Q & A; Finer Fiber (Published 2002) (2024)

Q. Does puréeing fruits and vegetables destroy the fiber content?

A. ''For all practical purposes, neither soluble nor insoluble fiber is affected by puréeing in your kitchen,'' said Christina Stark, a nutritionist with the division of nutritional sciences at Cornell University. Only after several days of grinding in a steel ball mill or stone polisher would you get some degradation, she said.

Canned pumpkin, which is already puréed, is a good source of dietary fiber, she said, as are puréed bean soup and split pea soup.

''If cream of broccoli soup or a fruit smoothie or fruit soup is the form in which you will eat fruit and vegetables, by all means choose it,'' she said.

Inadequate fiber is a problem in America, Ms. Stark said, and unless people read food labels carefully, they may think they are eating more than they are.

Nutritionists generally recommend 20 to 35 grams of both soluble and insoluble fiber a day, or about 10 to 13 grams per thousand calories, but Americans eat roughly half that, Ms. Stark said. Soluble fiber is more beneficial for cholesterol reduction, binding to cholesterol and carrying it out of the body, but insoluble fiber aids digestion, adding bulk and helping avoid constipation.

It is not hard to increase fiber intake, Ms. Stark said. Most fruits and vegetables have two grams per serving and refined grains have roughly one gram, but whole grains and legumes have more, especially of the soluble form.

C. CLAIBORNE RAY