One of the major changes that Weight Watchers made to their plan involved having to count points for fruit if you blended them into a smoothie.
This has been a very controversial idea among many members both new and old.
WW reasoning behind it is this:
Fruit and most vegetables are ZeroPoint™ foods when you eat them. But once they become part of a smoothie, the experience of eating them changes. Research shows that liquids don’t promote the same feeling of fullness as solid foods do. When you drink something, it eliminates the act of chewing which may impact the signals between your belly and your brain. This means that the smoothie or juice you’re drinking will not promote the same feelings of fullness between meals, as eating the fruit or vegetable might.
Their full explanation is HERE
It is also very easy to exceed your recommended daily fruit serving limit (2-3 servings) when doing that in a smoothie. The serving size is only 8oz. Many people really do 16-32oz without even thinking about it.
For instance if you put in:
1 cup of blueberries (1 serving)
1 med banana (2 servings)
1 cup of strawberries (1 serving)
You have already exceeded your daily recommended fruit limit in one drink.
Then throughout the course of the day, let's say you ate a couple of mandarins, another cup of berries and an apple.
All these items are absolutely healthy for you and better than reaching for a bag of chips or chocolate bar, they do still contain calories. They also contain fructose which is a naturally occurring sugar.
Using the example above you would have eaten the equivalent of 7 servings of fruit in one day. Three times your recommended ratio.
It is much easier to eat 4 servings of fruit blended into a smoothie then it is to eat those same four servings of fruit in one sitting as part of a meal.
Okay - but then they confused the situation with the STRAW vs SPOON decision.
If it’s something you’ll drink through a straw, like a juice or smoothie, the nutrition data for fruits and vegetables counts towards the total SmartPoints® value of the drink.
If fruit or vegetables are included in something you’ll eat with a spoon, like a salsa, sauce, stew, or soup, fresh fruits and most vegetables are ZeroPoint foods, in those recipes.
So it is the method of consumption, not the ingredients they are discussing.
Does that mean if you drank soup through a straw it counts but if you ate a smoothie bowl with a spoon, it wouldn't? Technically yes. Confused yet?
Here is a good article explaining a bit further.
https://www.onebadasslife.com/weight-watchers-smoothies/
There is also the aspect of digestion and fiber breakdown. When you blend a fruit or vegetable, you break down the fibrous strands that your body has to work harder to break down when they are not blended.
The fiber doesn't disappear from the food, it is simply processed faster through the body. Part of what helps keep us feel full longer is having fiber for our body to process so when you take all the work out of it, you will burn through a simple sugar and masticated fiber drink (be that a protein shake or smoothie) far faster than if your body was processing the raw ingredients. This is why Weight Watchers made this rule about blended fruit.
So what do you do about it?
Well members have decided to handle this one of three ways.
1) Do the program as advised and count points for smoothies.
2) Ignore that part and do not count any fruit that are zero as points.
3) Only count points for blended fruit over their recommended fruit limit.
DOES IT MEAN YOU SHOULD GIVE UP ON SMOOTHIES?
No - they are still a very healthy, filling option for many people. But at the end of the day - what you do is up to you. Some people gain if they don't count all of their fruit. Some people can eat 6 pieces of fruit a day and never gain. It will completely depend on your own body's way of processing fructose and simple sugars.
HERE ARE 35 GREAT SMOOTHIE BOWL RECIPES TO GET YOU STARTED
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/35-smoothie-bowls-recipes
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