Sugar addiction is a major problem in our society. Depending on your source of information, 60% to 80% of processed food contains added sugar. That said, when transitioning to whole food plant-based eating from a typical American diet, rife with processed food, the most challenging step is to break sugar addictions.
Usually, when people wake up in the morning and reach for something to eat, breakfast is loaded with products containing added sugar. From there, we’re off to the races as we unconsciously pound more sugar into our bodies the rest of the day. Most of us have been doing this since childhood, so it’s second nature to us.
Therefore, my first goal is to get my clients to eat more fruit because it has natural sugar in it, which doesn’t create the problems processed sugar does. However, for many people fruit isn’t appealing. Some say it’s cumbersome to eat, it doesn’t fill you up, it’s a trouble to carry, it’s not sweet enough, etcetera. My retort to those feelings is to try dried fruit.
Dried fruit is simply fruit with the water removed from it. Lots of people find it appealing because of its texture, it’s easy to carry and it reminds them of eating candy. However, it’s far superior to candy because it has fiber and other nutrients just as regular fruit does. That said, one thing to avoid is dried fruit with added sugar and other chemicals to preserve it and increase shelf life.
The best way to consume dried fruit is to buy your own food dehydrator. All you need to do is slice up some fruit like bananas, pears, pineapple or apples and let it dehydrate for 12 to 16 hours. That way you won’t have to be concerned about added sugars, preservatives and chemicals. If you do at night before bed, the next day you’ll have your treat.
Check out this video where I prepare dried fruit in one of my food prep classes:
