We always choose fresh fruit over dried as most of the water content has been removed making it a concentrated source of sugar and really easy to over-eat.
A good example is grapes- 1 cup of grapes = 1/4 cup of raisins. Grapes are already high in sugar, so imagine how much sugar is in a small handful of raisins?
There are times when certain dried fruit makes sense and we use this therapeutically opposed to a time of mindless snacking. Some examples may be a dried prune to help with constipation, 1-2 dried apricots to help with low iron or a few goji berries made into a tea which is excellent for fertility or postpartum.
You'll hear us say this a lot: Quality is key. Most dried fruit is coated with unhealthy oils, unnecessary preservatives and added sugar. In Singapore, there is a popular brand of dried mango which is loaded with sugar- the mango slices are bright yellow. Another sign to look out for dried fruit covered in preservatives- the colour. Naturally dried fruit will be dull in colour- dried apricots become almost dark brown when most commercial options are bright orange in colour.
We like the brand Natures Superfood.