One of the best snacks that you can munch on is a cup or a bag of dried fruits. Dried fruits have almost zero fat content, which is really low in cholesterol and not that many preservatives as compared to your usual snack. Dried fruits are also readily available almost anywhere, not that expensive and really healthy.
Dried fruits are the next best thing that you can eat second to the real thing. Besides, if the fruit is not really in season, you can get your fruit craving by eating a dried version instead. Instead of grabbing a bag of chips or cookies to satisfy your sweet tooth, get some raisins, dried plums or apricots alternatively.
But did you know that munching on dried fruits is not just good for your health and waistline, but also great for your skin?
Table of Contents
Antioxidants.
One of the main reasons why our skin ages faster than normal these days is because of the free radicals and pollution that our skin battles on a daily basis. Blueberries, peaches, prunes, and cranberries that are dried are rich and brimming with antioxidants that are known to battle these free radicals. If eaten together with manganese-rich food as well, it helps boost antioxidant productions inside our body.
Vitamins.
Vitamin A prevents our skin from becoming dry and flaky. It also helps repair broken tissues that may have been battered unknowingly by the harsh pollutants in the environment. The dried and wrinkly prune, peaches, and plums have Vitamin A that does just that. This Vitamin also prevents acne formation and gives your skin that fabulous pinkish glow as well. The different types of Vitamin B have the ability to help your skin retain moisture. This helps avert the formation of wrinkles and dryness that makes our skin look older. And one more thing that’s so great with the Vitamin B’s that you get from dried dates, apples, apricots, and peaches? It helps prevent skin cancer too!
Potassium.
Dried fruits almost always have potassium. This nutrient helps in your skin’s health by boosting skin cell renewal, reduces the time of skin wound healing, and helps removes toxins and waste in the body too. Recent research also shows that having a steady supply of potassium in your body helps fight skin allergies as well.
Dietary fiber.
Dried fruits may have moisture zapped out of them, but are all rich with the same amount of dietary fiber as the fresh ones. Fiber helps sweep out the toxins from your system. And healthy skin glows when your insides is clean of fat and these toxins that show the health of your skin too. So if you want to prevent cellulite and acne from happening, load on dried fruits instead of the sugary cookies and salty chips.
Iron.
Almost most dried fruits are also rich in Iron. Iron is an important mineral helps prevent anemia, but also helps in keeping our body’s circadian rhythm in balance by promoting and improving your sleep pattern. Sleep is an important element in having beautiful and clear skin. Notice how your skin’s pores become bigger than usual when you do overtime at work or school? Aside from that iron
Copper.
Copper has the ability to tone down skin inflammation from acne or from an allergic reaction. This seemingly minute nutrient also helps our skin produce more elastin; which helps make our skin connective tissues become healthy and robust.
So remember to eat dried fruits when you feel like you need to snack. The process of drying out these fruits do not zap out the nutrients that are in them at all. They may have some sweeteners, but most of the time the manufacturers use natural ones that are healthy as well. Keep your skin at its best by including dried fruits in your diet!
Tiffany is a Medical Student and also works as a fitness coach in part-time. She is also a writer and writes on health and fitness articles. Tiffany loves to engage with users and help them provide various useful information on General Health. She provides researched-based information and also featured on various blogs and magazines.