Are you a dried fruit lover, but you want to know which dried fruit has the least amount of sugar? It’s important to know the answer to questions like this because knowing how much fruit is in a particular dried fruit can tell you how much of it you should be eating on a given day.
Anyone who has a taste for dried fruit will know exactly how moreish it can be – especially if there are one or two types that you particularly like. Since these snacks are ‘healthy’, it is very easy to think that you can enjoy one handful after the next without consequences, but too much of anything is bad for you, including the good things.
To find out which dried fruit has the least amount of sugar (and also which has the most), just keep reading. We will go through everything you need to know.
Dried fruit is considered a healthy snack for the simple reason that it’s fruit. Fruit is full of nutrients and fibre, and lots of fruit is high in antioxidants. These are all things that we need to boost and maintain our overall health.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should eat as much dried fruit as you like. These delicious snacks are also high in calories and sugar – and those are two things that you need to be considerate of.
Any food that is high in sugar can be dangerous, as it can impact your health in a very direct way. From increasing your chances of developing diabetes to putting you at risk of getting cavities and a variety of other oral and orthodontic issues.
Calories are found in everything you eat and drink. Our bodies need calories to work, but if your caloric intake is higher than your output, you will start to put on weight over time. For this reason, dried fruit needs to be enjoyed in moderation – they are calorie-dense snacks, and as delicious as they are, you need to control how much you have.
So, which dried fruit has the least amount of sugar? The well-loved dried apricots! Dried fruit like apples, and figs are also among those with the least amount of sugar, meaning you can enjoy more of them guilt-free.
Dried banana chips are also relatively low in sugar, and pairing these with a selection of nuts, is a great combination.
Snacks like dried mango, cherries, and cranberries contain high amounts of sugar in them, so you should enjoy these in moderation. Many dried fruits have more sugar in them than the fresh fruit alternatives because the water has been removed from it.
This leads to the sugar and calories being concentrated in the final product to make a small snack packed with both.
No, you should not automatically avoid sugar in dried fruit or any other kind of healthy foods. The truth is, there are different kinds of sugars, and some of them are beneficial to us – in moderation. However, you can take steps to cut down on the amount of foods you eat that contain added sugars, like cakes and most baked goods, unless you opt for healthier alternatives.
When it comes to sugar intake in daily lives, there are a number of changes we can make to help our overall health. This might include opting for coconut sugar or other less refined sugars rather than white sugar. You could also opt for things like xylitol, stevia, honey, or maple syrup instead of your traditional sugars if you want to make changes to your diet.
However, when it comes to dried fruit, the primary sugar here is glucose and fructose. Fructose can be found in most fruits as well as several vegetables, sugar cane, and honey. In moderation, fructose is very beneficial to the diet, but you should ensure that it is unprocessed.
Our bodies will break all sugars down to glucose, no matter what type they start out as. Since glucose fuels our bodies, it is crucial in our diets. However, as you already know, high blood glucose levels can lead to a number of health conditions like diabetes, so this needs to be restricted in your diet.
Sugar is a crucial part of our diets, and our bodies need it in order to function. However, it might surprise you to learn that you can find sugar in most foods that you eat on a daily basis. Because of this, it’s very difficult to eat ‘too little’ sugar if you have a healthy lifestyle.
Since it’s easy to find sugar in most foods, you do need to be careful if you are trying to have a healthy diet. Dried fruit contains sugar as well as other nutrients, so weigh how much you should have based on your recommended daily caloric intake.
Some sources of sugar include:
Fruits (dried fruit, fresh fruit, fruit juices)
Baked goods (cakes, pies, you name it)
Breads and other carbohydrates (carbs are a type of sugar)
Dairy (lactose is a type of sugar)
Most snacks (crisps, pretzels, biscuits, etc)
Vegetables (corn, carrots, beetroot, potatoes, and peas are high in natural sugars)
In short, you consume sugar every day, even if you don’t realise it. There is some level of sugar in most things that you eat, from fruits and veggies, to even things like dairy (plant-based milks also contain sugar, with a lot of it being added sugar).
Some dried fruits, like dates, are relatively high in sugar, with 25.00 g per ¼ cup (40 g), but have numerous health benefits that can’t be ignored. Similarly, dried currants (with 48.44 g per ½ cup) are an excellent source of vitamin C, calcium, and antioxidants, which our bodies need to survive and thrive.
It can be easy to look at how much sugar is in a given dried fruit and try to avoid it based on that, but you would be missing out. In reality, you simply need to enjoy dried fruit in moderation, just like you would any other food.
Having a variety of dried fruit is always good for you, as long as you don’t go overboard. Never forget about all the health benefits of dried fruit that are higher in sugar, just don’t be swept away with how good some of them can taste.
At Natural Health 4 Life, we want to offer you all the best healthy snacks around. Between our dried fruit and raw nut mixes, dried fruit salads, and ginger chunks, we have the variety you need. While we believe that everyone deserves to enjoy these delicious and healthy snacks, we also like to make sure that you are well-informed.
Yes, dried fruit is a fantastic, healthy snack, but that doesn’t mean that you should eat handful after handful, or let your kids go crazy on them. In the end, dried fruit is still packed full of calories and sugars, and you need to bear this in mind and enjoy them accordingly.
Now that you know which dried fruit has the least amount of sugar, why not get yourself some dried apricots, apples, or figs and see how you like them? They could become your new favourite snack – and we would be more than happy to supply them.
