When you ask random people about their favorite fruit, grapes and mangoes seem to be at the top of the list. This doesn’t seem to be the case for prunes since people usually shy away from them. It’s not that it tastes bad, it’s just that it tastes different compared to the fruits we eat everyday that’s why one must eat it a couple of times to appreciate the taste.
Prunes are known for giving us relief from constipation. The health benefits that we can get from prunes, however, are not just limited to helping us digest our food properly. In fact, there are countless health benefits that we can get from prunes but for this article, we’ll only be listing the top five.
Let’s begin our countdown with…
Reason Number Five: Prunes Help Keep Your Bones Healthy
It’s a known fact that women are more at risk for osteoporosis than men. This is because women have thinner and smaller bones than men. Another reason for this is that as women grow older, their Estrogen levels decrease. If we remember our Biology correctly, we know that Estrogen is a hormone that’s present in women and protects their bones.
Osteoporosis can be prevented by improving your bone health. Of course, drinking a tall glass of milk immediately comes to mind but other than that, you can also strengthen your bones by eating a bowl or a cup of prunes daily. Prunes contain phenoic compounds and flavonoids that help lessen your risk of developing osteoporosis as you grow older.
Reason Number Four: Prunes Can Turn Back the Clock and Delay your Aging Process
After years of searching, we can finally say that we found the fountain (or bowl, rather) of youth! The primary suspect behind our aging bodies (and looks, unfortunately) is free radicals. These free radicals harm some parts of our cells such as DNA, cell membranes, and proteins by stealing one of their electrons through oxidation. Free radicals speed up our body’s aging process.
One way to combat this is by eating foods that are rich in vitamin K and beta-carotene which can also be sourced from prunes. By working together, these nutrients help delay your body’s aging process by repairing the cell damages that were caused by the free radicals. These nutrients also boost our blood circulation.
Reason Number Three: Prunes Prevent Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
These days, obesity is starting to become a serious health issue that’s highly noticeable. It’s not because it’s not flattering or visually appealing since people have recently become more accepting of curves, be it in men or women. What’s scary about obesity is that it comes with serious health conditions that should be given immediate attention.
One of the things that you can do to manage your weight is by eating prunes regularly. Prunes help control your cravings and leave you feeling full and satisfied after every meal. Prunes are high in soluble fiber which is very important in fighting diabetes because it makes the body even more sensitive to insulin. It also maintains the sugar levels by helping our stomach digest the food properly.
Reason Number Two: Prunes Help Prevent Cancer
We now live in a world where everyone, regardless of race, age, religious background or gender is at risk of developing cancer. Go in a room and ask people if they know of someone who has cancer or died because of cancer. Almost everyone will answer yes to your question and that shows how common cancer is.
All hope is not lost however, because there are plenty of ways to fight cancer. One of this is by including prunes in your daily diet. Prunes are rich in phytonutrients which are commonly known as phenols. These phytonutrients wrap the cells and protect them from radical damages and oxidation of fats. Because of this, they become essential in fighting chronic diseases such as cancer.
Reason Number One: Prunes Can Lower Your Cholesterol Levels
If your cholesterol levels are high, there’s a possibility that you’ll develop cardiovascular diseases in the future. This is another reason why you should eat prunes : they soak up the excess bile in our liver and intestines and then flush it out of our system. Bile comes from the cholesterol in our liver and is needed to digest fat. When our body excretes the bile along with the fiber from prunes, the liver needs to use more cholesterol to produce more bile. This process lowers the cholesterol levels in the body.
Prunes are indeed amazing. They contain nutrients that are very beneficial to our health. By simply adding prunes to your diet, you’ve already created a strong defense against serious medical diseases. Not only that, you get to delay your aging, too! The taste really needs some getting used to, but at the end of the day it’s not about the taste, but about how prunes can protect your health.
