Make sure you’re eating the right dried fruit!

Last week I was at Trader Joe’s making some peanut butter. As I was putting the lid on it, I happened to catch the eye of young woman as she was scooping yogurt covered dried fruit into a baggie. She looked at me and said, “I’m on a diet, gotta get my fruit.” I thought oh no, she is very misguided! I almost gave her a big spiel about fruit, but instead decided to mind my business and share the info with you instead.

How many times have you been to the movies and thought you were being “good” when you scooped some yogurt covered raisins into your candy mix? Or better yet, dark chocolate covered yogurt raisins? You may have thought, “chocolate and raisins are antioxidants and yogurt is good for me so it must be healthy.” Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not true! “Yogurt” coating is made out of oil, sugar, and non-fat milk powder. Chocolate yogurt raisins are often made with partially hydrogenated oils — say hello to trans fat, our cholesterol-elevating, artery-clogging enemy. Besides being high in sugar, these yogurt-dipped snacks provide many more calories than their insides alone.

While dried fruit can be a healthy, convenient snack that won’t spoil in your bag or turn brown in your fridge, it has less vitamin C than natural fruit and many more calories per serving. I mostly aim to eat whole fruit, but I find dried fruit really hits the spot when I’m craving something sweet after dinner or in my yogurt. And it’s better for you than eating a cookie! Try this sweet treat and if you like dried fruit, follow these tips for buying:

Watch out for added sugars: Fruit is naturally sweet and doesn’t need added sugars (with the exception of cranberries because they are very tart). Read ingredient lists and try to avoid mixes with added sugars.

Portion control: A typical serving of dried fruit is about 1 ounce or ¼ cup, which isn’t much (about a handful). Depending on the variety that amount contains about 100 calories, 29 grams of carbs and 1 gram of fiber, so it’s important to watch your portion. Buy portion controlled varieties or portion it out yourself into baggies when you get home from the store.

Skip banana chip mixes: 1 ounce of banana chips contains 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 8 grams of saturated fat. It is fried in coconut oil which is a saturated fat — if you need something crunchy in your fruit mix, add a couple of unsalted almonds or peanuts for some heart-healthy fat that will keep you full.

Comments (5)

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Wednesday November 4, 2009 kelly wrote:

... I know dried fruit is totally worse for you than fresh fruit (and so much easier to eat it in excess), but as a college student with limited refrigerator space it is easier (and cheaper) to buy dried fruit. Recently, I have tried to buy some frozen berries though that go great in my yogurt.

As far as dried fruit go, I throw raisins on top of nearly everything whether it be a salad, yogurt, butternut squash, or in a bowl of cereal. It is a great source of iron too for us anemic girls!

Wednesday November 4, 2009 Kim wrote:

... I love love prunes (dried plums).... I know that sounds old lady like of me, but I can't help it I think they're delicious. Plus, whenever I have a craving for a chocolate cookie, eating 1-2 prunes completely satisfies my sweet tooth

Wednesday November 4, 2009 *always nibbling* wrote:

... hi barbie! what do u think of sun sweets plumsweets .. dark chocolate covered plums?

Wednesday November 4, 2009 Healthy Snacker wrote:

... Hi Barbie, have you tried the JustFruit bars from Gorge Delights? They are 100% fruit & made using only Pacific Northwest grown fruit. They come in 8 flavors & are delicious.

Friday November 20, 2009 Diane wrote:

... For a real dried fruit treat --try Craisins and walnuts in a spinish salad with poppy seed dressing, Yummmm !!!

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