Prunes, prunes, the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you… have strong bones? Apparently so. Prunes (a.k.a. dried plums) have a unique nutritional profile that provides a number of health benefits, and there is growing evidence that eating prunes is not just good for bone health, but can be really beneficial for people with osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a bone condition that results in weak and fragile bones in their tissue, structure and strength. People with osteoporosis lose bone density, which increases a person’s risk of breaking a bone even after minor falls and bumps. The condition can progress slowly, which unfortunately means that some people may not know they have osteoporosis until they break something.
The authors of a 2017 review analyzed a number of studies into prunes and bone health and observe that prunes may help protect against bone loss because these dried fruits have much higher vitamin K content than other commonly consumed fruits, which in turn improves a person’s calcium balance, and good calcium levels equals healthy bones. Prunes also have a high potassium content, and studies have shown that potassium intake can neutralize acid load and reduce calcium loss in bones. This in turn can have a positive effect on bone mineral density.
But it goes beyond that. The authors of the review conducted both a study in rats and a human clinical trial, and their findings suggested taht prunes are an effective food for actually preventing and reversing bone loss in postmenopausal osteoporosis.
And there is also some evidence that dietary supplementation with prunes may be able to help prevent and reverse the effects of osteopenia, which is the condition where a person’s bone density is lower than usual for their age, and is the precursor to osteoporosis.
This is all fantastic news, but how many prunes does it take to actually make a difference? Well, the research suggests that daily consumption of 50g of prunes, which is equivalent to just 5–6 prunes a day, is enough to benefit bone health. There are a number of ways you can add them to your diet.
- Eat them alone as a snack.
- Add them to oatmeal at breakfast.
- Combine them in a home-made trail mix with nuts mixed with other dried fruits, such as apricots, and add dark chocolate chips for a healthy, sweet snack.
- Add them to baked goods.
- Use them in savory stews (yes, they taste great!).
- Drink prune juice.
- Add prune juice to smoothies.
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