can blending food increase calories

Question
My sister-in-law watched me making a smoothie and mentioned that I would take in fewer calories if I simply ate the fruit, rather than blend it all together first. The discussion reduced to the question: does a blended banana have more calories than a non-blended one? Does the blending make certain parts or cells of the banana available to us that would not otherwise be available? If so, any idea of how important this increased factor is? I tend to think that there is little to this idea, as it would imply that increased chewing might also increase caloric availability of a food, but my sister-in-law was adamant and I would like to hear the opinion of someone with a degree in nutrition. Thanks. Norman Toplosky.


Answer
Hi Norman,

You can tell your sister-in-law you get to win this one - blending food does not increase the calories! A healthy digestive system breaks things down the same whether they start out being blended or not.

Be well,

Karen
www.getfitwithkaren.com

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