TLDR, but keep the nuance
TLDRs are great in our society of limited time and limited attention. They’re great until they oversimplify science to make a point where nuance gets lost.
“It’s as if you’re not even having the berries.” If you watched this TikTok (linked below), you will see James talking about an enzyme in bananas that knocks out all the nutritional value of berries if you include these two ingredients in a smoothie together. I decided to do some digging.
A 2023 UC Davis study aimed to assess whether consuming smoothies made with different PPO-containing fruit impacts the bioavailability of flavanols (PPO being polyphenol oxidase, the enzyme I assume the influencer is talking about). They found that the group who drank a banana smoothie (high PPO) with a flavanol-rich control drink had lower levels of flavanols in their body compared to those who took the flavanol-rich control alone.
Let’s dive into this TLDR: while this is an important consideration for nutritional pairings, flavanols are not the only beneficial aspect of consuming berries. Berries still provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial compounds.
The dramatic effect of “as if you’re not even having the berries” is attention-grabbing, but not the full truth.
While bite-sized information from TikTok can be useful in the nutrition space, the bigger issue arises when nuance disappears and nutrition misinformation spreads rapidly. As nutrition information becomes increasingly condensed for social media, the role of trained nutrition and health communications professionals becomes even more important.
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