Is dried fruit healthy?

Is dried fruit healthy?

Yes, in the right amount. The NHS counts 30g of dried fruit, about the same as 80g of fresh, as one of your 5 A Day.

Drying takes out the water. The sugar stays, packed into a smaller handful.

So a 5 A Day portion of raisins has more sugar than the grapes it stands in for: 18.8g against 12.9g.

The reason for the mealtime rule is your teeth. Dried fruit sticks to your teeth. Fresh fruit is a better pick between meals, the NHS says: swap dried fruit for fresh fruit, especially between meals.

So stir dried fruit into breakfast or have it as pudding.

How much dried fruit is one of your 5 A Day?

Prunes, figs and apricots here are the soft, ready-to-eat kind. They hold more water, so they have fewer calories per 30g.

A bag goes fast. Diabetes UK says it’s easy to eat a lot of dried fruit in one go. A 100g bag of raisins is 256 calories.

Weigh 30g once and see how it sits in your spoon. Then aim for at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and veg each day, not all of it dried.

Is the sugar in dried fruit bad for you?

Not in the way added sugar is. Under the UK definition, sugar in whole dried fruit is not free sugar.

Free sugar is the kind adults should keep to no more than 30g a day, like sugar in sweets, honey and juice. But dried fruit that’s been puréed, or pushed through a machine into new shapes (extruded), does count. Bars made from pressed dried fruit do not.

Prunes are 36.5g per 100g and raisins 62.6g. Labels show total sugar, so plain dried fruit reads red even with nothing added.

To spot added sugar, read the ingredients. Words like sugar, glucose or fruit juice concentrate mean some has been added. For your daily total, see how much sugar a day.

When is the best time to eat dried fruit?

With a meal. The NHS says that helps reduce the risk of tooth decay, and suggests it as dessert, for example.

Want a sweet snack between meals? See healthy sweet snacks for options kinder to your teeth.

Is dried fruit good for constipation, iron, weight loss or diabetes?

Constipation: it may help. To soften poo, the NHS suggests fruits that contain sorbitol, a natural sweet substance, such as apricots and raisins. Drink plenty of fluids too.

In one trial, 120 healthy adults who ate little fibre and pooed 3 to 6 times a week were split into groups.

One group had 80g of prunes a day, more than 2 portions, with extra water. After 4 weeks they pooed 6.8 times a week, against 5.4 for the group given water alone. They also had more wind.

Iron: a little. If your diet is partly causing iron deficiency anaemia, the NHS lists dried fruit like apricots, prunes and raisins as foods to eat more of.

But 30g of raisins gives about 0.7mg, and women aged 19 to 49 need 14.8mg a day. More in raising iron with food.

Weight loss: only in small portions. The NHS says regular extra calories, even from healthy foods, can make you gain weight. See snacks for weight loss.

Have diabetes? A 30g serving has as much as 20g of carbs, and a big handful can have a bigger effect on blood glucose. Try diabetic snacks for ideas.

When to speak to a GP

Food changes may help constipation within a few days, but sometimes take a few weeks. See a GP if:

• You’re constipated and it’s not getting better with treatment, or you’re regularly constipated or bloated.
• You have blood in your poo, tummy pain, or you’ve lost weight without trying.
• You’re constipated and feel tired all the time, or how you poo changes suddenly.
• A medicine, such as opioid painkillers, is causing constipation.
• You think you might have iron deficiency anaemia.

Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber.

See a dentist if you have toothache, a sharp pain when eating or drinking, or gums that are painful, swollen or bleed when you brush.