freeze dried fruit addicts (not so) anonymous
July 13, 2015 5:05 PM Subscribe
I’m addicted to freeze dried fruit. Are there dangers to eating too much? And if not, where can I get more freeze dried to feed my habit, on the cheap?
I feel like I’ve discovered the perfect tasty, healthy snack for me in freeze dried fruit (mostly various berries). I’ll easily eat 2 of these bags a day (sometimes 3). The only ingredient is the fruit - so it seems perfectly healthy enough. Am I missing any hidden dangers of possibly eating 15 servings of freeze dried fruit in a day (that’s only about 450 calories total). My digestive system seems fine and unchanged from all that fiber, at least for now (but I normally eat plenty of veggies, fruits, and plants).
This is also quickly becoming an expensive habit, as they’re about $3.50/bag at Target & Trader Joe’s. Where can I cheaply get more? And maybe more variety of fruit? Where does one go to purchase freeze dried fruit in bulk?
I feel like I’ve discovered the perfect tasty, healthy snack for me in freeze dried fruit (mostly various berries). I’ll easily eat 2 of these bags a day (sometimes 3). The only ingredient is the fruit - so it seems perfectly healthy enough. Am I missing any hidden dangers of possibly eating 15 servings of freeze dried fruit in a day (that’s only about 450 calories total). My digestive system seems fine and unchanged from all that fiber, at least for now (but I normally eat plenty of veggies, fruits, and plants).
This is also quickly becoming an expensive habit, as they’re about $3.50/bag at Target & Trader Joe’s. Where can I cheaply get more? And maybe more variety of fruit? Where does one go to purchase freeze dried fruit in bulk?
Dried fruit is considered by some to be fairly bad for your teeth. Good sources on this are somewhat hard to come by, but here's the American Dental Association:
Anecdotally, I know someone who previously had little in the way of dental problems end up with a bunch of cavities after going on a dried fruit bender for a little while. Consult your local dentist.
posted by zachlipton at 5:19 PM on July 13, 2015
Dried fruits, including raisins, are also good choices for a healthy diet, but since they are sticky and adhere to teeth, the plaque acids that they produce continue to harm teeth long after you stop eating them. Opt for a piece of fresh fruit instead.According to WHO, however, there is insufficient evidence to prove this relationship.
Anecdotally, I know someone who previously had little in the way of dental problems end up with a bunch of cavities after going on a dried fruit bender for a little while. Consult your local dentist.
posted by zachlipton at 5:19 PM on July 13, 2015
Dried fruit is not the same thing as freeze dried fruit. Freeze dried fruit isn't sticky.
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 PM on July 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 PM on July 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
The thing is, you end up eating a lot more dried fruit, without the benefits of non-processed fruit. Too much dried fruit means you're going to be intaking a lot of excess sugar (again the sugar from typical fruit isn't a big deal but at how much you're eating, that's quite a lot of sugar). Having said that, it's pretty expensive in general and I haven't seen any great deals, and a cursory search is showing prices that are more expensive than store prices, like this and this.
posted by Aranquis at 5:33 PM on July 13, 2015
posted by Aranquis at 5:33 PM on July 13, 2015
I'm sorry. I saw "dried fruit" in the linked picture, but glossed over the "freeze" part.
posted by zachlipton at 5:35 PM on July 13, 2015
posted by zachlipton at 5:35 PM on July 13, 2015
14 grams of sugar per bag (assuming they're all the same, which they probably aren't)? So if you eat three bags a day, that's 43 grams of sugar from freeze dried fruit alone. As long as you eat nothing else all day that has sugar (unlikely, as it occurs naturally in fruit and veg), you're almost 20 grams over what's recommended per day for women (assuming your profile pic is you). That's not...advisable.
posted by cooker girl at 6:31 PM on July 13, 2015
posted by cooker girl at 6:31 PM on July 13, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses and perspectives. Promise not to threadsit, but I'm less concerned about the sugar content (as it's all naturally occurring, and not added sugar), but how it's comparable to the sugar + nutritional value combination retained from fresh fruit. 3 servings of fresh fruit contain similar sugar contents - but from my totally amateur googling, freeze dried fruits still retain most of their vitamin & nutritional benefits. What would make one worse, or different in terms of the sugar content? What is the differing harm?
posted by raztaj at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2015
posted by raztaj at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2015
It's just that you can eat so much of it when it's dried. One of those pouches starts out life as like two or three cups of fruit. That's how it becomes potentially unhealthy and/or poop-inducing. Eating six cups of raspberries a day would also not necessarily be super-healthy.
posted by mskyle at 6:57 PM on July 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 6:57 PM on July 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
Costco sells freeze-dried fruit. The issue is that you can eat a ton without feeling like you're eating a ton.
posted by gemutlichkeit at 7:24 PM on July 13, 2015
posted by gemutlichkeit at 7:24 PM on July 13, 2015
you're almost 20 grams over what's recommended per day for women
If you're referring to the recently revised WHO guidelines, those only apply to added or liquid sugars, and therefore aren't relevant here.
A new WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits.
...
The WHO guideline does not refer to the sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars naturally present in milk, because there is no reported evidence of adverse effects of consuming these sugars.
Similarly, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and the American Heart Association recommend reducing added sugars but explicitly say that sugars in fruit and vegetables are fine. If there's another organization that says differently (and has research to back it up), I'd greatly appreciate the info, as an avid fruit-eater!
That said, it's possible that the freeze-drying process makes the sugars more available somehow, but I'm not aware of any studies showing that. As one alternative, if you haven't tried it already, I'd highly recommend frozen fruits and berries, especially in hot weather - they're harder to eat in huge quantities, but still really great snacks, kinda like vastly-healthier popsicles. And cheaper than the freeze-dried fruit, though still expensive if you eat as much as I do sometimes...
posted by randomnity at 7:37 PM on July 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you're referring to the recently revised WHO guidelines, those only apply to added or liquid sugars, and therefore aren't relevant here.
A new WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits.
...
The WHO guideline does not refer to the sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars naturally present in milk, because there is no reported evidence of adverse effects of consuming these sugars.
Similarly, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and the American Heart Association recommend reducing added sugars but explicitly say that sugars in fruit and vegetables are fine. If there's another organization that says differently (and has research to back it up), I'd greatly appreciate the info, as an avid fruit-eater!
That said, it's possible that the freeze-drying process makes the sugars more available somehow, but I'm not aware of any studies showing that. As one alternative, if you haven't tried it already, I'd highly recommend frozen fruits and berries, especially in hot weather - they're harder to eat in huge quantities, but still really great snacks, kinda like vastly-healthier popsicles. And cheaper than the freeze-dried fruit, though still expensive if you eat as much as I do sometimes...
posted by randomnity at 7:37 PM on July 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I order my freeze dried fruit from Nuts.com and have always had a nice experience. Lots of variety. Not sure if the prices are lower, as it probably depends on the fruit in question. Nuts.com's freeze dried fruit selection.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 7:56 PM on July 13, 2015
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 7:56 PM on July 13, 2015
One other thing to consider is the water content, or lack thereof. When you eat regular fruit, you are getting some part of your daily water requirements, but not with freeze dried. So maybe make sure you drink enough water.
posted by CathyG at 6:17 AM on July 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by CathyG at 6:17 AM on July 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Honeyville sells big tins of freeze dried fruit cost effectively.
posted by metasarah at 9:18 AM on July 14, 2015
posted by metasarah at 9:18 AM on July 14, 2015
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Be prepared to have emergency poops suddenly creep up on you from all the fiber and excess vitamins. Even if you're not feeling the effects now, just be aware that it can happen. I don't think I need to explain how I know this.
You can get bulk freeze dried anything online. This brand is hardly the cheapest source, but I really like them, I've ordered from there before, and also they have freeze dried snacking corn. Freeze dried corn is delicious.
posted by phunniemee at 5:12 PM on July 13, 2015 [2 favorites]