Extra Easy cooked fruit

jandy

New Member
Can someone please explain what happens if you cook a peice of fruit and mash a banana as it seems it has more calories mashed or cooked. I can understand that you could eat a larger amount, but if its one peice??
 
With whole fruit your body uses energy to chew and break it down. This doesn't happen with cooked or mashed fruit as it's already done. Because it's already broken down it doesn't keep you as full for as long either

Also, once fruit has been cooked, blended, mashed etc, the chemical structure of the fruit acids change, making your body absorb more glucose.

Maybe the easiest thing though is that you can't physically eat as much whole fruit as you can processed.
 
I'd love to know the answer to this one too.

i think it is just to do with how many you can eat when they are cooked or pureed. I have microwaved hot berries every morning and I don't count them. I would have the same amount if they cold or cooked.

I will wait and see what others say.
 
Also, once fruit has been cooked, blended, mashed etc, the chemical structure of the fruit acids change, making your body absorb more glucose.

Is that true? I am sure someone here did some research and thought not. (Might have been Britmum?)

I don't want to syn my berries so am clutching at straw here LOL
 
I saw it on a science programme a while ago looking at different foods and the effects they had on the body - sometimes my step-brother's geeky programmes are actually interesting and useful!!
 
I guess it would go against sw free food principles if you started limiting fruit if any of it was cooked. That said, you can have some as healthy extra's.
 
This is what the SW site says

Q: Why are some fruits Free when raw, but have a Syn value when cooked, juiced or pureed?
A: While fruit in its natural form is bulky, filling and often time-consuming to eat, in cooked, pureed, liquidised or smoothie form it makes it very easy to over-consume and is a very effective way of adding a lot of extra energy (calories) in a non-bulky and non-filling way, which doesn’t satisfy your appetite in the same way as eating fresh whole/sliced fruit. Consider eating an orange. Peeling, breaking up the segments and eating just one orange can be a lengthy process. Now think about the juice that orange would produce – it contains a similar number of calories, yet it’s gone in a gulp – in fact it takes 8 oranges to make a small glass of orange juice and it’s not filling in the slightest! It’s all about getting the most (optimum) satisfaction from your foods with Food Optimising. We count juiced, pureed and cooked fruit as Syns to protect your weight losses.

So, as far as SW is concerned it's about the amount you eat, not about any other aspect of cooking fruit. Personally (don't tell anyone) if it's just one piece of fruit or a few berries I often warm fruit in the microwave (slaps own wrist in disgust).
 
I dont bother to syn cooked fruit if it is ONE piece that i am eating.
i defrost my frozen berries in the microwave every morning too.
None of the above has effected my losses.
I think with the 'food abuse' issue, if you are sensible then it all works ok. eg i make a couscous cake most weeks, but it lasts hubby and I all week, so eat as free
 
cous cous cake???

Lots of recipes on here, but the one i make is couscous, eggs, mincemeat and lemon juice, the whole cake is 2 syns BUT SW have now said that when using couscous as a flour replacement then it would have to be synned.
Comes under the food abuse issue. Couscous as it was intended to eat is filling as part of a meal. but as a cake would be very easy to over eat thus adding more calories to your intake. but i am good and only have 1 slice a day, and share it with hubby over the week. It is very yummy and is good to have as my tea break snack.
 
Can someone please explain what happens if you cook a peice of fruit and mash a banana as it seems it has more calories mashed or cooked. I can understand that you could eat a larger amount, but if its one peice??

Cooking something can't give it more calories - that is physically impossible. Loads of theories get bandied around, but all you need to know is in the information that SW provides, which Eternity has kindly copied in the above post.
 
i've never been able to bring myself to syn cooked fruit unless I was making a massive smoothie or a big fruit pie or something! It would just annoy me too much thinking I was using valuable syns for fruit rather than something more fun! I think if you're aware of the SW guidelines and the reasoning behind it you can just exercise common sense as to whether to syn it or not :)
 
it is a myth that the calories change when fruit is cooked or blended etc. The calories do not change at all, however as someone else pointed out, when fruit is cooked or blended it becomes less dense so to speak and you could easily eat a whole load of fruit in a smoothie that you wouldn't necessarily eat in one go in it's whole form.

Just think about how long it takes to eat one apple, and then think about how long it would take to eat 5 apples that have been cooked/blended. Plus you are not having to use any muscles in your mouth to chew and break down the fruit.

Fruit is naturally high in sugar too, so although it is free, you should still take notice of how much you are consuming.

Raw fruit is always better for you than cooked, stewed or blended.
 
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i've never been able to bring myself to syn cooked fruit unless I was making a massive smoothie or a big fruit pie or something! It would just annoy me too much thinking I was using valuable syns for fruit rather than something more fun! I think if you're aware of the SW guidelines and the reasoning behind it you can just exercise common sense as to whether to syn it or not :)

How very sensible!
 
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