Blended fruit

robindina

One of my co-workers said that when you blend the fruit in a smoothie you have destroyed the nutrition and all you have is sugar. How true is this?

jessicagreen1828

You still have the nutrition, but the glycemic index of the fruit skyrockets because you're beginning to mechanically break-down the fiber in the fruit. Blending results in much smaller particles than chewing. It causes a sugar spike, essentially.

SierraFatToSkinny

What do you think?

serindipte

That would be like saying you lose the nutrients in fruit because you chewed it.... still there, you just don't have to chew as much.

serindipte

This is referring to vegetables, but fruit would follow the same premise:

About Fiber
There are two types of dietary fiber: insoluble and soluble. Your body is only capable of partially digesting insoluble fiber. The undigested portion of insoluble fiber adds bulk to your stool and keeps your digestive tract healthy. In contrast, your body completely absorbs soluble fiber. This slows digestion, which keeps you feeling full for a prolonged amount of time.
Preserving Dietary Fiber
While pureeing vegetables does not lessen their fiber content, devices that strain out pulp, such as juice extractors, will. Much of the fiber content is contained within the pulp. In addition, heat damages the structure of vegetables. This renders varying amounts of their fiber useless to your body. For example, steaming or boiling carrots or broccoli destroys much of their soluble fiber. Deep-frying a potato breaks down both the insoluble and soluble fiber, leaving very little your body can utilize. For the highest fiber retention, eat your vegetables raw or as close to raw as possible. Cooking your vegetables, through boiling or any other method, can reduce the fiber your body can use by almost half.

Source: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/pureed-vegetables-much-fiber-fresh-1295.html