We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Dried Fruit - High Sugar Content - Help

Laurios
Laurios Posts: 12 Member
edited December 2024 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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
This discussion has been closed.

Categories