Lean On Life Supports New Research Encouraging a Healthy Mix of Dried Fruit

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) May 22, 2013

Lean On Life, a leading healthy lifestyle website with the latest on weight loss, nutrition, and fitness is supporting the incorporation of dried fruit as part of a healthy diet.

As Lean On Life reports (http://www.leanonlife.com/dried-fruit-health-food-or-just-as-bad-as-sugar/), dried fruit means most of the water in the fruit is removed. This results in a fruit that has a stronger, sweeter taste and a higher concentration of nutrients. Like fresh fruit, dried fruit provides a rich source of dietary fiber, iron, copper, potassium, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin Bs, anti-oxidants and sometimes beta-carotene.

All fruits naturally contain sugar either fructose or glucose. The consumption of the sugar in a balanced context of other vitamins, minerals and satiating nutrients such as fiber, leads to a lot of the harmful effects of sugar being cancelled out. In this way, eating sweet fruits is far better than eating refined sugar. Refined sugar has been stripped of all other balancing nutrients and actually stimulates unhealthy cravings, leading to weight gain.

Several recent studies have confirmed that, despite their calorie content, dried fruits do not contribute to significant weight gain when added to the diet. Research has shown that dried fruits do an even better job of safely satisfying hunger and keeping your weight down when you snack on them with a home-made trail mix of raw, unflavored nuts and seeds.

While dried fruit is a great alternative for refined sugary treats, opting for whole fruit rather than packaged dried fruit is still the better choice for losing weight or to simply maintain a healthy diet, says Lean on Life nutritionist, Michelle Schiffman.

Moreover, dried fruits are energy-packed foods that have been scientifically proven to serve as incredible performance enhancers when eaten right before exercise or to simply boost energy levels.

Schiffman adds that it is important to keep a balanced amount of dried-fruit consumption as it is still a source of sugar and calories. Always remember to check that no additional sugars have been added as well.

Lean On Life is a healthy lifestyle website that provides expert-driven knowledge from doctors, nutritionists, fitness trainers and life coaches. The site takes a hands-on approach to making weight-loss, healthy eating and fitness a simple achievable lifestyle change.