While I was doing slimming world from home, armed with new, limited knowledge of free and superfree foods being my new BFF I had a hectic phase of trying new recipes and posting them to my instagram page. Like many others before me I made the mistake of thinking blended fruits were Free or even Superfree. I posted a picture of my "superfree smoothie" and wow, never have I got so many comments on an instagram pic!
The instagram #slimmingworld community is vast (I highly recommend joining by the way! amazing for fresh ideas) and they were quick to inform me that, when fruit is juiced or blended, it no longer counts as a free food. I thought this was madness. Surely, a banana eaten is a banana eaten, and thats all there is to it?
No such luck. Why not I can hear you ask? Well there are 2 main reasons.
1. Quantities.
You would probably eat a banana on its own. Would you reach out for a 2nd or 3rd banana? Would you also chomp a handful of blueberries, an orange and an apple? Not likely. When you blend fruit, you are losing the chewing, the digesting and so, the filling power of that fruit.
2. Sugar Spike
Store-bought smoothies can have more sugar in them than 3 and a half doughnuts. I know! I could not believe it either but its a fact. Home-made smoothies while probably not as offensive to your system, would also contain the combined sugar of the fruit contained which could result in a sugar spike, followed by a sugar crash. If you're anything like me you'll know that sugar crash leads to sugar Cravings, and so the vicious cycle continues.
This doesn't only apply to blended fruit -- tinned, baked and dried fruit also has syns on the slimming world plan. Of course you dont need to eliminate all of these, everything in moderation!