Question

Helen from Michigan asks: I eat a lot of dried fruits daily along with prunes, nuts and granola bars, and then fig newtons for a snack at night. Should I be worried about consuming too many dried products?

Answer

Dried fruit, nuts and granola bars are great snacks, particularly if you need to gain weight. I also love the natural stool softening ability of some dried fruit, such as prunes. They can reduce or eliminate the need for laxatives for many individuals. If calories and weight are a concern or if you have diabetes and need to control carbohydrates, the list below will help you determine how to carefully include these highly nutritious foods in your diet. Dried Fruits: 10 figs ( 6 oz.): 480 calories 122 g carbohydrates 10 dates (3 oz.): 228 dates, 61 g carbohydrates 10 prunes (about 3 oz.) : 200 calories, 53 g carbohydrates 2/3 cup raisins: 300 calories, 80 g carbohydrates 10 small dried Apricots (1 oz.): 80 calories Fig newton type cookies: (fat free ones) 90 calories for 2 cookies, 22 g carbohydrates Nuts: (Don’t laugh but I had a 6 oz bag of peanuts in my house. To figure out how many nuts would be in 1 oz., I poured them on the counter and divided them into 6 piles.) Each 1 oz serving is about 3 level tablespoons of peanuts. There were about 10 peanuts in each tablespoon. Another interesting note is that there is very little calorie difference between dry roasted and regular nuts! Dried roasted peanuts: 1 oz. 160 calories, 5 g carbohydrates, 7 g protein, 14 g fat (the fat is why they are so high in calories!) Roasted almonds: 1 oz. 170 calories, 4 g carbohydrate, 6 g protein, 16 g fat. Granola bars vary in calories with the brand and size. They are about 120 calories per ounce. (if they are chocolate covered, they are about 145 per ounce) Keep in mind that they were invented in the 1960’s for the space program to help astronauts from losing weight in space! They needed a high calorie, shelf stable food that was easy to eat and very calorie dense. Dr. Irene