Some people wonder why raisins, especially black raisins, are recommended in many healthy diet recommended recipes? The popular saying corresponding to this kind of question is: isn't raisin sugar? What nutritional value does it have? After drying, does it still have antioxidant activity? Indeed, raisins contain a lot of sugar because they concentrate the sugar in grapes. However, raisins ≠ sugar. Raisins belong to dried fruits. Dried fruits refer to products made from dried fruits without adding any sugar or fat in the production process. In fact, although drying treatment will lose vitamin C, it will not lose minerals and dietary fiber. After removing water, minerals such as potassium, magnesium and iron, oligosaccharides, pectin and cellulose, as well as most antioxidant components, are concentrated in the fruit. As an excellent representative of dried fruit, it's time to popularize many health truths about raisins! One of the health truths of raisins: It is a high-quality source of antioxidants, minerals and dietary fiber Grapes are rich in polyphenols, which are partially lost in the process of drying, but most of them can still be retained in raisins. Because we usually spit out the grape skin when eating fresh grapes, and raisins are eaten with the skin, eating raisins can get the nutrition in the skin, including a large amount of pectin and cellulose in the skin, as well as polyphenol antioxidants. It has been found that among the common dried fruits, the polyphenols content in raisins is the highest. By weight, more than dried black plums and apricots, more than most fresh fruits. Generally speaking, the higher the content of polyphenols, the stronger the antioxidant effect. Raisins are rich in potassium. An adult's daily reference intake of potassium is 2000 mg. Eating a handful of 25 grams of raisins can supply more than 180 mg of potassium. As a small snack, it's excellent. Raisins eaten with skin are also a good source of dietary fiber. The dietary fiber content in 100g raisins is 3.3-4.5g, which is 6-9 times that of white rice. In the process of making raisins, some sucrose and fructose will form fructooligosaccharides, up to 8%. Fructooligosaccharides are sweet and cannot be digested and absorbed in the small intestine, but they can be fermented in the large intestine. They belong to prebiotics that can adjust the intestinal flora and are regarded as dietary fiber in a broad sense. Theoretically, compared with light raisins, dark raisins such as red and black will have better antioxidant properties, because some anthocyanins are retained in dark raisins (seeing black means that most anthocyanins are not lost, otherwise it will fade). In addition, dark raisins also have higher dietary fiber and iron content. Health truth 2 of raisins: It belongs to medium GI food and does not hurt blood sugar Raisin itself is a low GI (blood glucose generation index) food. Replacing some staple foods such as rice with raisins does not cause more rise of blood glucose. A study found that raisins 3 times a week were associated with lower risk of diabetes compared to 3 times a week. Researchers asked overweight obese patients and diabetics to eat a 28 pack of dark raisins (84 grams, including 270kcal calories) 3 times a day before meals, replacing traditional snacks such as cookies cookies and 300kcal calories. After 12 weeks, there was no difference in insulin levels between the two groups, but the glycosylated hemoglobin level and postprandial blood glucose level in the raisin group decreased significantly, indicating the improvement of insulin sensitivity. Analysis of the data of diabetic patients found that fasting blood glucose also had a downward trend. In the experiment for healthy people, it was also found that replacing half of white rice with raisins containing 25 grams of carbohydrates did not increase the postprandial blood glucose response, and the peak blood glucose concentration and blood glucose fluctuation were similar to that of rice. Health truth 3 of raisins: Conducive to blood pressure and blood lipids Because raisins are a good source of potassium, magnesium and a variety of antioxidants, and are also rich in oligosaccharides and pectin, moderate consumption is conducive to heart health. The survey found that eating at least 160 grams of raisins a week significantly reduced the risk of hypertension. Another study shows that using raisins instead of biscuits, cakes and other snacks is more conducive to controlling blood pressure. Health truth 4 of raisins: Reasonable consumption does not lead to obesity A survey found that people who consumed more than 20 grams of mixed dried fruit per day had higher calorie intake and significantly lower average weight, BMI and waist circumference than those who consumed less dried fruit. After eliminating various confounding factors, it is found that people who eat more dried fruit have higher intake of vitamins and minerals and richer dietary fiber than those who do not eat dried fruit, while the number and proportion of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity will be lower. After the extra intake of dried fruit, the calories are high and the carbohydrate energy supply ratio is also high. Why is it not easy to get fat? This may be because after eating sweet dried fruit, you no longer want to eat cookies, desserts and other snacks. Compared with these foods, dried fruit has higher nutrient density and more health ingredients. Just as the survey found that people who eat nuts in moderation are not fatter than those who don't eat nuts. Health truth 5 of raisins: Sweets are not as bad as teeth Dental research has found that eating a handful of raisins a day does not damage your teeth as much as eating sweets on the premise of normal brushing and gargling. Raisins contain very little sucrose, fructose and glucose have a short attachment time on the tooth surface, and the antioxidant components have a slight antibacterial effect. Therefore, the pH value of the tooth surface does not decrease much after eating raisins, which can not damage the enamel. Of course, each kind of food has its own reasonable share. If you eat too much dried fruit and do not replace other carbon and water foods, or eat less other foods and only eat a large amount of raisins, it is also not conducive to nutritional balance and will be fat or harmful to health. So, how many raisins is better to eat? According to the number in the literature, eating 160 grams a week has a health effect, with an average of 23 grams a day. If you can eat 200 grams of fruit every day, you can eat raisins in the amount of 23-25 grams; If you eat less fruit every day, you can increase the intake of raisins to 30-40g. Of course, this quantity can also include other dried fruits, not just raisins, but also dates, dried apricots, dried figs, dried blueberries, persimmons and dried medlar. (outlook new era)