Dear Readers, They are considered the “bread of the desert” because there is a lot of energy in the small power fruits. The honey-sweet note of the date makes it an increasingly popular snack – not only for fitness enthusiasts and vegans. You can find out why dates are so healthy and the best tips for use.
Dates may not score with a low number of calories – but with vital minerals, vitamins, and healthy fiber. This makes the date not only a healthy snack for in-between, but also a natural sugar alternative. In the following, you will find out everything you need to know about sweet fruits.
Dates Health Benefits
Dates: The bread of the desert
The true date palm bears the graceful scientific name Phoenix dactylifera. Its fruits, which, strictly speaking, are actually berries, are known as the “bread of the desert“. There is a good reason for this: dates are rich in essential and important nutrients, but they are just as rich in carbohydrates, i.e. sugar.
The true date palm is native to the Persian Gulf, today it is cultivated over a much wider area. Our ancestors began cultivating sweet fruits and using their energy more than 6,000 years ago.
In order to grow and later bear fruit, the plant needs a lot of water and sun. Only after five to six years does the palm produce fruit for the first time – and then only every two years. A single palm harvest is surprisingly productive. It can bear up to 100 kilograms of fruit – for comparison, a single fruit weighs around 10 grams.
Medjool dates
Medjool, Medjoul, or simply ” king ‘s date”: the date variety Medjool is one of the most popular variations. Many recipes explicitly mention this variety as an ingredient.
Medjool dates are reddish-brown to caramel-colored and surpass their closer relatives when it comes to sweetness, the king date is said to have the tastiest of all date flavors. If you wanted to describe the fruit, “caramel” and “honey-sweet” would probably be the most appropriate descriptions.
Ingredients and nutritional values
But what exactly makes dates so healthy? After all, there are 66 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams of dried fruit. Dates are not only characterized by this enormous sweetness, but also by an abundance of minerals, such as (in remarkably large amounts) potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
But iron, zinc, and copper are also found in healthy exotics. Various vitamins are also found in the date, for example, folic acid, vitamin E and C. Like other dried fruits, dates have a large amount of fiber. Among other things, these promote healthy digestion and support intestinal activity.
What makes dates so exciting is their high content of the amino acid tryptophan. This protein building block is needed by the body to produce certain hormones, among other things.
Lots of calories and still healthy
For figure-conscious people who pay attention to their daily calorie intake, dates may not seem very attractive at first glance. However, the high sugar and therefore calorie content should not deter you. Just like with all other foods, it always depends on the dosage and therefore moderation.
Four to five dates a day can already have a positive effect on your health without affecting your weight. Their valuable dietary fibers, on the other hand, help to boost your digestion.
In general, exotic fruits are suitable as an alternative to conventional household sugar. After all, this has no additional nutrients that the body needs to live. In muesli or smoothie, for example, normal sugar can be easily replaced with fruit. Diabetics also tolerate glucose and fructose better than industrial sugar.
This is how dates affect health
Of course, a healthy diet includes one thing above all variety. Dates are not a panacea for ailments. However, their high levels of magnesium, calcium, and potassium, for example, can help you achieve the recommended daily intake of these nutrients. In the following, we will explain why you can do your body good by eating dates.
Mood-enhancing
If there are fruits that make you happy in the truest sense of the word, then dates are definitely one of them. The reason for this is the amino acid tryptophan contained in it. It is used by the nerve cells in the brain to produce serotonin, which we colloquially refer to as the “happiness hormone”. Serotonin influences various processes in the body, such as body temperature and appetite.
But it also reduces the sensation of pain and can significantly lift your spirits and give you more drive. Although tryptophan can be found in a wide variety of foods, its concentration in dates is found in a particularly favourable combination. Because sugar also improves the absorption of the substance in the brain.
For better sleep
But tryptophan is not only needed in the body to form serotonin. The amino acid is also a precursor to melatonin. A hormone that is important for your daily sleep-wake cycle. Thus, eating dates before bedtime can help you sleep better. It is said that the Arabs also eat a few dates in the evening if they have problems falling asleep.
For an easier birth
Researchers at the Jordan’s University of Irbid studied the effects of pregnant women eating dates on childbirth. For this purpose, the women were divided into two groups: one group consumed six dates a day from the 36th week of pregnancy, while the other group did not consume the fruit at all.
Those women who ate six dates a day had, on average, a larger cervix than the control group at birth. In addition, contractions in the date group were spontaneous more often on average. The control group was more dependent on oxytocin to assist in labor.
According to the study, regular consumption of dates is highly recommended around four weeks before birth, and the fruits can definitely not do any harm.
Boosts digestion
Dates can have a positive effect on intestinal health thanks to their dietary fiber. Digestion is boosted because the fibers ensure that the intestinal contents are passed on quickly. This way you can prevent constipation while keeping cholesterol levels low.
This is because water-soluble fiber binds the so-called bile acid and excretes it in the stool. In order for the body to be able to produce new bile acid, it in turn needs cholesterol – as a result, the total cholesterol level drops.
Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
There are a lot of antioxidants in dates, for example, flavonoids, carotenoids, or vitamin E. These substances can have a particularly positive effect on your body by preventing so-called free radicals in the body from damaging cells, antioxidants can help to prevent various diseases. Although free radicals are normal in the body in a certain number, high alcohol and nicotine consumption as well as excessive sunbathing without protection can multiply the number of free radicals.
The exotic fruit also contains some substances that have an anti-inflammatory effect: tannins and polyphenols, for example.
Fresh Dates
They are mostly only offered in the winter months between September and January. Since there is still a lot of water in the fresh dates, which means they tend to mold more quickly than dried fruits, you should use the fresh goods quickly. It is best to consume them within a few days. In the meantime, they should be stored in the refrigerator.
When buying fresh fruit, make sure that the dates do not have any rotten spots or dark spots. They are usually available in four different gradations extra soft, soft, medium soft, and medium dry.
Dried Dates
The dried version is much more popular than the fresh fruit. These berries are harvested half-ripe and then dried in the sun or using artificially generated heat. During this process, the water is removed from the fruit, which makes the berries much more durable.
You can find dried dates in almost every conventional supermarket – but again, pay attention to the quality. Especially unsweetened and unsulphurized products are recommended. Since the fruits already have a high sugar content, additional sugar makes the dates a real calorie bomb. In dried form, dates can be stored in an airtight container for up to several years.
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