Dried Fruit - Smart Snack Or condition Hazard?

In speaking to countless patients over the years, it is apparent that people ordinarily want to eat a salutary diet. In most cases, however, this is easier said than done. It takes a lot of planning to eat right each day, and many people feel overwhelmed by the high volume of facts about nutrition coming from magazines, newspapers, television and curative professionals. One of the most coarse concerns I hear from patients is the difficulty of getting enough servings of fresh produce. To make it easier, people often turn to dried fruit out of convenience. My wife often buys these types of snacks every time we are in the airport. I would like to witness these kinds of choices and let you know either or not it is a truly salutary option.

The importance of Fruit

Dried Fruit

Everyone needs fruit and vegetables to stay healthy. These natural wonders are chock full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, the substances that safe our cells from free radical damage. Many fruits ordinarily sold both fresh and dried, such as blueberries, cherries, cranberries and figs, are particularly rich in nutrients that safe our health.

Dried Fruit - Smart Snack Or condition Hazard?

Depending on age, weight and action level, most adults must consume 5 to 9 fruit and vegetable servings each day. The problem is that selecting fresh furnish isn't always easy. You may not have passage to a refrigerator at work all day, and delicate fruits like pears and raspberries don't travel very well. Furthermore, purchasing fresh fruit at fast food restaurants, delis, or convenience shops is either impossible or expensive, and the selection is very limited. Despite these challenges, eating your daily furnish servings is a natural, extremely effective way to keep your body at its best.

Dried Fruit Pros and Cons

For many people, dried fruit has become the go-to clarification to the furnish dilemma. The question, however, remains: Is dried fruit truly healthy? The talk is not as clear as you might think. To make dried fruit, manufacturers take off the water. It is the water in fresh fruit that contributes to spoilage and bacteria growth, so dehydrating the fruit makes it shelf garage for six months to a year. If dried fruit is simply fresh fruit with the water extracted, how could it be bad for you?

In order to harden fruit like plums, apricots, figs, grapes and all the rest, the fruit must be exposed to dry heat from either the sun or market grade ovens. This heat has a negative corollary on fruit's nutrient content. In particular, vitamin C, potassium and calcium are three important substances that drastically deteriorate while the drying process.

For example, a dried apricot loses over half of its potassium content, and fruits high in vitamin C lose nearly all nutritional value due to drying. On the upside, however, dried fruit does not lose its fiber and iron content.

Another issue to reconsider with dried fruit is chemical content. For sure fruits, such as, golden raisins and apricots, sulphur dioxide is used to fix the color while the drying process. This chemical may aggravate or provoke asthma attacks in some individuals. To avoid unwanted additives, you can buy natural and organic dried fruit at health food stores.

When you eat dried fruit, you must also take fat into account. Remember, the water has been removed, considerably reducing the volume of the fruit. Therefore, you will need to eat a smaller portion of dried fruit compared with fresh fruit in order to consume the same number of calories.

For example, one cup of fresh grapes has about 60 calories, while one cup of raisins has 495 calories-quite a difference!

In addition, dried fruit tends to be much sweeter due to concentrated flavor, so it's easy to eat a lot without mental about it. To keep fat in check, divide fresh fruit into personel portions and put them in zip top bags. Keep singular servings in your car, purse or desk drawer for snacking.

Despite some stumbling blocks, the National Cancer establish says that a quarter cup of dried fruit counts as a serving of produce. I suggest that my patients who enjoy dried fruit eat it as just one of their daily furnish servings, and that they considered monitor portion size. With salutary eating, range is the key. If you buy natural, chemical-free dried fruit and eat it along with a wide array of fruits and vegetables, it can be a favorable clarification to your eat-right goals.

Dried Fruit - Smart Snack Or condition Hazard?

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