Ever noticed how bananas turn brown when cut? That’s due to an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and, it negatively affects your ability to get flavanols from your smoothie.
Flavanols or flavan-3-ols, a group of bioactive compounds that are found in fruits are great for your heart and brain. Flavanols are a subtype of flavonoids, and contain antioxidants.
“We sought to understand, how a common food and its preparation, could affect the availability of flavanols to be absorbed after intake,” said lead author Javier Ottaviani.
The study concluded that the intake of flavanols from a high PPO banana smoothie, but not a low PPO berry smoothie, significantly reduced the levels of flavanols in circulation.
According to nutrition experts, everyone should get between 400 and 600 mg of flavanols per day. People whose diets include it are less likely to develop diabetes or cardiovascular complications.
Dr Sudhir points out that, it is important to note that some fruits used for smoothie preparation may have a high PPO activity and, hence, affect the bioavailability of flavanols.
“If you’re looking to boost your flavanol intake, you might want to pair those berries with fruits like pineapple, oranges, or mango, all of which are low in PPO,” Javier explaines.