By Anita Nall Richesson, Olympian & Nutritionist
As a general rule of thumb, eating foods in their whole, most natural state (rather than mashed, pureed, juiced, popped etc.) generally lessens the impact on blood sugar and contains more nourishment for the body. For example, choose a baked potato over chips and fries, choose an apple over applesauce, and always choose the whole vegetable or the whole fruit rather than juicing it, so that you get all the beneficial fiber (which, don’t forget, cancels out some of the sugars) and the other nutrients stored in the skins and pulp.
An excellent illustration can be found in an orange. When you drink orange juice, you get the vitamin C but not the beneficial fiber and phytonutrients that come from the pulp. Even if you buy orange juice with pulp, you’re still not getting any of the fibrous white membrane, which is where the phytonutrients (plant nutrients that fight disease) hide.
Nutrition science research is finding, increasingly, that it is not one substance or another that gives plant foods their disease-fighting power, but the interaction of these vitamins, antioxidants, and other plant chemicals. So, by eating foods the way Mother Nature presents them, you won’t miss out on any hidden health benefits. As for sports, your energy will come from whole, natural foods as well. Bagged and boxed foods won’t give you the performance edge you are looking for.
BIOGRAPHY
Setting the swimming world ablaze at the young age of fifteen with 2 world records in one day propelled Anita into the fast lane of success. After swimming for the cycle (gold, silver, and bronze) in the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona, many health challenges hampered her attempts at returning to an Olympic level. Challenged by a series of “mystery illnesses” that lasted a decade after the Olympics, Anita rediscovered health through food. Traditional 
medicine’s failed healing attempts drove her towards a personal quest for wellness and a passionate understanding of the healing power of food. Her profound experiences with illness, healing and professional athletics have given her a unique perspective she shares with clients.
After completing her undergraduate degree in Communications and Spanish from Arizona State University she pursued holistic nutrition education at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona. Anita is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Specialist, Certified Life Coach and accomplished motivational speaker. Anita is also an elite member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Anita coaches clients on how to become the CWO (Chief Wellness Officer) of their own lives through her company Feed Me Anita. She completed 3 NFL seasons as Nutrition Consultant for the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Football Team. She works with various elite professional athletes including UFC fighters, boxers & world-class swimmers as well as major corporations around the country. She recently began another business called More Than Medals. It is an empowerment program for teenage female athletes that centers around motivation, nutrition & increased self-esteem. www.morethanmedals.us
Read the following articles to learn more about Anita:
How Anita helped guide the NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Really enjoyed your article Anita! I have been following your swimming career long enough to know your story. Your passion to help people transform their lives through healthy consumption of food is a game changer for those who buy in.
I eat my pizza whole (or is that a whole pizza)?
Does it make a difference to blood sugar whether you break up the fruit in a blender? In that case you still ingest the fiber, but it may not be as “bound up with” the sugars in the juice? Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?
Yes this matters. One benefit of the fiber is that your body has to break it down to release the sugar. The energy is trapped inside. This process requires energy, but more important it takes time. So the rate of sugar delivery is slowed, and your body can react to it better. A blender would be similar to high pulp OJ, not the same thing as just eating an orange.
The fast absorption of sugar causes the spike of insulin. Insulin production isn’t a switch. It doesn’t just turn off after the sugar is gone. It stays elevated for a bit and lowers your sugar later. That causes the sluggishness you feel after you crash from a sugar high. … Read more »
Wow, great short article by Anita. This topic could be expanded into a weekly miniseries. There are so many reasons why real whole foods are better. To help spur the discussion here I’ll tell you what I tell my patients when they ask about fruit juices (I’m an orthopaedic surgeon/M.D.).
It takes about 4 medium sized oranges to fill an 8oz glass of juice. Just try eating 4 medium sized oranges! I bet you’d get full just from that, yet we often drink 8oz of juice to wash down a stack of pancakes and some bacon. For a busy swimmer maybe those calories are needed, but once we hang up our goggles we all need to rethink that juice.… Read more »
Typed quickly, so I hope you forgive the typos.
I absolutely assumed this was going to advocate eating an orange without peeling it.
I would say that this article indeed does advocate eating citrus peels. “Who eats orange peels? Lots of people evidently! …You can eat citrus extra-whole by zesting peel into your dishes.” Quote is from the end-portion of this video here: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/citrus-peels-cancer-zest-life/
Plus, check out this resource, on the topic of smoothies, that details the same things this article does; be sure to watch the videos: http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/smoothies/
“Oranges are not the only fruit ” it is code for branch out & explore your sexuality . They can’t get it past us British drama afficiandos .
Being a bit cuckoo on diet, when I eat an apple for eg I have the whole stuff. As for a juice from a superstore, I guess it has never seen a single orange.