When we pulverize whole foods in a high speed blender or grinder (before or after cooking), we break apart many more cell walls than is possible via mastication (chewing) alone. Is it okay to pulverize whole (plant) foods as follows?

• Whole grains → whole grain flours?
• Beans → bean flours or bean pastes (like hummus)?
• Nuts & seeds → nut butters & seed butters?
• Fruits & veggies → smoothies?
• Dried herbs & spices → ground 'masala'?
• Mushrooms & algae → mushroom powder and algae powder?

Wall Off Your Calories: This is a term coined by Dr Greger. Explained in detail here: Wall Off Your Calories. What's the key idea? Plant cell walls are made of fiber (cellulose in particular) which acts as an indigestible physical barrier so many of the calories remain trapped inside the cells. These cell walls are broken by chewing (mastication). However, in the modern world, pulverization via high speed blenders and grinders can break open many more cell walls than possible via chewing! Is blending & grinding a good thing? Depends on what we're pulverizing!

(1) Whole grains → whole grain flours? Grains are starch rich. When we grind intact whole grains into flours, glycemic index goes up! Also, flours have many more (carbohydrate-rich) calories available for absorption when compared with intact whole grains. Is that a good thing? Not for those who are tackling obesity or diabetes. For details, please see Should We Consume Pulverized Whole Grains (Flours)?

(2) Beans → bean pastes & bean flours? In this article, Dr Greger explains that he has no concerns with blended beans:

(3) Nuts & seeds → nut pastes & seed pastes? By breaking apart more cell walls via grinding, we increase the effective calories we consume. Since nuts & seeds are fat sources, the strategy of grinding them may not be helpful for those following a low fat WFPB system in which we carefully moderate the consumption of nuts and seeds. In this video, Dr Greger explains:

At the same time, it's best to grind flaxseed and chia seeds. See Flax Seeds and Chia Seeds.

(4) Fruits & vegetables → smoothies? This is an interesting subject. See Should We Consume Smoothies?

(5) Herbs, spices & mushrooms → ground spice mixes & mushroom powders? We consume these in very small quantities daily. Moreover, these are non-starchy and packed with nutrition. So it would make sense to pulverize all of them.