Dried Apples Versus Cholesterol

Which common dried fruit is the most antioxidant-packed: apple rings, dried apricots, dried cherries, dried mango, prunes, or raisins?

January 10, 2012
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  • Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Check out the other videos on fruits and don’t miss all the videos on ranking foods. And there are 1,449 subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them!

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  • Rami

    Must they be dried? How about merely one raw apple, with the skin, a day? Is there something about the drying process that makes them particularly antioxidant-rich?

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  • http://KristyRuns.com ksduck

    This is a bit unrelated, but I eat a plant-based diet. I’m also a 20-something year old woman of child bearing age who runs, so making sure I’m getting enough iron from plant sources is important to me. I’ve heard that tannins in coffee, tea, and chocolate can hinder the adsorption of iron when consumed together. Is there evidence to support this? Thank you!

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Quoting from “Green tea does not inhibit iron absorption” published 2009 in the International Journal of Cardiology, “The only reference that I could find in the literature about a negative effect of tea drinking on iron absorption came from Tunisia. But the experiment was carried out on rats. Therefore, unless you are a rat and a rat in Tunisia, you should not worry about development of iron deficiency anemia from tea drinking.” In 2008, though, a study in India found that drinking tea with meals could cut iron absorption in half. This is a function of publication delays. The cardiology journal piece was published in 2009 but was written in 2007, before the India study surfaced. The good news, though, is that the study found that vitamin C triples iron absorption, so as long as you’re drinking tea with lemon, or eating vitamin C rich foods at your meals (like citrus, broccoli, tropical fruits, bell peppers, etc.) then this shouldn’t be an issue. If, however, you don’t like lemon (and lemon in coffee? Yuck!) and aren’t eating these kinds of foods, then menstruating women may want to lay off tea and coffee (and cocoa and peppermint tea)during meals and up to an hour before to maximize iron absorption. In men (and nonmenstruating women), the reduction of iron absorption may not necessarily be a bad thing. In fact, the effect of coffee on iron absorption has been used to explain why coffee consumption has been found to be protective against diseases tied with iron overload like diabetes and gout.

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  • http://WellnessAtRedRock.com LVMichele

    I’ve been playing with using dates & raisins to sweeten dishes. How would dates rank next to raisins for antioxidants & nutritional value?

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      I’m so glad you’re experimenting with whole food sweeteners! I have a video on dates here: Are Dates Good For You? I’ll keep an eye out for comparative data. I also have more videos on raisins, like this one: The Healthiest Raisin.

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  • rosaleah

    I eat dried fruits (prunes, raisins, apricots and now apples)daily. Please tell me your thoughts about what may be the cumulative effects on an aging body of sulphur dioxide preservatives used in processing fruits for drying.

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  • Thea

    Dried mangos can be hard to find without sugar. I found some on Amazon, but before I ordered them, I noticed that my local Trader Joes store has un-sweetened dried mangoes! They taste absolutely delicious. When torn into little pieces, they can take the place of raisins on the morning oatmeal. Yumm.

    So, those of you who want the mangoes, you don’t have to settle for sugar-crusted. Note: sadly, the Trader Joes version is *not* organic. The one I found on Amazon is.

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  • rosaleah

    Thanks for your response about sulphur dioxide with relevant videos to view.

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