The high raisin calorie content causes these tiny, wrinkled dark nuggets of raisins to be consumed by athletes and others indulging in stressful physical activities. Raisins are wonderful energy foods and even furnish the body with essential nutrients.
Raisins are dried grapes, rich in nutrition and calories, are also convenient high energy, low-fat snacks that can be carried easily anywhere and eaten anytime. Since their shelf life is extremely long, there's no danger of spoilage either.
Raisins are nothing but grapes that have been dried under the sun or by a mechanical process of oven drying. On chewing these tiny pebble like, wrinkled beads one's palate experiences a surge of sugary-sweet flavor.
Besides eating them as they are, raisins can also be added to salads, sandwich fillings, puddings, cookies, cakes and other baked items. Consuming these tiny raisins gives enough energy required for the day.
Due to the high content of calories in raisins, athletes and people engaged in physical activities are often seen to consume them. Let's find out more about raisins calories.
Raisin Calories
The calories in raisins are quite high as compared to the grapes. 1 cup of raisin contains calories tantamount to 8 cups of fresh grapes. 100 gm of raisins contains 250 calories and one small, 5 oz pack of raisins contains 42 calories. One cup of milk chocolate coated raisins contains 702 calories and one cup of yogurt covered raisins contains 751 calories.
This high amount of calories is what makes these dried fruits an ideal snack for athletes. Moreover, chocolate-colored raisins obviously contains more calories. 10 pieces of chocolate coated raisins contain 40 calories. Besides being high in calories, raisins are also high in nutritional value. Let's have a look at raisins nutritional value.
Nutrients and their Values (1 cup of raisins, packed):
Carbohydrates - 130.65 g
Protein - 5.07 g
Sugar (total) - 97.66 g
Dietary Fiber - 6.1 g
Calcium - 82 mg
Iron - 3.10 mg
Magnesium - 53 mg
Phosphorous - 167 mg
Potassium - 1236 mg
Raisin Health Benefits
Blood Pressure Maintenance
Raisins are high in potassium content and low in sodium content. One cup of raisin contains 1236 mg of potassium. This potassium helps regulate a person's blood pressure and maintains it at the normal level, thereby preventing risks of hypertension.
Antioxidant Properties
The antioxidants (phenols) present in raisins helps destroy free radicals formed as a result of body metabolism. These free radicals are harmful because if not destroyed at the right time, they can damage the cell membranes and cause cancer and other fatal conditions. By destroying them, the antioxidants in raisins actually prevent cancer.
Prevents Constipation
Raisins have been used for improving bowel movements and digestive health since time immemorial. The water in which raisins have been soaked for a day or two is given to the person suffering from constipation.
The raisin water increases bowel movement and gets rid of constipation issues. The tartaric acid present in them and the fiber content together work towards proper elimination of wastes and keeps the colon healthy.
Improves Bone Health
Raisins contain significant amounts of boron. Boron is a trace mineral required by the body to convert the hormone estrogen and vitamin D to its active state. It is crucial for our health and its deficiency can result in osteoporosis. Eating raisins will help prevent bone softening or osteoporosis.
Besides the mentioned raisin benefits, the other health benefits are oral care (teeth and gum care), natural remedy for anemia, protection against macular degeneration, etc.
Though raisins are tiny pebble-like dried fruits, they contain enough nutrients and calories to furnish a person with enough energy to work throughout the day. So the next time you go for a hike or trek, don't forget to load your pockets with raisins! Hope this information on raisins calories was useful!