Dried Fruits

Question
Are dried fruits as good as fresh fruit? I have been taking a bag of mixed raisins, cranberries, bluberries, mangos and apricots using it for breakfast and part of my lunch. About 2 cups.

Answer
Hello Bill!

Like fresh fruit, dried fruit provides fiber, vitamin A and potassium. It also contains vitamin C and folate ?although in smaller amounts than fresh fruit does. Perhaps the main drawback to dried fruits are that they contain more calories per serving than fresh fruits, because most of the water ?which gives fruit its bulk ?has been removed. For example, 1 cup of fresh apricot halves has 74 calories, while 1 cup of dried apricot halves has 213 calories. If you're trying to lose weight, use dried fruits sparingly. Also, I would recommend Juice Plus which is a fruit and vegetable supplement available at www.juiceblend.com It does not contain the sugar and comes in capsule or chewables.

Due to the water loss experienced during dehydration,  dried fruit has a stronger, more intense flavour. However the drying process also destroys most of the Vitamin C in the food, so that the dried version of the fruit has only a fraction of the levels of Vitamin C that would exist in the fruit if it were fresh.

For more answers to your nutrition questions check out "Ask the Nutritionists: Answers to Your Nutrition Questions" by George Rapitis available at www.authorhouse.com, online, or at your favorite bookstore.

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