxalates; moreover even more of these are released when ground as a smoothie. So large amounts of these should be avoided: Dr. Greger in a video had suggested a maximum of one cup spinach a day which I presume would be measured uncooked and lightly pressed by hand in a cup.

Unfortunately this has wider applications:- Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is also contained in other foods such as mushrooms, avocadoes, beetroot etc. Thus whatever meal includes these vegetables will have its polyphenols reduced. Fortunately PPO is inactivated by microwaving or boiling, so mushrooms and beetroot can be fixed by cooking it first. I don't know what to do about avocado though, it is such a nice addition to a meal.

Why not just reduce the banana content in the smoothie. So often they get overloaded with fruit. You only need a fraction of a banana.

Thank you so much for this -- I wonder if it's worthwhile to prep banana mush (or blanch slices) to 70 degrees with a bit of lemon juice and then freeze it in portion size cubes. My biggest issue will be avocados.

Man, this is really frustrating for me. I never eat bananas until they start to be brown spots because green bananas are very starchy. I was under the impression that the more ripe a banana is the easier it is for your body to break down the sugars. I always have bananas in the morning with my smoothy or fruit bowl. So now, I shouldn't?

What if the banana isn’t overripe and stays frozen? For frozen smoothies?

Journal of Plant Biotechnology for a Study titled - Effect of vacuum blending on antioxidant activities of apple juice and blueberry juice. EXCERPT - The results of time-dependent polyphenol and flavonoid contents of apple and blueberry juice according to vacuum blending are shown in Fig. 2. After 3 hours, the polyphenol and flavonoid content of both apple and blueberry juice decreased. During vacuum blending, it was confirmed that the amount of decrease was significantly less than that of general blending for 3, 6, and 12 h.

At the end you got very close -- asymptotically close -- to my question but didn't quite answer it: If I want to keep my banana consumption, berry-filled oatmeal consumption, and berry-filled smoothie consumption all constant, but without impairing the flavanols in the oatmeal and smoothie, how much time to I need to wait between berries and bananas to avoid them "being in the stomach at the same time?" Transit time in stomach is outside my expertise, but, I'll bet, not outside yours.

Great video! Thank you so much! I always add a whole lemon to my smoothie 🍋🫐🍇🥬🥦. But I'm definitely going to leave out the banana now too.

so you are saying I can still have my warm/hot banana-cedarnuts-ahhwagandha-hagebutte smoothie on cold winter mornings - and rescue all the nut polyphenols if I mix the banana with a bit of lemon juice into the hot water first🥳 that's acutally good practical advice

A good case for banana bread.

You could bake the bananas, chop them up and freeze them, and then add them to your smoothies.

I have a reaction to fresh bananas, but I can eat them if cooked without a problem. I then freeze them to use in smoothies. So does that mean they play nice with the berries in my smoothie? 🤔

Very insightful analysis! But does this mean that GMO apples that are engineered to lack the enzyme and thus are better to use in smoothies? I normally avoid GMO when possible, but now I'm confused😅

Thank you so much for all your amazing work Dr. Greger, Doctors and scientists like yourself have really helped improve my health and the health of others! Can't thank you enough!

Interesting! I would suggest Amla powder, as its vitamin C content would reduce browning. HOWEVER, if there is an Ebola outbreak, the best source of Banlec (a mannose binding lectin that targets the Ebola virus) is... ripe banana peel. The recommended peel is spotty with brown spots and it can be added to smoothies or cooked as "meat" balls. Love to hear your comments!