Blended vs. whole fruits and vegetables

myohana4
myohana4 Posts: 205 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello,

I recently purchased a vitamix and have been enjoying all of the smoothies. I just read on a Vitamix user group, that eating "blended" (food put in a blender and made into a smoothie not juiced.) is higher in carbs/sugar than eating the fruit whole. The explanation was if you put an apple into the vitamix, it breaks it down more than if you would just chew the a whole apple, causing higher absorption of sugars.

I did several searches on the internet and cant come up with any information to back this claim. Wondering if there is anyone knowledge about nutrition that would be able to explain this better to me. (either negate or confirm this.)

Also, if it is true, then is the calorie consumption higher from drinking a smoothie as opposed to eating the fruit/veggies whole?

Thanks in advance!
Shawna

Replies

  • cantfail
    cantfail Posts: 169 Member
    That makes absolutely no sense to me. A calorie is a measure of energy. If half a banana has 50 calories it still has 50 calories when it is chopped up or blended. Blended fruits and veggies are quicker to digest because they are already partially broken down, but your body will break down and use all the nutrients in a whole food also. It just takes a little longer.

    I have a green smoothie every morning for breakfast. I add protein to make breakfast "stick with me longer". Maybe the quicker digestion is what they are referring too.

    LOVE my Vitamix BTW. Make sure you try the Pizza Soup recipe that is on the Vitamix site. It's fabulous. My husband and I were fighting over the leftovers tonight (I won). :wink:
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I'm guessing they're implying that the smoothie has a higher glycemic index value than the raw fruit, because it's more quickly digested, so it raises your blood sugar more/faster than eating the raw fruit would. So not a calories issue, just a blood sugar/insulin raising issue.

    Or maybe they think that since the fruit is ground up it takes significantly less calories to digest it.

    Personally, I'd be more concerned with how much less filling a ton of fruit is put through the blender vs. chewing it up yourself. I can suck down a really healthy 500 calorie smoothie and be hungry in an hour but if I sat down and ate that same amount of fruit and protein and greens and all, I think I'd be full for 4 hours.
  • healingnurtrer
    healingnurtrer Posts: 217 Member
    It used to stress me out when I read people arguing about the healthiest way to eat fruits and vegetables on the internet (cooked, raw, blended, juiced, w/ fats, w/o fats) It's silly. I just let it go. I eat them the way I enjoy them, and change it up like I want.

    Blending something doesn't make it higher in calories- you're only changing its form not composition. I eat fruit smoothies most morning (w/ fried eggs and salsa- yum). I've had no problem losing weight so I guess I'm not throwing off my calorie counting by blending the fruit. :smile:
  • okishkash
    okishkash Posts: 142 Member
    They may be referring to the amount of food absorbed by the body. The new blenders break down nutrients making the body able to absorb them (so they claim in their infomercials :)). The body would otherwise have not absorbed some of them from the unblended food. That may be what they are referring to.

    However, I do not know if that would make a significant difference.
  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,010 Member
    Love my Vitamix, I really wouldn't worry about it. You're having a nutritious smoothie, don't over think it :)
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
    Yeah I think no matter where you are there is someone willing to tell you that whatever you are doing is bad and then use a lot of fancy words to describe why they are so smart for pointing it out.

    It's fruit. In a blender. Life is good.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    I think the reasoning behind the 'more carbs/sugar' statement is that if you have blended apple (for example) you would probably use a couple of apples to make a reasonable portion, where as eating the fruit whole (well chewing it) you would probably only eat the one. Therefore to get the same satisfaction in regards to portion size you would be using more fruit.

    Also when you have blended fruit, the sugar content is the same (equal to the sugar content of all of the whole fruit added to the blend), but it will likely spike your insulin faster and you do not get the benefit of the fibre.

    So blended vs whole - whole fruit is a healthier option, but if you want your fruit blended then make it fit, log it and enjoy it.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    It makes some sense. When your gut has to break down fiberous foods, some food can be carried through the system unabsorbed, along with the fiber. Unabsorbed food = unabsorbed calories. If you Vitamix is already breaking down the food, the fiber could pass through without your gut having to do it's job.

    But this difference is unlikely to be significant. The biggest difference would be in how quickly your body can absorb the sugar. Just as the sugars in flour are more quickly absorbed than whole grains, the sugars in blended fruits would be more quickly absorbed than in whole fruit. Again, because you are bypassing the work the gut would perform to break apart the fiber and sugars, which slows digestion.
  • cantfail
    cantfail Posts: 169 Member

    Also when you have blended fruit, the sugar content is the same (equal to the sugar content of all of the whole fruit added to the blend), but it will likely spike your insulin faster and you do not get the benefit of the fibre.

    A juicer will remove the fiber. Blending does not. You get the same fiber as with the whole fruits and veggies.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member

    Also when you have blended fruit, the sugar content is the same (equal to the sugar content of all of the whole fruit added to the blend), but it will likely spike your insulin faster and you do not get the benefit of the fibre.

    A juicer will remove the fiber. Blending does not. You get the same fiber as with the whole fruits and veggies.

    Sorry, my bad.

    I skimmed the OP and saw the word juiced, which is what I thought the OP was on about.

    Just done a double take and disregard the info.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,008 Member
    I honestly would not worry about minutia like that. Don't major in the minor. Enjoy your smoothie and make sure to get some veggies in there as well ;)
  • DeliriumCanBeFun
    DeliriumCanBeFun Posts: 313 Member
    Like a lot of things, I think this issue is just all in some peoples' heads. My breakfast would have had the exact same amount of calories whether I had to chew it or sip it. I had a smoothie, and I'm just as full and hour later than if I had not blended everything. However, I would say that the grapfruit I plan to eat later probably would not be as satisfying to me if I made juice with it. But for me that has everything to do with the amount of time that it would take me to consume it. Once again, just a mental thing.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    " Unabsorbed food = unabsorbed calories. "

    I agree but unless you're putting something in like whole flax seeds that the body doesn't break down and the blender does, I'm thinking it's probably a wash. I bet the body is pretty efficient at extracting the calories from an apple (seeds excluded), bananas, berries, etc. But I could be wrong.
  • YorriaRaine
    YorriaRaine Posts: 370 Member
    I use a nutribullet to make a lot of different things, the calories are the same vs. eating them whole. I just use it because I like fruity drinks. XD
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    " Unabsorbed food = unabsorbed calories. "

    I agree but unless you're putting something in like whole flax seeds that the body doesn't break down and the blender does, I'm thinking it's probably a wash. I bet the body is pretty efficient at extracting the calories from an apple (seeds excluded), bananas, berries, etc. But I could be wrong.

    As I said in my post, it is not a significant amount. But as fiber passes through the gut unabsorbed, it can carry other food with it. How efficient the body is at extracting calories can vary greatly by individual.
  • fittoday14
    fittoday14 Posts: 128
    In the past, I would notice my belly is bulging out after drinking my homemade smoothies. So, I started adding more water to it and drinking it slowly. I don't have the same problem. Sugar = belly fat. I also add in more vitamins to my blender: my daily iron + calcium + vit c + vit d, and sometimes I put in a daily vitamin if I feel that I need it.

    My smoothies are like this: plain nonfat yogurt (either dannon or my greek yogurt fage 0%), raspberries, blackerries or blueberries, a large apple, pineapple chunks, flax seeds.

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