I often make smoothies for breakfast with some protein powder and often a couple of chunks of

frozen banana just for the texture and a little bit of sweetness.

And I bet many of you do the same.

But here's the thing.

Are the bananas in our smoothies blocking all of the nutritional benefits?

Well, today we're going to dig into this and some other

food combination anxieties.

Welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast, where we take a closer look at nutrition news,

research, and trends so that you can make

more informed decisions about what you eat. I'm your host, Monica Reinagle, and I have gotten a

couple of emails from listeners lately concerned that they may not be getting as much benefit

from their favorite healthy breakfasts as they thought they were.

After seeing a headline about a recent study, Carol wondered whether she should stop adding

bananas to her smoothie. And meanwhile, Steve is worried about whether he's missing out on the

benefits from his blueberries because he is adding them to his yogurt. Now, as someone who regularly

adds blueberries to my yogurt and bananas to my smoothies, I take these kinds of questions

very seriously, so let's get into the details. The idea that mixing yogurt and blueberries

in the same meal might cancel out some of the health benefits

has been floating around for a while. And it usually comes down to concerns that the proteins

in dairy could interfere with absorption of the antioxidants in the blueberries. And specifically,

we're talking about beneficial compounds known as anthocyanins.

One of the studies that sparked this concern, which dates back to 2009, found that when milk was

...