by POPSUGAR Fitness 0

If you buy cereals with the berries already in the box, you may be wondering if they are as healthy as their fresh counterparts.

As long as the berries are freeze-dried then they will still retain the nutrients from when they were fresh. Freeze-dried fruits retain almost as much of the antioxidant phytochemicals (found in fresh fruits). The freeze-dried fruits may not have as much vitamin C as their fresh counterparts.

Freeze-dried fruits are a great alternative to fresh fruits since you can keep freeze-dried fruits longer and they are much more cost effective. However, if you think that you are getting enough fruit for the day in your cereal, think again. It's a good start but you may want to also incorporate fruit into your other meals throughout the day. Also watch out for sugar in cereals with freeze-dried fruit, due to the tart bitterness of the freeze-dried fruit there may be more sugar added to the cereal to help with the taste.

Fit's Tip: A serving of dried fruit is one-quarter cup and a serving of diced, cooked, or frozen fruit is one-half cup.