If you're watching your weight, and especially if you're trying to drop a few pounds, picking up a piece of fruit is better than a handful of cookies. But not all fruit is created equal when it comes to calories. While fruits and vegetables tend to be among the lower calorie foods, some are surprisingly high in calories.
If you're dieting, steer clear of dried fruit. Since it's had most of its water removed, dried fruit packs a lot of calories and nutrients into a small amount of food. One cup of raisins almost equals a whopping 500 calories!
A lot can be said in favor of bananas, unless you're putting them in your daily diet. Each one has almost 90 calories. And bananas also have a dietary fiber our bodies have a tough time absorbing.
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One good fruit you can bank on in your diet is cranberries. They only have 45 calories in each cup and they're low in sugar and high in fiber, making them ideal for snacking.
Sipping on a cold, creamy smoothie made solely from a variety of fruits is much healthier than downing a doughnut. But be careful, filling your blender with five different fruits, you could end up with a smoothie that clocks in at more than 500 calories.