Question about dried fruit....

[ilovespinach]

DS2 isn'tmuch of a fresh fruit eater - used to eat bananna,apple, pear and grapes but will now only occasionally eat a bit of fresh apple . So I'm not going to push it with him -just make sure it's there.....

He will however, eat any dried fruit - apricots, apples and especially the kids fruit bars (just fruit and grains with no added sugar).

I know that dried fruit is high in natural sugar so I try not to give him too much. I just wondered if the dried stuff is as high in vits as fresh and if it is as good for you......

It is definitely good for you. But for reasons someone more informed than me can perhaps tell you, it only counts as one of the five a day recommended, no matter how much you eat. I'm not sure why.

Also, eating too much can have a negative affect on your digestive system.

Dried fruit can also contain the preservative Sulphur dioxide - which can be a problem for asthmatics ...

Saying that, dried apricots are also good for iron ...

that's wierd bling -reminds me of the other day when I had a smoothie. It said it had something like 6 apples, 1 bananna, 10 blueberries....but that it only counted as one of the five a day! Not sure how they can work that out.....

DS did eat some fresh apple today and I gave him a pot of fruit puree as a snack which he loved Am going to try some of those dried bananna chips tomorrow.....

dried bananas are terribly disappointing in my experience.

Dried pineapple on the other hand - surprisingly good!

Ilovespinach the smoothie thing is because the recommendation of 5 fruit and veg a day is because we need the dietary fibre the whole fruit provide, the bulking out that the roughage gives us. I think smoothying it all breaks it down more and some are filtered to remove the tougher non-digestible bits.

That's why it doesn't matter how much fruit juice you drink, it still only counts as one. I would have thought smoothies with whole blended fruit would be more though?

Dried fruit is just not bulky enough to provide us with the recommended quantity of roughage.

itsjustafleshwound you can get dried apricots that don't contain sulphure dioxide, they taste a hundred times nicer than the preserved ones, and they are dark brown in colour, not bright orange.

Dried banana chips usually have added sugar or honey, and are almost always deep fried, so it's good to check ingreident labels first. They are crispy for a reason. You can get dried banana, with no added sugar, and that is much softer and chewey and unsurprisingly, a dark brown colour.

Dried apple rings are nice, but quite chewy so not so good for younger ones.

Dried dates and figs are my favourite.

The other negative associated with dried fruit is the way that it sticks to your teeth much more than fresh fruit, that associated with the natural sugars can cause tooth decay.

Our dentist says the worst teeth she has ever seen were in a child that had never had sweets, but ate alot of dried fruit. That said she told me that provided my DDs were regular teeth brushers it wouldn't be a problem (they both eat tons of it)