Many of us know that dried fruits are useful product. Firstly, they are high in fiber, which stimulates digestion and metabolism. Secondly, they contain more minerals than fresh fruits. They contain a lot of potassium (needed by our heart), iron (which improves blood formation), as well as carotene and B vitamins. All of them are important for the normal functioning of the heart, brain, nervous system and muscles. Dried fruits have a cleansing effect on the intestines (one prune is worth it). They fight well increased acidity stomach, enveloping its walls with a protective layer. And plant fibers, which dried fruits are rich in, normalize digestive processes, improve intestinal motility and help with constipation.
Properties of some types of dried fruits
Dried fruits have many beneficial properties for our body. Here are some of them:
Dried apples contain a large amount of iron, which has a good effect on blood composition; improve intestinal microflora.
Raisin rich in organic acids, fiber, vitamins A, B1, B2, B5 and B6, C. It contains iron, boron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chlorine, phosphorus. Helps strengthen the nervous system, helps relieve tension, fatigue, and improve sleep. Useful for pregnant and lactating women: it replenishes iron deficiency and improves lactation. Raisins have a positive effect on the health of the heart muscle, strengthens nervous system and immunity.
Dried pears have a calming effect on the nervous system and improve mood. In addition, they have a tonic property and help remove toxins from the body. Dried pears are rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, E, P, C, pectin, iron, iodine, copper, potassium, calcium, zinc, and carotene. Useful for disorders of the pancreas and urinary tract. Help fight colds and reduce stress.
Exotic fruits They also have a lot of useful properties. For example, figs help with inflammation of the mouth, coughs, and improve the functioning of the thyroid gland.
Peach useful for those who suffer from diseases of the cardiovascular system and kidneys.
Dried apricots- This is not only an excellent general tonic, this dried fruit helps prevent and alleviate anemia, heart disease and gastrointestinal diseases, and also improves vision. Constant consumption of dried apricots reduces the likelihood of blockage of blood vessels and improves blood circulation; helps skin stay young for a long time and hair stay strong.
Prunes and raisins increase hemoglobin and are useful for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Dry fruits are a mild laxative, diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent.
Dates rich in vitamins A, E, group B, amino acids. They contain calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, and selenium. Dates are useful for people with weakened immune systems and anemia. They help relieve fatigue and speed up recovery after illness, strengthen the cardiovascular system, and activate the liver and kidneys. Dates are believed to help prevent oncological diseases. Useful for pregnant women: used in the prevention of depression and help strengthen the muscles of the uterus.
From dried apples and pears Compotes are prepared and used for liver and kidney diseases, gastritis and other digestive disorders.
But we must remember that during drying, due to the loss of water, the concentration of sugars in the fruit increases. Let's say, fresh apricots have 50 kcal per 100 g, and dried apricots - already 200-250. Plums contain about 60 kcal per 100 g, and prunes - 250. Grapes have 70 kcal per 100 g, and raisins - 280. This must be taken into account by those who are on a diet.
In principle, this sugar is not so terrible: due to the abundance of fiber, the glycemic index of dried fruits is low and does not sharply increase blood glucose levels.
And now about the sad...
The real problem is that dried fruits are subjected to intensive chemical processing to give them an attractive presentation and extend their shelf life.
Almost all dried fruits that we see on the market or in stores were obtained through industrial drying. After drying, dried fruits lose their natural colors, and there is no saturation or brightness to speak of. Beautiful color is achieved only through chemistry. Thus, golden figs, bright orange dried apricots and amber-colored raisins are the work of food coloring and the result of fumigation with sulfur dioxide.
The usual technology for processing dried fruits involves fumigation with sulfur dioxide. On the packaging this will be designated as additive E220. With its help, manufacturers kill bacteria and make the product “unpalatable” to insects. This treatment gives dried fruits gloss and shine - sultanas and apricots become golden, prunes begin to shine. Of course, it is worth mentioning that the concentrations of such dangerous substances are strictly specified, and the recommended doses in theory should not cause harm. But are you willing to risk your own health by believing that the nameless manufacturer was honest?
It is also worth paying attention to the shine of dried fruits. Real dried fruit has an unassuming appearance - these are matte, wrinkled slices. To make them shine, manufacturers treat dried fruits with cheap vegetable oils or glycerin.
To speed up drying, dried fruits can be processed with a burner, which gives them a gasoline taste and contributes to the formation of carcinogens due to poor filtration. Often the fruits are dried in a tunnel oven (dryer). This gives the dried fruits a diesel smell. To soften some fruits, especially those picked ahead of time and therefore hard, boiling water with caustic non-food soda is sometimes used. This helps create fine cracks in the peel, which speeds up drying.
It is also common practice to soak exotic fruits in sugar syrups, which gives the product additional sweetness and calorie content.
So, when choosing dried fruits, pay attention to:
- unnatural bright color
- unnatural shine
- strange taste.
How to protect yourself
Rule 1.
Remember, high-quality dried fruits, as a rule, have an unattractive appearance. They are dark, wrinkled, and dusty. Too bright a color in dried apricots, raisins, or dried cherries indicates that they were most likely treated with sulfur dioxide or food coloring. Before use, soak dried fruits for 20–25 minutes in water at room temperature, and then rinse thoroughly under running water.
Rule 2.
When buying dried fruits, take a good sniff. The smell of gasoline and smoke leads to suspicion. Severely cracked dried fruits are a defect.
Rule 3.
In the store, try to buy dried fruits in transparent packaging - this way you can immediately assess the color of dried apricots, the suspicious shine of prunes or raisins.
Rule 4.
Pineapple, papaya, watermelon, mango and some other types of fruits that are now in large quantities sold in stores, are not dried fruits in in true sense this word. These are candied fruits, as they are first candied and only then dried.
Rule 5.
Before consumption, rinse dried fruits thoroughly to remove dirt, sulfur and chemicals.
Rule 6.
If you want to make compote from dried fruits, then you do not need to cook them. Just pour boiling water over them and cover tightly with a lid and let it brew well.
Rule 7.
Buy dates with pits, raisins and prunes with stems. Such fruits retain nutrients better.
Rule 8.
If you buy raisins, make sure that the berry always has a stalk. The berries should not stick together.
Conclusion
Dried fruits are concentrated foods, so they should be consumed in moderation. It must be remembered that dried fruits are a mild laxative and diuretic. It is advisable to dry fruits the old-fashioned way or using professional equipment. This way you will be confident in the quality of the berries. If you still prefer to buy dried fruits, then before consuming it is necessary to treat them with boiling water or soak them in water at room temperature, and then rinse them with cold running water.
02/18/2018 - update date
18.02.2018
Most people know that are a useful product for humans. They not only have a high fiber content, which helps improve digestion, and a large amount of minerals. According to the latter indicator, dried fruits can give even fresh fruits a head start.
- Potassium improves heart function,
- iron is necessary for blood,
- B vitamins contained in dried fruits also benefit.
They also have a positive effect on the digestive tract. The properties of prunes immediately come to mind, but other types of dried fruits are also useful. Their main ability is to envelop the stomach with a special film that performs protective functions. Dried fruits are capable of optimizing digestion due to the plant fibers they contain, and also help combat constipation in people of different ages.
Basic properties of dried fruits
Dried fruits are a storehouse of useful substances necessary for humans, and each type of fruit has its own characteristics.
Apples: They are rich in iron and have a positive effect on the structure of the blood. They also help maintain optimal microflora in the intestines.
Raisin: It is distinguished by a wide range of B vitamins and organic acids. It also contains potassium with magnesium and other substances necessary for humans. Eating raisins has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and helps fight fatigue and insomnia. Eating raisins is recommended for nursing mothers, as they have a positive effect on lactation, increasing the amount of milk produced. Raisins can also have a positive effect on the condition of the heart muscle.
Pears: An excellent antidepressant and tonic that helps normalize the functioning of the nervous system. Another important advantage of dried pears is the ability to remove toxins from the human body.
Figs: This exotic fruit It has a positive effect not only on the thyroid gland, but also helps fight coughs while simultaneously providing an anti-inflammatory effect in the mouth.
Peach: This dried fruit is recommended for people who have problems with the cardiovascular system or kidney function.
Dried apricots: One of the most useful dried fruits among all the available varieties. It not only has a comprehensive effect on the body, improving human well-being, but also has a positive effect on individual organs, such as the heart or stomach. Dried apricots also help to maintain good vision for many years. Regular intake in food has reduced the risk of problems with blood vessels and their clogging. By receiving the necessary nutrients from dried apricots, the body maintains the youth of the skin.
Prunes: Prune fruits are one of the best folk remedies to combat constipation. They generally stabilize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and are also able to increase hemoglobin levels. This dried fruit is also suitable as an anti-inflammatory agent.
Dates: A huge variety of vitamins, metals and microelements makes the consumption of dates relevant for humans. With their help, you can reduce the negative impact of anemia, as well as increase your own immunity. Dates not only stimulate kidney and liver activity, but also allow the body to recover more effectively from illnesses. Among the positive properties of dates are their antidepressant properties and the ability to strengthen the uterine muscles, which is especially important during pregnancy. There is an opinion that dates are a means of preventing cancer.
What do you need to know before using?
In most cases, dried fruits are consumed in pure form or added to baked goods, but . Such a drink will not only be tasty, but also beneficial for the body.
Before consuming dried fruits, it is necessary to take into account that due to loss of moisture they become much more sugary, which increases their caloric content. If there are only 50 kilocalories per 100g of apricots, then in dried apricots there will be 5 times more of them, in grapes the calorie content reaches 70 kcal, while in raisins it is four times higher. Accordingly, people who prefer diet and weight control should not overuse dried fruits.
At the same time, a large proportion of fiber in dry fruits increases the level of sugar digestibility, so the increase in blood glucose is insignificant.
Possible harm of dried fruits
In front of everyone positive aspects dried fruits cannot fail to mention the disadvantages. They are primarily associated with the chemical processing of any products in this category. It is carried out in order to provide the products with the necessary appearance, as well as extend shelf life.
Most of the dried fruits on sale are dried under industrial production conditions. Such technologies involve changing the original natural color. For example, it is possible to provide products with a bright color only through chemical action, processing dried fruits with dyes and sulfur dioxide.
The use of sulfur dioxide is a traditional method of industrial processing of dried fruits. Accordingly, the packaging of such a product should mandatory there is a mention of the E220 additive. It is intended to destroy bacteria and create conditions under which they will not multiply on the surface of dried fruit.
Together with antibacterial treatment, this effect allows you to create a beautiful shine on the surface of the fruit. For example, shiny prunes have definitely undergone a similar treatment. Of course, in theory, manufacturers are limited in the amount of chemicals they use to doses that are safe for humans. However, the risks of receiving excessive doses of chemicals always remain, because no one can guarantee that the manufacturer strictly follows the instructions.
To remove the effects of processing?
Some manufacturers use glycerin and vegetable oils to add shine to dried fruits. These are effective and at the same time inexpensive means to give the product an appetizing appearance, because “pure” dried fruits have a wrinkled, pale appearance that causes a little appetite.
Unscrupulous manufacturers can dry fruits using burners, after which a burning taste and gasoline vapors will remain on the surface. Similar odors may appear after using dryers. In cases where the fruits were picked greenish, they are additionally treated with boiling water and soda (non-food grade), which creates cracks on the surface that accelerate the drying process.
For exotic fruits, soaking in sugar syrups is practiced to imbue them with a more concentrated sweet taste.
How to choose dried fruits?
Thus, when choosing dried fruits, you should not choose products that are distinguished by an unnatural brightness of appearance and unusual tastes or smells that are not characteristic of this fruit.
To reduce risks, you should adhere to the following rules:
- The most natural dried fruits have an unattractive appearance. Before use, the fruits are soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, after which they are thoroughly washed.
- Any signs of smoke or gasoline odors indicate poor quality processing of the raw materials. There should not be large numbers of large cracks on the surface.
- When choosing packaged products, it is better to opt for goods in transparent containers. It allows you to evaluate the appearance of dried fruits before making a purchase.
- Many tropical fruits are not classic dried fruits. They are dried after candiing and are called candied fruits.
- Thoroughly washing dried fruits before eating allows you to remove not only dirt and dust from the surface, but also the chemicals used in production.
- To prepare compote, it is not necessary to boil dried fruits. It is enough to pour boiling water over them and let them brew for a while.
- Fruits with stalks, such as prunes or raisins, are much better tolerated long-term storage.
- High-quality raisins should not stick together.
Conclusion
Considering that dried fruits are a concentrated product, when consuming them you need to know when to stop. You can make them yourself, both using the methods of your grandparents and in modern ways. In any case, you will be sure that no chemicals were used. If in another place, then soaking and washing should be a mandatory procedure before consumption, with the exception of those dried fruits that have NOT been processed.
Dried fruits are dried fruits or berries, the residual moisture content of which is 20%. It is a natural source of easily digestible carbohydrates, organic acids, pectins, fiber, macro- and microelements, vitamins A, B, E, C, PP, necessary to maintain human life.
The beneficial properties of dried fruits depend on the drying method:
– natural (in the sun, under canopies);
– chemical (using a dehydrator, preservatives).
In the first case, dried fruits are natural and retain a maximum of nutrients (90%), in the second - they lose 50% - 80%. nutritional value, contain residues of harmful chemicals.
Popular dried fruits: dried apricots (apricots, kaisa), figs, raisins, dates, prunes.
Effect on the body:
– normalize digestion and heart function (dried apricots);
– improve metabolism, restore strength, fight tumors (figs);
– disinfect, lower blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, calm the nervous system (prunes);
– improve the functioning of the heart and kidneys (raisins);
– increase hemoglobin, regulate the amount of glucose in the blood, have an antipyretic effect (dates).
Dried fruits and berries have a high energy value (from 230 calories per 100 grams of product), so their consumption should be limited to people suffering from diabetes and obesity.
The darker and more unsightly the dried fruit, the less harmful processing it has undergone, and therefore, the healthier and safer it is. Bright color and shiny surface indicate use chemicals during drying (sulfur). It is better not to buy such a product.
Give preference to those dried fruits that have a tail and do not leave marks on your hands after “rolling” between your fingers. It is better to produce them at home yourself, using a household fruit dryer.
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Are you sure that you know absolutely everything about the benefits and not-so-benefits of dried fruits? Don't rush to answer. Because even experienced nutritionists and biologists cannot give an answer with one hundred percent certainty. There are several points of view on this matter. Some believe that these same “dried fruits” are not so healthy; others, on the contrary, claim the impeccable properties of dried fruits, which have a more than beneficial effect on the human body.
Let's try to figure it out pros And cons, putting on two scales: “usefulness” and “misconceptions”, in the characteristics of dried candied fruits, nuts and other delicacies we love.
- Those who believe that dried fruits contain less sugar and are less caloric are mistaken. The truth is that when dried, water is removed from the fruit, that is, it loses weight and properties (the breakdown of some unstable vitamins, for example, vitamin C), but sugar and calories do not evaporate from it. Thus, if an apricot weighs 45 grams (about 12 kilocalories), then after it is “transformed” into dried apricots weighing 10 grams, energy value it already contains 15 kilocalories.
- If you think that fresh fruits are healthier than dried or frozen ones, you are mistaken. Of all three listed above, the most valuable are fruits that have been subjected to shock freezing. Well, of course, with the exception of those that the “grandmother from the village” brought you. Ask yourself the question: “How much time has passed since the moment a supposedly fresh fruit was plucked from a branch and fell into your hands?” But frozen or dried fruits are subjected to heat treatment literally a few hours after picking. So, one can argue about the benefits of “conditionally fresh” and heat-treated fruits.
The benefits of dried fruits
Dried fruits contain more biologically active substances, compared to fresh fruit. Essentially, it is a concentrate that contains calcium, magnesium, iron and other valuable substances.
Nuts
All nuts have a fairly high calorie content, but if we are not talking about a “diet” as such, but about benefits for the body, then nuts are benefits in their purest form.
Benefits of walnuts
Walnuts are not just a great delicacy, but also an unconditional aid to your health. Nuts help with anemia, diseases, heart disease, dermatitis, and colds. In addition, walnuts have a calming effect and are indicated for insomnia and nervous disorders. Walnuts are necessary for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and also during the recovery period after surgery. Has a beneficial effect on immune system body.
Benefits of almonds
Sweet almonds are useful for hypertension, obesity, stomach ulcers and duodenum, asthma, pleurisy, heartburn. In addition, sweet almonds are recommended to all persons over thirty years of age as a prophylactic against atherosclerosis in elevated level cholesterol. Bitter almonds are indicated for use as a prophylactic agent in the treatment of kidney diseases, upper respiratory tract, as well as in the treatment of certain diseases of the genitourinary system in women.
Benefits of hazelnuts
Hazelnuts are pure protein. Used as a prevention of obesity, indicated for diabetes, chronic fatigue, phlebitis and varicose veins, prostate enlargement, arterial hypertension. Hazelnuts are used in the treatment of chronic anemia.
Benefits of peanuts
Peanut. Many consider this fruit to be useless, I hasten to convince you otherwise. Peanuts have a beneficial effect on tissue functions, promote cell growth and renewal. It is used as a choleretic agent. Peanuts help lower blood cholesterol levels. In addition, it increases potency and has a great effect on libido. It also improves memory, the ability to concentrate, and is indicated for insomnia and fatigue.
Benefits of cashews
Cashew is a delicious, sweet, slightly curved fruit that perfectly strengthens the immune system; in addition, cashew normalizes metabolic processes in the body and is indicated for anemia, psoriasis and heart disease.
The benefits of pistachios
Pistachio. This small greenish nut can help during periods of great physical and mental stress, as it activates the brain and at the same time has a tonic and restorative effect on the entire body. Pistachios are useful for people suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, anemia, arrhythmia and thrombophlebitis.
Conclusion: dried fruits contain a huge amount of useful substances. 5-6 pieces of dried fruits, eaten daily, improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails, in addition, dried fruits are an excellent immunomodulator. This delicacy is useful for both children and adults.
Recipe.
Take 500 grams of prunes, pre-soaked in water. Rub 400 grams of cottage cheese through a sieve, add 2 tablespoons of semolina, 5 egg yolks and 75 grams of granulated sugar, and grind well. Then you need to add 10-15 kernels, pre-peeled and fried, walnuts to the resulting mass. Stuff prunes with curd and nut mixture. Place the stuffed prunes on a baking sheet, pour a little water into it and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Cool to room temperature and serve with whipped cream. This dessert will be a true decoration of your festive table. Bon appetit.
Fact. But lovers of “healthy sweets” completely ignore the process of creating dried fruit - and this is where the “zest” lies! To be more precise, during the production process, the useful things in the fruit are killed and the harmful ones are added.
What's harmful about dried fruits?
So, I present to you: bright orange dried apricots, spectacular fleshy figs, languid and dark prunes, tanned dates, large black-eyed raisins. Commercial dried fruits must be sweet and beautiful to the same extent that the author of an article about them must be concise and convincing. Well, sit back and enjoy your meal!
Let's move on to drying drying
Industrial dried fruits are dried at a temperature of about 200 o C. This destroys most of the vitamins and almost all biologically active substances in them. High temperature converts the polysaccharides (complex sugars) present in fruits into simple ones. And this significantly increases their sweetness and, alas, harmfulness: the more complex the sugar, the more energy and time the body needs to spend on assimilating it - and the lower the sugar level in our blood will rise and, accordingly, the less harm will be done to our pancreas , skin and waist.
By the way, just like that - out of innate gastronomic sadism, I note that the high drying temperature makes dried fruits completely non-raw food. After all, according to the canons of a raw food diet, the processing temperature should not exceed 40-42 o C, and many raw food restaurants prefer to avoid this hot topic with cool silence.
"Hell's brimstone"
Then most of the dried fruits are subjected to so-called sulfiting: to prevent them from darkening, they are treated with sulfur oxide. This tuning gives the dried fruit a commercially bright color and resistance to pests. Smart mold and wise insects avoid sulfated fruits - unlike uninformed buyers.
The fact is that sulfur oxide, when combined with water, forms sulfurous acid. Small amounts of it are considered (supposedly) non-toxic to us. However, pests seem to think otherwise. Apparently, they know something that the merchants are maliciously hiding from us. And, frankly, I happily join the squad of pests - when it comes to dried fruits.
Makeup
Very often, dried fruits are tinted with food coloring (dried apricots and white raisins most often), greased with oil - so that they shine and so that the raisins do not stick together and are crumbly.
Before drying, grapes and prunes are also always scalded with boiling water and sodium hydroxide so that their thick skin, which prevents rapid drying, is covered with a network of microcracks. “Cracking” speeds up the drying process.
And “smoking” prunes is often done with “liquid smoke” - a terrible artificial flavoring that is no less carcinogenic than the “natural” smoke of smoking chambers.
Sweet-faced
The sweeter the fruit, the more attractive it is to the buyer. I scared you above by the fact that polysaccharides that are beneficial to us at high temperatures turn into unhealthy sugars. But this is not the worst thing! Commercial dried fruits (dried apricots, figs, apples, persimmons, prunes, etc.) are also soaked in water with sugar and then dried again. All this is done in order to make the product even sweeter, softer and more commercially interesting.
About how exactly high level blood sugar (glycemic index) contributes to the accumulation of fat, aging skin and addiction to baked cookies and sweets, I often write on my page in. In the meantime, I will continue to terrify you.
Santa Claus or Santa Claus?
Have you already fearfully directed your distressed gaze at homemade dried fruit? Very in vain! Yes, it is tatty, brown and dried at room temperature. But even that doesn't make him special healthy food. The fact is that almost any fruit and vegetable contains enzymes that destroy vitamins. When storing fruit (and vegetables, by the way, too) at room temperature, these serial killers vitamins are activated and destroy most of the beneficial substances in the fruit. Therefore, fruits and vegetables, by the way, should only be stored in the refrigerator.
Table 1 shows average data on the destruction of vitamins during rapid drying in home dryers at low temperatures. And with slow drying and high-temperature drying, losses, accordingly, increase significantly.
Table 1
Typical Loss of Nutritional Benefits from Processed Foods Compared to Raw Foods
| VITAMINS | FREEZE | DRYING | BOILING, PRESERVATION |
| VITAMIN A | 5% | 50% | 25% |
| ALPHA CAROTENE | 5% | 50% | 25% |
| BETA CAROTENE | 5% | 50% | 25% |
| LYCOPINE | 5% | 50% | 25% |
| LUTHEIN + ZEAXANTHIN | 5% | 50% | 25% |
| VITAMIN C | 30% | 80% | 50% |
| THIAMIN | 5% | 30% | 55% |
| RIBOFLAVIN | 0% | 10% | 25% |
| NIACIN | 0% | 10% | 40% |
| VITAMIN B6 | 0% | 10% | 50% |
| FOLIC ACID | 5% | 50% | 70% |
| VITAMIN B 12 | 0% | 0% | 45% |
As you can see, most vitamins are stored in frozen fruits and vegetables. But if you leave fruits and vegetables to defrost at room temperature, then within a few hours most of the vitamins will also be attacked by “antivitamins” and will be destroyed. Therefore, it is better to bring the “scumbags” to an edible temperature in the microwave using a special “defrost” mode.
Microwave macro pleasures
Along the way, I will please you (not out of innate gastronomic humanism, but because the author is obliged to tell the reader something challenging so that he continues to read the article further). I haven't found any real ones scientific research, which would convincingly prove the harm of using microwaves. But there are plenty of studies that show the opposite. And they all say that microwave cooking retains more vitamins and other nutrients than most other types of heat treatment.
If, say, shriveled brown dried apricots dried up on a tree under the sun, or apples and pears are in grandma’s attic under the roof (which is heated by the same sun), then the process of destruction of vitamins goes much further. And in the end we get a homemade, but very, very vitamin-free product.
Don't thorn the rose hips!
As another consolation, I’ll add that ascobate reductase (an enzyme that destroys vitamin C) is completely absent in rose hips. Which contains, at the same time, an indecently huge amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Nature, apparently, tried to create a special ascorbic acid product for the northerners. So steaming rose hips in a glass thermos is a very decent option for home winter vitaminization.
Just buy rose hips that have not been sitting in the sun on the market, and brew it only in a glass thermos: contact with iron (even stainless steel) catalyzes the oxidation of vitamin C.
Low-vitamin multifruit
So, ALLEGEDLY the most useful, as you already sadly understand, are, of course, fruits and berries dried independently in home dehydrators. It’s “supposedly” - because here we move on to the most interesting and, at the same time, the most upsetting.
The fact is that of all the fruits and vegetation available to us, fruits are the poorest in vitamins. Most vitamins, biologically active substances and microelements accumulate in greens. Berries and peppers modestly follow. Then - all the vegetables (especially cabbage, and especially broccoli and cauliflower). And only then - other vegetables and, at the very end, fruits (even citrus fruits) and leaf salads.
Table 2 is part of the general tables of the content of useful nutrients, which I once, in a fit of tireless curiosity, compiled. I have noted in these tables those beneficial ingredients whose amount exceeds 10%.
Of all the vitamins in fruits, only C, K and beta-carotene were found in noticeable quantities. All other utilities turned out to be significantly below the ten percent passing barrier, and I simply did not reflect them in the table.
Table 2
| Product content in % of daily value in 100 g | Vitamin C | Vitamin K | Carotene |
| Black currant | 263 | ||
| Persimmon | 53 | 24 | |
| Apples | 24 | ||
| Blueberry | 45 | 16 | |
| Apricots | 11 | 32 | |
| Banana | 10 | ||
| Grape | 12 | ||
| Cherry | 11 | 15 | |
| Pear | |||
| Melon | 22 | ||
| Strawberry | 86 | ||
| Raspberry | 37 | ||
| Peach | 10 | ||
| Plum | 14 |
Now imagine: 100 g of the freshest apricot contains on average 45% vitamin C, and an apple picked from a branch contains 24%. After drying, they will lose 80% of ascorbic acid.
100 g of apricot contains a very insignificant 9% of the daily value of vitamin C, and 100 g of apples - only 5%. We don’t even talk about the rest of the vitamins, we just take off our hats and honor their eternal memory with mournful silence. And at the same time, dried (even at home!) apples and apricots contain about 210-250 kcal and 40-45 g of easily digestible carbohydrates, and a handful of potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium, etc. Actually, these microelements are almost the only value of dried fruits, besides pectin (fruit fiber).
Useless snack
Many people perceive dried fruits as a healthy alternative to cookies and sweets for a coffee break. Yes, 100 g of sushi will satisfy (very temporarily) your hunger. But at what cost? Due to easily digestible carbohydrates, and any product with a high glycemic index(and dried fruits are just that) at first it sharply raises the blood sugar level, and then this level drops just as sharply. Moreover, it drops to a level that is perceived by the body as acute and severe hunger. Just the kind of thing you wanted to get rid of with a dried fruit snack.
High blood sugar causes high insulin levels, and insulin directly causes fat cells to store fat. The one that you want to get rid of with a “healthy snack”.
Fructose dose
The second stimulator of fat accumulation is fructose. The same supposedly healthy and dietary product that the “healthy” food industry feeds us with. I will talk about how large amounts of fructose cause depression, provoke fat accumulation and harm the liver in one of the episodes of the program “CHECKING SUBSTANCES.” For now, I’ll just note that dates – even fresh ones – are the most high-fructose fruits. Most of the sweetness they contain is harmful fructose. Can you draw your own conclusions?
Is dried fruit worth the hassle?
If you continue to experience hunger pangs, then it is best to extinguish them with something less high-glycemic. For example - raw vegetables and fruits. Then you will get hungry again much later, and at the same time you will benefit from the vitamins contained in them. Vitamin C, by the way, invigorates quite noticeably. A couple of oranges or a bunch of parsley awakens you just as much as a cup of coffee.
And if the main meals are gradually made more and more healthy, that is, more and more low-glycemic, then the need for snacks will gradually disappear. Which is exactly what you and I are trying to achieve.
And I talk about how to switch to a low-glycemic diet correctly and tasty in my lectures and write on my Facebook page