Why does puréeing fruit add syns?

[alleypalley]

I had a nutri bullet smoothie for breakfast. I don't really understand how puréeing the fruit adds so many syns. 100g raspberries is 1 syn so that's ok at least but 100g of banana becomes 4 syns. I also had 1 syn worth of almond milk, and kale which I don't know if that needs synning as well. So my healthy breakfast smoothie has become 6 syns. How can that be?

[lougle]

If it is pureed then it has already been broken down, which makes it very easily digested and gives a massive sugar spike.

If you look up 'glycaemic index' you'll see that a whole apple is lower GI than apple juice. Mashed potatoes are higher GI than boiled, etc.

Basically, more processing = higher GI = more syns.

[BugritAndTidyup]

It takes much less time and effort to drink a smoothie than it would take to eat the fruit whole, and the calories are not insignificant. And it would be easy to drink a smoothie every day, whereas it's unlikely you would be eating that much fruit every day.

Having said that, I'm disinclined to follow rules, and you could try 'cheating' and not counting the Syns if having the smoothie for breakfast (rather than just as a drink or snack). But keep an eye on whether it's working and on how long you're feeling full for.

[mawbroon]

What Iougle said.

Always better to eat the fruit the way it is as body deals with it differently. Or so I read somewhere anyway...

[alleypalley]

Thanks, the higher GI thing makes sense. I'll probably leave the banana out next time then. I don't mind using my syns for it, I don't really eat chocolate or sweet stuff, (it's a trigger food for me and can easily lead to a binge). I usually try and use my syns when I'm not using them for wine for healthy fats, avocado, coconut oil etc.

[ivykaty44]

Roughage you need to eat fruit whole so your body gets roughage. If you puree fruit you alter the fruit, in fact process the food. Then when you drink the smoothie you don't get the roughage as it is no longer whole fruit for your body to digest.

[ivykaty44]

www.theveganwoman.com/are-green-smoothies-really-good-for-you/

This Dr is a heart surgeon though he now advocates a change in life style to combat heart disease