Dates are frequently associated with desserts because of their natural sweetness and rich flavor. However, this nutrient-dense fruit can provide some impressive health benefits. Here are seven ways dates may help you stay healthy, as well as easy ways to include them in your meals, snacks, drinks, and desserts.
Table of Contents
Dates Are A Nutrient-Dense Fruit.
Three dates give around 200 calories, 54 grams of carbohydrates (5 grams of fiber), one gram of protein, and no overweight. This portion size also provides modest B vitamins, vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and manganese, among other minerals. It, in other words, aren’t just sugar bombs or useless calories.
The high in health-protecting antioxidants, in addition to vitamins and raw materials. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences, dates are a good resource of natural antioxidants. They can utilize to treat oxidative stress-related disorders. When there is an imbalance between the generation of cell-damaging free radicals and the body’s ability to counteract their adverse effects, oxidative stress arises. It’s a sign of aging and cell damage, both of which can lead to disease.
Naturally Sweet And Do Not Include Any Additional Sugar.
Dates are commonly mistaken for dried fruit, although they are essentially fresh fruit because no water is removed. Because dates are whole, raw fruits, their sugar levels are naturally occurring. In other words, if the sole sweetener in an energy bar dates, the label can declare that there is no added sugar. It is significant because added sugar is associate with an increased risk of heart disease and obesity.
According to the (AHA), women should take no more than six teaspoons of added sugar each day, which translates to 25 grams or 100 calories, according to (AHA). Nine teaspoons of additional sugar (36 grams or 150 calories) is the recommended limit for males.
Suitable for your Digestive System.
Three dates supply around 18% of the daily fiber requirement, which is essential for digestive health. The impact of date eating on the intestine is studying in a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. For 21 days, healthy males were randomly allocated for eating either seven dates per day or a carbohydrate and sugar combination as a manage. After a 14-day washout period, the groups swap. Researchers discovered that when research participants ate dates, they had fewer bowel movements and had lower levels of stool toxins that can damage cells and cause mutations that can lead to cancer.
Dates Good For Your Heart And Blood Sugar Control.
An older study looked at the effects of date consumption in healthy persons over four weeks. Volunteers in one trial consumed around three and a half ounces of two different types of dates each day. Researchers discovered that adding dates to the diet did not affect the study subjects’ BMI, total cholesterol, LDL, or HDL values at the end of the month. Most importantly, neither date variety caused an increase in fasting blood glucose or blood fat levels. Blood lipids and oxidative stress levels both dropped.
A more recent study looked at the effects of eating dates on blood lipids and glycemic management. For 16 weeks, one hundred men and women with type 2 diabetes were randomly allocate for daily eating no dates or three dates. Date eaters had a statistically significant reduction in total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol. In the date eaters, HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar control over the previous two to three months) did not change. The group who ate dates also had better mental health and general quality of life.
Natural Labour May Be Made Easier With The Use Of A Date.
Another potential benefit of dates is that they can help pregnant ladies. The impact of it on labor and delivery is investigate in an article publishe in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth in 2020.
Researchers looked at prior research and concluded that eating it can shorten the active period of labor when the cervix dilates. It may also boost the bishop score, a metric that assesses the cervix’s preparation for vaginal delivery.
How To Eat Dates And How To Include Them Into Meals And Snacks
Dates are my go-to sweetener in smoothies, energy balls, oatmeal, and overnight oats, pudding, and baked goods, among other things. I also use pureed it to make homemade plant-based “ice cream” with plant milk, cinnamon, and optional extras like chopped dark chocolate and pitted cherries. Dates can use in savory meals as well. Garden salads, cooked veggies like sautéed kale or roasted cauliflower, and veggie stir-fries benefit from their natural sweetness and balance.