Contents
Description
Dried apricots – the dried fruits of apricot without pits. Under the influence of the sun, the fruit shrinks and becomes pale yellow in color.
These dried fruits are one of the healthiest dried fruits. It invigorates, removes excess fluid, and helps to burn body fat. This dried fruit can prevent and relieve anemia, heart disease and improve vision. Therefore, desiccated apricots are essential in our diet.
Dried apricots are best eaten not with the main meal but as a snack. In this case, trace elements are better absorbed. Before eating these dried fruits, you should hold them for ten minutes in warm water to wash off dust and sticky debris from them.
This dried fruits are not only delicious but also healthy dried fruit. According to nutritionists, dessicated apricots help treat cardiovascular diseases, anemia, and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, it is also suitable for vision.
Composition and calorie content
Dried apricots (pitted dried fruits) are rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin B2, vitamin E, vitamin PP, potassium, calcium, silicon, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, cobalt, manganese, copper, molybdenum, chromium.
- The calorie value is 232 kcal per 100 gramms
- Proteins 5.2 g
- Fat 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates 51 g
- Dietary fiber 18 g
- Water 20 g
The history of dried apricots
The ancient Chinese called this dried fruit the fruit of wisdom, due to its appearance after drying. Dried apricots were a valuable product, as they people could eat them in cold times and when there were no refrigerators.
Sailors took dried fruits on long voyages. During their long wanderings, they needed all kinds of micro and macro elements. People ate dried apricots to maintain immunity and to fight various diseases.
In eastern countries, the tradition is still preserved, to give dried fruits and to newlyweds. These dried fruits symbolize wealth and prosperity.
The benefits of dried apricots
Dried apricots contain a lot of potassium, so it has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. Dried fruit is often recommended to eat after heart attacks and strokes – to restore the body.
Dessicated apricots are rich in vitamins of group B (B1 and B2), A, C, PP. There are minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and sodium. They strengthen the bones in the body and support the immune system.
Fiber normalizes the work of the gastrointestinal tract, relieves constipation. Removes toxins and toxins from the body. Cleans the liver.
How to choose dried apricots
Learn to choose the right dried apricots: they should be natural in color and not too transparent. Good dessicated apricots are clean and large, moderately rigid and elastic.
If dried apricots are too bright and have an attractive orange color, this may be due to chemicals that improve the product’s appearance. It is better to buy matte dried fruits with a light gray tint – this is what the fruit becomes during the natural drying process.
Storage conditions. Keep purchased dried apricots away from direct sunlight. Select a glass jar for storage.
Loosing weight with dried apricots
Nutritionists, not without reason, advise to do “fasting days” and eat only dried fruits. Or at least consume little dried apricot before meals, add them to morning cereals. Dessicated apricots are quite nutritious, but all the calories in them are natural, light, and healthy, and the sugar in them is glucose and fructose (no cholesterol, no fat).
During the drying process, fruits become poorer in vitamin C (ascorbic acid), but they contain in a concentrated form various trace elements (iron, potassium, carotene, calcium, phosphorus) and vitamin B5.
Dried apricots are very useful for health; they allow you to remove cholesterol. Carotene (vitamin A), which is abundant in it, is also involved in forming sex hormones and is beneficial for vision.
Decoctions and thick infusions of dried apricots are good remedy to prevent heart disease, kidney disease, as they have a diuretic effect. These dried fruits are useful for children with hypovitaminosis.
Like any other dried fruit, dried apricots should not be greatly carried away. The amount of fiber in an apricot increase as it dries from 2 g per 100 g of a product to 18 g. This can cause diarrhea.
Dried apricots are often part of the so-called. “magnesium” diets prescribed for anemia and hypertensive heart disease. It has coarse fiber and, therefore, easily perceived in the gastrointestinal tract (mostly if desiccated apricots are boiled or soaked) and does not excite intestinal peristalsis.
Dried apricots are not rich in vitamins; even in small doses, they help maintain the balance of nutrients in the body, essential in winter and spring.
Application in medicine
These dried fruits are often used as one of the products of the mono-apricot diet. The recipe is simple: soak a few dried fruits the night before and eat them for breakfast.
Dried apricots contain a large amount of dietary fiber, which entirely relieve constipation and cleanse the intestines. Dessicated apricots can also lower cholesterol levels. It is also a good antineoplastic agent. Beta-carotene has a good effect on vision, strengthens the mucous membrane.
As an antioxidant, this dried fruit prevents tumor growth and has a good effect on the cardiovascular system. Potassium removes excess fluid from the body, respectively, lowers blood pressure. It has a diuretic effect.
Apricots relieve stress on our heart and strengthen the heart muscle. It also normalizes the thyroid gland. Side effects: dried apricots can cause flatulence, mostly if you eat a lot of them. Therefore, the optimal rate is no more than 3-4 berries per meal. It would be best if you also remembered that dessicated apricots are high in calories.
Dried apricots harm
This dried fruit is harmful to people suffering from stomach ulcers and other diseases of the duodenum. Dried apricots are also not recommended for diabetes and thyroid diseases.
Cooking applications
Dried apricots can be mixed with other types of dried fruits (raisins, prunes, dates) and nuts, and this mixture is served with tea. Cooks add them to the fillings of pies and various desserts. It goes well with chicken, beef, and dairy products. They also make compotes, fruit drinks, and alcoholic settings from desiccated apricots.
Meatballs with dried apricots
Who said that dried fruits don’t go well with meat? Meatballs with desiccated apricots will not leave anyone indifferent, as the dish is juicy and spicy. And if you use minced lamb, then the meatballs turn out to be surprisingly tender.
Ingredients
- Onion – 1 head
- Minced meat – 500 grams
- Desiccated apricots – 50 grams
- Olive oil – 50 milliliters
- Chicken egg – 1 piece
- Ground salt and pepper – to taste
Cooking
Chop dried apricots and onions, lightly fry them in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to the minced meat to taste, one egg, and fry. Mix everything with your hands. Form small meatballs and bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees. The appetizer goes well with mashed potatoes, buckwheat, and vegetable salad.
Outcome
We have found out how the dried apricots are useful for our body and whether they can harm it. The corresponding conclusion suggests that this delicious dried fruit, having a rich vitamin and mineral composition, should be a regular guest on our table, taking its place of honor in a bowl of sweets!