Dried Fruit - High Sugar Content - Help

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Laurios
Laurios Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I made myself a small pot of mixed dried fruit, nuts and seeds today and it's come out as 500 Kcal for a tiny pot! I'm more concerned by the sugar if I'm honest this is at 74 and my daily goal is only 30! How can I cut this out.

This is just a snack to avoid sweets and chocolate

Dole - Pitted Dates, 6 dates kcal138 / carb 36 / sugar 32
Sunsol - Hawaiian Fruit & Nut Mix, 30 g kcal150 / carb 14 / sugar 11
Waitrose Wholesome - Dried Cranberries, 45 g kcal161 / carb 39 / sugar 31

Total kcal 449 / carb 89 / sugar 74

I'm mortified as the sugar content pushes it well over my daily allowance. I thought this stuff was supposed to be good for you and a good alternative to sweets and chocolate.

Any ideas if this is right? If you have any suggestions for alternatives that would be great

thanks
Laura

Replies

  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
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    I don't think dried fruit is particularly good for you. How about a proetien based snack. Favorites of mine are :

    Cooked cubed pork loin with spices
    Celery sticks with hazelnut butter
    Hard boiled egg
    Crudite (chopped veg)
    Fresh fruit e.g. a crunchy apple or a small cup of berries
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    If you don't want to / need to specifically track sugar then turn it off. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    If you need more grams per day change the setting at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_custom

    Fruit is sugars with a lot of water, dried fruit is sugars with a lot less water. Both have a few vitamins, some fibre etc as well.
  • styxx
    styxx Posts: 22 Member
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    Dried fruit is healthier than candy - healthy doesnt always mean low calorie though :)

    You might find this page interesting

    http://www.lifescript.com/diet-fitness/articles/i/is_dried_fruit_really_a_healthy_snack.aspx
  • inkandsheep
    inkandsheep Posts: 101 Member
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    Dates are particularly high in sugar. It's also worth checking your dried fruit has no added sugar - sometimes they do.

    I would also consider that amount of fruit you list to be more than one serving - if I have dried fruit, it's usually about 30-40grams per day only.

    I'm actually not too concerned about carbs or sugar when I know it comes from fruit and/or unrefined carbs with no added sugar. Could you snack on some fresh fruit (some are lower in sugar than others) or carrot/cucumber instead and have dried fruit as a treat only? Nuts are good fats so I would keep those in your diet.
  • aprintbuyer
    aprintbuyer Posts: 2
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    why not try fresh rather than dried , pick fruits and berries (really good for you) in season and you will find your small pot is much bigger and you will feel fuller for longer
  • Laurios
    Laurios Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'd bought a bulk load at Julian Greaves a while back when I was doing a walking expedition, and when I went to eat them today, the fruit tasted a bit funky, so I'm going to bin the lot.

    I'll keep the nuts though, they are good fats as you say.

    I like the idea of switching fruit to fresh veg, and the cold boiled egg idea! Love that!

    Also I had forgotten that if the fruit wasn't dried I'd have a much bigger load of fruit, no wonder.

    I guess I'm also worried about sugar as this is glucose and I seem to store a lot of it despite in the past have a very low fat diet.

    Anyway, thanks again everyone

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