Is it essential to eat the fruit with the skin in order to ingest enough fiber?

 

The answer is no.

We should eat more fruit, with or without skin, as we like best, but eat more. Perhaps the right question should be: should we eat more fruit to get enough fiber? In this case the answer would be clearly affirmative.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Let's start by looking at what fiber is. This is the edible fraction of foods of plant origin that cannot be digested by digestive enzymes and therefore cannot be absorbed in the intestine. However, some types of fiber can be fermented by the microbiota, resulting in beneficial health compounds such as short-chain fatty acids .

Although fiber is not absorbed, we must ingest it in sufficient quantity, because it has multiple beneficial effects. For example, preventing constipation and lowering blood cholesterol levels. In fact, numerous epidemiological studies have shown that those with a low fiber intake have a greater predisposition to suffer from certain pathologies such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases .

With regard to fiber sources, some foods such as whole grains (wheat, oats ...), legumes, fruits, vegetables and nuts are rich in it . On the contrary, those of animal origin, such as meat, fish and eggs, lack it.

HOW MUCH FIBER SHOULD I EAT?

Fiber intake recommendations for adults differ depending on the body that establishes them. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the current recommendation in adults is at least 25 g / day . However, the current fiber consumption in Europe is around 14-23 g / day, below the recommendations . Specifically, the ANIBES study indicated that in Spain the average fiber consumption was 13 g / day in men and 14 g / day in women aged between 18 and 64 years.

To reach this minimum fiber intake, you should eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day (about 400 g) and 2 or 3 servings of legumes a week. Likewise, whole grains such as brown rice should be consumed.

However many, instead of worrying about the low intake of these foods, we do it by consuming the fruit with skin to increase fiber intake. It is true that the skin of the fruit has a greater quantity than the rest of the edible fraction, but due to its low weight compared to the total weight, the difference between eating it with or without the skin is small .

The following table shows the grams of fiber in the pulp and in the skin of the apple and pear .

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Let's imagine that we ingest 150 grams of pear without skin: in this case, the total ingested fiber content would be 3.2 g. On the other hand, if we also ingest the corresponding part of skin, about 5 g, we would be adding only 0.1 extra grams of fiber.

To all this it should be added that, on many occasions, there is more difference in fiber content between different fruits and even between classes or varieties of the same fruit. If this case is not a problem from the point of view of fiber consumption, why is so much importance given to how to eat fruit or vegetables?

In short, despite the fact that the consumption of fruit and vegetables with their skin may entail a slight increase in fiber intake, this is very small. If for someone it can mean a reduction in the intake of fruit or vegetables, it is preferable to remove the skin. In this case, the main thing is to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables, no matter how we eat them.