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We are cautioned against sweet foods when we plan to lose weight or get healthier in general. But if anyone is on a health kick and still has a craving for something sweet, then there is one delicious treat ‘dates’ with a wide range of health benefits.
Dates are chewy and sweet fruit packed with lots of minerals, vitamins and fibre they grow on date palm trees also known as Phoenix Dactylifera widely cultivated across northern and Southern Africa and the Middle East they need tropical climates to grow. These are often used as sugar substitutes in baking and other recipes.
But the best part about them is not their sweet taste, but their nutritive value and if it is continuously eaten every day it may improve overall health. According to research done by Oxford University dates have these health benefits.
It helps in lowering blood pressure
Dates are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that plays a significant role in maintaining normal blood pressure. It also relieves muscular pain and fatigue. Potassium is present in many healthy foods such as bananas, peas, salmon and broccoli as well.
One Majhoul Date can contain close to 160 milligrams of potassium. The fact that dates are generally high in fibre lower down blood pressure. The effectiveness of high blood pressure treatment with natural foods is so high that Harvard university published a series of recommendations to treat the phenomenon drug-free which includes dates for blood pressure.
It is good for anaemia
If someone has anaemia then dates can help due to their high iron content. Usually, fruits and vegetables which are rich in iron don’t taste good but dates are good in flavour. Dates may be sweet but they can provide as much iron as required for the body. Date syrup is given to kids who are anaemic.
Beneficial for pregnant women
It is a common belief Among pregnant women at dates can Induce labour naturally and prevent complications during delivery. Prospective study found that pregnant women who ate dates daily prior to their due date are more likely to go into labor without artificial induction than women who don’t eat dates. The first stage of labor was shorter in those who ate dates in the week leading up to labor compared with those who did not eat them.
It helps to grow healthy hair
Hair follicles require adequate nutrition for their proper growth and maintenance. Regularly eating dates can help in this regard. Dates are abundant in vitamins particularly in vitamin B5 which is vital for the maintenance of healthy hair. Deficiency of this vitamin can cause hair problems like hair loss, brittle hair and split ends. Eating dates regularly can help minimise these problems.
It also helps in constipation relief
Dates have fibre which is good for the body. Dates provide 6.7 g of fibre per hundred grams and 100 g serving of dates provides a whopping 8 g of roughage. Most of the fibre present in dates is insoluble fibre which is helpful in relieving constipation. The use of deeds is a natural remedy for constipation and is also linked to reducing gastric transit time.
