Dried Fruit Yay or Nay?

[MamaPenelope]

Hey Ladies,

So do you guys use dried fruit in your cooking and as snacks and stuff? Do you think this is the healthiest option?

Would love your opinions?

Thankkssss

Healthiest compared to what? Dried fruit serves a useful purpose as part of a general balanced diet.

It's not the healthiest as it's very high in sugar, but it is a much better choice than say, sweets/biscuits, as it also has nutritional value - iron, fibre, vitamins etc.

What are you comparing to?

Yes I eat it, but in v limited amounts, eg 2-3 dried apricots or dates is a helping for me, and I don't have that daily. I view it as a treat tbh.

Occasionally, as although I love dried apricots they give me terrible wind. DH throws a handful of raisins into his oats and yoghurt each morning. I sometimes throw a handful into banana bread etc.

Why would dried fruit have more sugar than natural sugar? Looking at the packaging, the only thing is that there is usually a small amount of preservative.

Than natural equivalent vs natural sugar?

A handful of raisins in porridge,cooked up and served with yoghurt makes a great pudding

It doesn't have added sugar if that's what you mean theknack? But it's very high in the natural sugar found in the fruit - concentrated if you will as all the water is gone. You could easily eat 10-15 dried apricots, and quite fast, but I doubt many people would eat 10-15 fresh apricots, and if they did it would take longer - several bites & chews per fruit, and stone removal, not 3 at a time. Dried fruit has a very high GI, i.e. it raises you blood glucose a lot, which is generally viewed as a bad thing.

I love dried fruit but can't have much due to IBS. The sugar content doesn't bother me.

My sister is a teacher and the school dentist said dried fruit should not be given to children because of its high sugar content and the fact that it sticks to the teeth.

Yeah I meant as an equivalent to refined sugar. Only DD loves raisins and I quite often use fruit syrups in her porridge and stuff instead of actual sugar. So you think its 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other?

Thanks for your help :)

I'd cut out the fruit syrup and sugar to sweeten porridge - it's very bad for their teeth. Porridge doesn't need sweetening but you could add fresh fruit like a chopped apple, raspberries, strawberries, banana. The acid in fresh fruit is also harmful to teeth (even before they emerge) so brush or swill with water after the meal.

A handful of dried fruit contains more calories than you would if you ate that same amount of fresh fruit. Also, when you dry fruits, you lose some of the nutrients so fresh is preferable.

But I do use dried fruit including dates and apricots in cooking/baking and porridge too. I would avoid dried apricots unless you can get organic as the usual packaged ones like Whitworths, Tesco etc contain sulphites. more info on the effects of sulphites in food here

Sorry that was bit long...

I totally misread your OP, I don't know where I got the notion that you were sweetening porridge for your children to eat. My apologies.

Think I should go and get some coffee and brekkie.

I'll get my coat...