I don't understand this at all - to mash or not to mash!

[SpiderCharlotte]

I was talking to my consultant last night and was saying that I'm bored with my breakfasts and looking for new ideas etc. (I don't like cereal) I've been making banana pancakes - i.e. an egg mixed with a mashed banana. She told me that I should be counting 4 syns for the banana and that if I made an omelette on its own and ate that then ate a banana then the banana would be free.

Now I get the idea of that when you're using loads of fruit in a smoothie or cooking down a dozen apples for apple sauce, but I really don't understand this at all and she had to start class so I didn't get the chance to ask her. It's one egg and a banana whether it's a pancake or an omelette and a banana. The calories/nutrition etc will be exactly the same surely. Can someone please help me understand?

As far as I understand it, once you mash or purée fruit/veg, it breaks down the cellulose cell walls and sugars become much more readily available, ie, easier for your body to absorb, so you end up absorbing more sugar from mashed up fruits than whole ones.

(But I don’t know anything about syns!)

From what I understand, they suggest that you syn mashed/puréed fruit as it's easier to eat more of it when it's like this. However if you are only eating one banana within the pancakes, then personally I wouldn't syn it. If you find that you aren't losing weight whilst eating it like that, then you can always decide to start synning it.

I don't get it either - surely it gets sort of mashed up when you eat a whole banana anyway?
I can understand why they try to dissuade you from eating mashed/blended fruit as it's very easy to consume a lot of fruit in a short time but in the case of one banana I would just use common sense and not sin it.

Sounds like nonsense. If you eat a banana by biting it you mash it with your teeth.

If you are using the mash as part of a smoothie that can be gulped down in seconds then they say syn it.

If you are eating it as a banana it's ok.

I'd personally not syn it mashed in a pancake. If you sliced it finely and laid it on the top you wouldn't have to syn it.

It's not that different.

The rule is to stop people consuming large amounts of extra calories, as purée is easy to consume and easy to forget you've consumed.

The mashing of the banana is very little difference to chewing a banana. Your chewing will break it down in the same way as mashing. The only difference is your saliva will start the process of breaking down the sugars in the fruit.

I'd say get on and enjoy your lunch!

Yes but chewing and producing saliva contributes to fullness - that’s the idea

Yes but chewing and producing saliva contributes to fullness - that’s the idea

But I don't have anything else as well as the banana pancake, it's normally quite big anyway. So even if I don't feel 'full' I still won't have anything else til lunchtime. I just don't want to start syning a banana for this IYKWIM, it doesn't seem to be affected my weight loss.

You still have to chew the egg! You'll be fine.

And that right there is the absolute bollocks of SW! It's the same amount of calories mashed or not.

And this is why slimming world is such tripe! They have people believing that there is a fundamental nutritional difference between a mashed banana and a whole one, when it gets mashed as you eat it anyway. Unless you’re deep throating it and swallowing whole?
Any ‘feeling of fullness’ from chewing and swallowing would be negligible, and as the OP is making the banana into an omelette she’s going to be chewing it anyway!

There’s the chewing... but also it’s easier to digest when it’s mashed too... so they both add up to not as filling as eating a banana.

But, if it’s not affecting your losses, it’s your choice, same as people who don’t syn avacado or people who use their syns weekly instead of daily.

It’s just something you need to be aware of that strictly speaking isn’t what slimming world advise, so if it does affect your losses later you can be stricter about following it.

but also it’s easier to digest when it’s mashed too

That makes absolutely no sense, as you ‘mash’ it when you chew it anyway.

Fruit has to be fresh and whole in order to be syn free.
It's nothing to do with how the body processes it, it's purely to stop people overeating.
Smoothies are the main reason. You realistically wouldn't sit and eat the amount of fruit that goes into a smoothie it's to try and restrict the amount of fruit consumed. It's free but that doesn't mean you should eat loads and loads of it.
It boils down to common sense. A mashed banana? Fine.
A punnet of raspberries, a load of blueberries, mango and a banana in a smoothie not the best idea.

“That makes absolutely no sense, as you ‘mash’ it when you chew it anyway”

No you don’t, a banana is nowhere near as mashed by chewing as it is to mix in with an egg.

Bear in mind, it’s mashed and then cooked as well.

If your week is 100% following slimming world rules, apart from one mashed banana... it’s not going to suddenly mean you don’t lose weight, but if you mash/purée a load of fruit it’ll add up, if you mash a banana daily, don’t measure your milk, don’t swap out 1/3 of your portions for veg, it’ll again all add up... or any variation of all the little things people do that isn’t strictly following it.

If you’re doing stuff that’s your own version, you do need to be aware that it is your own version and not what’s actually in the books. If you’re happy with the results it doesn’t matter at all, but you do need to be aware you’re doing them in case you’re not happy with the results you’re getting.

I think it's just a slimming world rule. You can ignore it if you want too but some people like to follow it 100%. I made pancakes with just egg, vanilla and sweetner and have with fruit and yogurt but I like them, not everyone does.

It's a rule I often ignore as a target member. But when I made the banana pancakes it was more like a banana omelette. I do make pancakes from oats.

The glycemic index is higher when mashed. It does make a difference more to some than others. I am insulin resistant and changing things like that real helped.

I had gestational diabetes and had to test my blood sugar three times a day. Honestly, the difference between mashed potato, compared to roast or jacket for example, was eye opening.

I think it may be one of those things that varies from person to person - my DD has had Type 1 diabetes for 10 years since she was three so there's not much I don't know about blood sugar levels (unfortunately), it doesn't affect her readings like this at all.

FiveNights I suppose I'm using the banana as the sweetner. I don't like artificial sweeteners at all.

I think it's fine if it works for you spider. I like banana pancakes myself but now I just have the egg ones as I like these equally but I'm also cal counting along side now I'm at target so I tend to go for lower cal option.

I get so pissed off by people getting hung up on technicalities like this with SW. Rules around tweaks and suns for mashed and puréed fruit like this are there for a reason. People ate too much of it when they were on plan and then didn't lose weight and said the plan was wrong.

I've lost 6 stone so far doing SW and have genuinely never felt better. I follow the plan pretty much to the letter except I don't syn avocado and I don't syn mashed banana. That said I'm not eating them morning, noon and night either. Maybe once a week if that.

OP are you losing weight while eating your banana pancakes? If yes then keep going, and don't tell your pedantic consultant. If no, then maybe she has a point and you should stop doing it. Use your own judgement and don't get hung up on it.

suns = syns, sorry!

Seriously? Even if a banana was worth 100 calories more mashed than not, would it really make the difference between getting thinner or not?? It’s ludicrous!

I can't get my head around making a 'pancake' by mixing a banana with an egg

I'm also in the 'a banana is a banana' camp. I wouldn't count it, unless it is affecting your weight loss.

I did SW and lost 3.5 stone. I never counted the milk in my many cups of tea, I regularly went over syns and I never substituted cheese with quark I wasn't eating muller lights or mugshots though/. Every meal was fresh protein/veggies/carbs. Every single meal. I think it is what you make it and if you focus on fresh clean eating you will lose more or easier than if you bulk up on all that processed crap.