Trail mix or bag of MMs? Dried fruit or energy bar?
School is in full swing, schedules are tight and meals are being missed. North Jersey families are on the run and trying to make the healthiest decisions, but the choice is not always clear. Snack seekers see “fruit” and assume it’s healthy, but that’s not always the case.
“They miss the fact that there are sometimes sweeteners added, and sometimes dried fruits are preserved for color and flavor with sulfur dioxide,” says Andrea Collins, a dietitian at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood.
That pretty dried apricot retains its beautiful color thanks to sulfur dioxide. Pineapple – already sweet in its own right – is one of many fruits, along with cranberries and papaya, that is frequently sweetened.
Many people are looking for a quick, portable, healthy snack to take on the run. These days, more and more also seek something gluten-free, nut-free or vegan. While trail mixes are obvious no-no’s for those with nut allergies, and the typical trail mix dates rolled in oat flour are ruled out by anyone sensitive to gluten, dried fruit alone can be a good choice for everyone.
“Dried fruit can be part of a healthy diet,” says Collins. “It does have nutrients and phytochemicals, but it’s very concentrated, so the portions are small.”
Yes, dried fruit is yet another place where portion size is an issue.
“You’re getting a smaller portion, so the tendency is for people to eat more than a portion at a time,” says Collins.
How could you not? The single-portion size is like something meant for a toddler.
Portion sizes
“Those baby boxes of raisins are a single portion of fruit, two tablespoons,” says Collins. “If we’re eating the bigger boxes, we’re eating way more than we should at one time. That’s where fresh fruit would have an advantage because it’s still got its water content; it fills you up on a smaller amount of calories.”
There is more to worry about than just portion size when grabbing a handful of dried pineapple and papaya. Consider dried fruit and trail-mix-like salads. Just because it says “salad” doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Just because something is – or once was – fruit doesn’t mean it’s a healthy snack. Dried fruit often has added sugar and its subsequent empty calories. Many fruits are also treated with preservatives like sulfur dioxide that can cause headaches or even breathing difficulty for some.
To avoid the pitfalls of processed dried fruit, read labels carefully or just make it yourself. Those apple-picking trips are great fun, but often yield more apples than one family could eat, bake into a pie or pass out to neighbors. So how about taking a trick from our ancestors and drying that fruit? It’s easy and creates a healthy snack that carries a piece of the fall into the winter and spring.
“Apples have a great stability,” says Robert Paoli of Chef Central in Paramus, which sells a dehydrator for about $50.
If stored properly, Paoli says, apples can last up to two years.
And dehydrating apples and other fruit, or whipping up your own fruit leather, can be an enjoyable activity.
“It’s fun,” says Larry Wheelock of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.
Just don’t get carried away, he warns. Trust him. Wheelock once got caught up in the process and ended up with way too much jerky.
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