Dehydrating produce and meat has a long history to preserve food safely. Salt for fish and the sun for fruit were the primary means of dehydration recorded historically for close to seven thousand years. Solar dehydration was common in Egypt growing in popularity from middle to far eastern lands. Food dehydrating was the first source of health food preparation documented in the world.

In early history, drying food, now referred to as “Dehydration” or “Food Dehydration” was the only way to increase survival in cold winters and droughts in desert regions. This process is nothing more than removing moisture. Now, in the twenty-first century, drying food and using a food dehydrator being the latest trend rapidly growing in popularity. That growth includes those viewed as ‘casual healthy eaters’ to those who are more serious and active in “raw-food” consumption web sites.

The first benefit of dehydrating food is reducing and eliminating the waste of food from spoiling. This benefit alone has thousands and thousands of years of historically documented success. Food dehydration methods include solar or sun dehydration, air-flow and heat. Most food dehydrators sold today use a combination of heat and air-flow using fans. All of these methods are lower in cost than the main source of food preservation used in the twentieth century, commonly called freezing.

The second benefit comes from increasing your healthy eating from fruits and vegetables. You can shop at farmers markets or sales at stores, harvest your garden without concern of spoiling food. You can use your food dehydrator for all fruits and vegetables while maintaining the majority of nutritional value. This increases the availability of healthy food for meals and snacks. You will find an increase of wellness and energy from your entire family.

The third benefit is saving money. Food is expensive. We all pay more for food then we did a few years ago. Food prices are going to increase more and more year after year as long as we live. Eliminating food waste not only saves money for you but, it also reduces critters from congregating around your trash receptacles increasing germs while creating a mess. No one wants or needs this kind of popularity.

The fourth benefit is increasing the quality of food consumed in your family. Fewer bags of chips and crackers in your cabinets reduce the opportunities to snack on unhealthy foods. While you can buy dried foods, most are processed chemicals, pesticides and preservatives. Once you and your family begin to taste healthy produce prepared from a food dehydrator, they will consume less processed food.