Why people believe bananas are bad for smoothies

The idea that you need to avoid bananas in your smoothies started in 2023, when a study published in the journal Food & Function found that bananas can reduce the bioavailability of flavon-3-ols in smoothies. The study is real, and several of the TikTok clips that immediately popped up to discuss it described the study more or less accurately. Where they went wrong is concluding that we shouldn’t put bananas in our smoothies. That’s not what the scientists concluded. There’s no need to give up your bananas.

The press release announcing the study probably started this mess (it calls adding a banana to your smoothie a “mistake”) but it also mentions that the lead author of the study, Javier Ottaviani, “said bananas remain a great fruit to be eaten or consumed in smoothies. ” So clearly the banana warnings are overblown.