Serving Size for Dried Goji Berries
Dried fruit serves as a handy and portable snack; dried goji berries may be a smart choice for your diet. Not only are these dehydrated fruits low in fat, they provide vitamins and may offer health benefits as well. Knowing the correct serving size for dried goji berries and the nutritional content allows for optimal meal planning.
A small spoonful of dried goji berries. (Image: ehaurylik/iStock/Getty Images)Serving Size
Getting the right amount of fruit in your diet is critical for eating a nutritious and varied diet; the USDA suggests consuming 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruit each day. A serving size of dried fruit, such as dried goji berries, equals one-quarter cup. This quantity of dried goji is about the size of 3 to 4 cotton balls.
Calories and Fat
A one-quarter cup serving of dried goji berries -- roughly 2 ounces -- contains 224 calories. If you follow a 2,000-calorie diet, the calories in these berries account for 11.2 percent of your total daily calories. These dried berries contain 2.8 grams of fat per serving, but the fat is primarily healthy fat. Limit your fat intake to 20 to 25 percent of your daily caloric consumption to avoid weight gain and other medical conditions.
Carbohydrates and Protein
Include a serving of dried goji berries in your diet, and you take in 38 grams of carbohydrates. Your meal plan should include 225 to 325 grams of carbs daily, which equates to 45 to 65 percent of your calories if you adhere to a 2,000-calorie diet. This dehydrated fruit also contains 8 grams of the 50 to 175 grams of protein, which is less than 10 percent of the protein your body requires each day…
Vitamin A
Eat a serving of dried goji berries, and you take in a whopping 340 percent of the daily recommended intake of vitamin A. More good news: the vitamin A in this berry is fat-soluble, so your body is able to store it for when you might face a nutritional deficiency. Vitamin A helps protect your eyes from bacterial infections and bolsters your night vision. It can also decrease your risk of macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness.
Vitamin C
One serving of dried goji berries provides you with 40 percent of the vitamin C you require each day. Vitamin C is essential for wound healing. It may also be useful for treating gout, a type of arthritis, according to a study published in the March 2009 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine." Researchers in the study looked at nearly 50,000 men over a ten year period and found the higher their vitamin C intake, the less risk of gout they displayed. Studies are needed to determine if this finding also applies to women, but adding dried goji berries to your diet may be a good option if you have a risk of gout.
