Figs
Food · Fruit · Food, Typed Supps
One of the few fruits with a real calcium contribution, especially dried.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Seeds add texture): Its seeds and skin add texture, requiring some chewing.
- Stomach (Fiber & sugar digest): Fiber and natural sugars begin digesting.
- Small intestine (Calcium & potassium absorbed): Calcium, potassium, and fibre are absorbed together.
- Bone tissue (Calcium supports bone maintenance): Absorbed calcium contributes to ongoing bone maintenance.
Timing
Dried figs are calorie-dense compared to fresh — a small handful goes further than it looks.
Time to effect
- Weeks: Regular intake contributes modestly to calcium and fibre status over time.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Keto, Low-FODMAP.
In season
August to October in the northern hemisphere, February to April in the southern.
Satiety
213 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — very high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Environmental footprint
1.1 kg CO2e and 199 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Other fruit" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Cheap — roughly £3 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 46.6
- Protein: 1.4g
- Carbohydrate: 8.1g
- of which sugars: 8.1g
- Fat: 0.3g
- of which saturated: 0g
- Fibre: 3.3g
- Sodium: 3mg
Food vs. supplement
Dried figs concentrate calcium and fibre significantly compared to fresh — a few dried figs provide a modest but real calcium contribution most fruits do not offer, though nowhere near a dedicated calcium supplement dose.
Kitchen tip
Fresh figs are highly perishable and best eaten within a day or two of ripening — dried figs keep for months in a sealed container.
Common myth
Dried fruit is nutritionally the same as fresh, just smaller. In reality: Drying concentrates sugar and calories per gram considerably — dried figs pack more calcium and fibre per bite, but also far more calories than the same weight of fresh figs.
Recipes that use it
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