Dried Fruit Nutrition: Lots of Fiber!

You should consider dried fruit nutrition to be an important part of your healthy diet and lifestyle. Even in the dried form, fruit maintains a high level of beneficial intredients such as concentrated fiber, polyphenols, vitamins, and minerals.

Generally, dried fruit has twice the amount of nutrients and fiber as fresh fruit.

Dried fruit should be a part of your healthy diet.It is usually more economical to purchase dried fruit in the bulk section of the grocery store.

It is important to make sure the fruit that you consume has no sugar, oils, sulphites, or other harmful preservatives. If you can, always purchase organic labeled fruit to be sure that pesticides, fungicides and other toxic processing substances are not present in the fruit.

Calories in Dried Fruit Nutrition

Healthy muffins with dried fruit makes a great breakfast treat.Cinnamon Carrot Muffins recipe.

Take care not to overeat dried fruit since the calories can add up quickly. It's easy to take a handful of raisins as a snack and not realize that you are eating the equivalent calories and bulk of an equal amount of grapes. You probably would not feel comfortable consuming that amount of fresh grapes.

Dried fruit is usually one half the volume of fresh fruit and has almost the equivalent calorie and nutritional value.

A great idea for dried fruit nutrition is to use it in recipes as sweeteners. You can benefit by eliminating or reducing artificial sweeteners and refined sugars. You may want to try adding dried fruit to oatmeal, dry cereals, smoothies, energy bars, trail mixtures, or just by using whole dried fruit in place of a heavily processed snack food.

You can find dried fruit in bulk in many grocery stores. It is usually more economical than packaged fruit. There is also many sources online of all kinds and qualities of familiar and exotic fruit.

Dried Fruit with High Nutrient Values

  • Raisins - One of the best snack foods around. They are high in fiber and fat free.
  • Apples - High in antioxidants that aid the body to get rid of free radicals.
  • Figs -  High in calcium and fiber which can help to reduce constipation and gas.
  • Apricots - One of the lowest dried fruits in sugar content and a great source of vitamin C.
  • Plums or Prunes - They are loaded with fiber that will help you maintain a healthy bowel and are high in Boron that promotes healthy bones.
  • Tart Cherries - High in antioxidants that include Quercetin, anthocyanins, amygdalin that help fight heart disease and cancer. Make sure that you get the tart cherry without added sugar.
  • Blueberries - These great berries are high in vitamin K that helps build strong bones and also aiso aids in blood clotting. Blueberries are rich in phytonutrients that promote healthy cardiovascular activity. 
Dried fruit nutrition is good for you, and you should include some in your healthy eating plan.Dried banana slices...a great source of dried fruit nutrition!

There are many more dried fruits that you could add to your inventory that will assist you in staying healthy.  You may want to try the drying process on your own. There are simple food driers available and they are not real expensive.

If you want to really get ahead of the game, you can now purchase freeze drying appliances that are made for home use. They are pricey, but the benefits and quality of the finished product is well worth the expense. 

The bottom line is dried fruit nutrition is good for you, and you should include some in your healthy eating plan. Make sure that you do not consume too much and be careful of fruit with added sugar and preservatives.

More about healthy food choices...

  • Healthy Weight Loss - On a successful and healthy weight loss program you do not worry about counting calories.
  • Benefits of Coconut Oil - are finally being revealed in our culture.
  • Good Healthy Snacks - lower in fat & sodium, and you can enjoy the snacks guilt free.
  • Benefits of Soy Milk - The benefits of soy milk make it a very healthy substitute for cow's milk.
  • Yogurt Health Benefits -  have been known for ages, and may be one of the most important foods you could eat. 
  • Best Spice for Plant Based Meals - Cedar Key Spice adds a whole new dimension to the flavors of your meals. 
  • Natural Salt - is pure, unrefined authentic salt with all of the trace minerals in tact. 
  • Excellent Salt Substitute - One of our favorites, Bragg Liquid Aminos!
  • Stevia Sweetener - The uniqueness of stevia sweetener is that it is 150 times sweeter than sugar and has basically no calories.
  • Cruciferous Vegetables - are known to reduce the risk of getting cancer.
  • Vitamin B 12 - is needed for red blood cell formation, DNA processing and brain function.
  • Processed Foods - also known as "convenience foods", make up over 60% of our food consumption in America today. These foods are loaded with chemicals and are very unhealthy, and can cause additive responses to get you hooked. Then, we wonder why we love food!

         >Healthy Food Choices