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by Elizabeth Magee, LRD
One of my favorite coworkers, who normally works from home, was in the office yesterday. Love those little surprises 😊and she had some nutrition questions for me. Which I also love. Not because I always know the answer; certainly sometimes I don’t have one. But I like to help people, and this seemed more interesting than what I was actually supposed to be doing. Oops!
My work friend is doing Weight Watchers and just killing it. I’m so proud of her. It’s not easy to lose weight the old-fashioned way by diet and exercise, and she’s proving it can be done but it takes work. I’ve always been a fan of Weight Watchers – which goes by WW these days – because I think it really teaches you how to eat the food you are used to eating. You don’t have to buy special brands from special places. It’s all about adapting to what you have and know and building off that; learning about food labels, what to look for, portion sizes, balanced diet, and most importantly – all foods really can fit, but it might take different adjustments depending on what your goals are.
The question she had (that she had seen online somewhere) was that if you blend your fruit, does it increase the sugar in it. It does not. Cutting it, blending it, and pureeing it won’t change the sugar content. But, if you’re wondering why fruit counts as zero points when you’re eating it whole, and that changes when it’s in a smoothie - I think that’s a fair question! I did a little digging and came up with the answer right from WW. And I like it. It makes sense. I’ll summarize, but here’s the full answer if you want it: https://www.weightwatchers.com/au/blog/food/why-fruit-counts-smoothies. How you eat your fruit plays a role in how full you feel. Basically, the act of chewing our food, biting into a big old juicy apple, can make you feel more satisfied in the end. Putting fruit in a smoothie changes how you experience it (I love how they worded that). It’s much easier to overconsume when you eliminate chewing, potentially fiber and you’re sipping through a straw. That’s why the points are different.
I thought this was very interesting. And it, of course, led me down a rabbit hole of talking to my friend about her fiber intake. Because who’s not thinking about that? She was, in fact, trying to get more fiber in, through veggies specifically, but was shocked when I told her the goal for fiber each day for adults,
You aren’t going to accidentally reach the recommended amount of fiber each day. It’s going to take effort. And that’s going to include fruits and veggies and whole grains. But how much do we need, and how can we meet this lofty goal?? Tune in next month!
Elizabeth Magee is a licensed registered dietitian. Her posts appear monthly on OYT.
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