From celery sticks to macaroni and cheese, it's not the food itself that puts on or takes off pounds; it's how you use it. Eating dried fruit, beans, powdered milk and other types of dried foods as part of a healthy weight loss plan is smart because of the convenience. Dried bananas travel a lot better than fresh ones in a backpack, purse or pocket. Keeping dried fruit snacks and meal fixings close at hand can go a long way toward helping you resist the take-out menus and drive-thru windows.
Identification
Dried foods are simply those that have had most of their moisture removed. This can be done by leaving them in the sun, baking them in an oven at very low heat or using a dehydrator. In the past, when refrigeration was not possible, the drying of fruits, meats and vegetables kept them from spoiling. In modern times, people who follow a raw foods diet often use a dehydrator rather than cooking their food, and generations of hikers and campers have relied on dried fruits and powdered milk to stay nourished in the wild. All dried foods are denser, meaning they have more calories per ounce, than their fresh counterparts. This has to be taken into account when losing weight.
Types
Almost any kind of food can be dried, though making powdered milk and broth is best left to commercial kitchens. Dried beans are available uncooked, or cooked and canned. Dried fruit is available at any supermarket or health food store. Foods that are dried at home in an oven or dehydrator tend to have more flavor and color than those dried by sunlight, according to Oregon State University home economists Theo Thomas and Holly Berry. It takes about 14 hours to dry meat in the oven, but drying beef, turkey, salmon or ahi tuna at home means that you can control the amount of added sodium in the jerky -- a plus for dieters who boat, hike or camp in places they can't bring fresh meats.
Misconceptions
Drying foods doesn't remove any of their calories. On the contrary, removing the water concentrates what's left, so that there are more calories per ounce. The only exception to this is beans, since many kinds cannot be eaten raw. And while sugar-free dried fruit is healthier and more nutritious than candy, many kinds of commercially packaged dried fruits are loaded with processed sugar. This not only adds calories, but can also cause an insulin spike that will have you craving more sugar.
Expert Insight
According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, one of the most overlooked power foods is dried beans. They are fat free, contain fiber and are low sodium, unless they are canned with salt added. As far as weight loss, beans are an excellent choice because they not only fill you up; they have a low glycemic index. That means they don't cause the insulin spikes that lead to crashes and cravings. Most dried beans average about 120 calories per half cup, though this varies depending on what kind of bean. Another overlooked dried food is dried milk. Dried skim milk can be added to broth-based soups to give a creamier taste and texture without adding calories.
Conclusion
The fact that foods are dried will have no impact on your weight-loss program. Dried foods have no more magical weight loss powers than any other type of food. But, chopped dried fruit can add sweetness to whole grain hot foods without adding empty calories, and it travels well as a snack. Dried beef and powdered milk can go places that fresh meats and liquid milk cannot, making it easy to plan menus and stick to them when traveling, hiking, camping or boating. So, incorporating dried foods into a healthy, varied, low-fat diet plan can certainly help in terms of convenience.
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