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Fresh fruit or dried -- which is better?
Posted on Jun 1st 2008 7:00AM by Jacki DonaldsonFiled Under: Nutrition & Supplements
If forced to choose between a snack of fresh or dried fruit, I'd go fresh. Mostly because I like fruit in its freshest state but also because I've always assumed it's the healthiest choice. But is it?Yes, fresh fruit is healthier than dried fruit. Here's why.
When fruits are dried, they lose water and nutrients and acquire more calories and sugar. Consider apricots. One cup of the fresh stuff contains 75 calories. The dried variety: 313. Fresh apricots also have more fiber, more vitamin A and C, more beta-carotene, and more potassium.
Dried apricots not only have less of the good stuff -- they have added sweeteners too. So do dried cranberries -- often, refined sugar or corn syrup is added so look for cranberries sweetened with a natural sweetener, like apple juice, when shopping for this sweet treat.
For those of you who wish to dry your fruit at home, never fear. Home dehydrating involves nothing more than blowing warm air up through the fruit. This is not nearly as harsh on the nutrients and does not dry in the same manner as a commercial processor would do. Still, be careful of calories and sugars. Sometimes we eat more dehydrated apples, for example, than we would if we had a fresh, organic apple in hand.
