Back at my grandparents’ place, I would often uncover bags and bags of prunes kept under the drawer, in cabinets and on tabletops. I’ve always had plenty of questions over why anyone would enjoy them after sneaking a whiff into the rank packaging. Surely with this smell, it would most definitely not be eaten for enjoyment and who was this prune-guzzling monster and is he or she amidst us? It all came to light a few days after when I found my granddad popping one of these bad boys into his mouth. But I had to ask? Why was he dropping these prunes into his stomach like it’s hot?
It wasn’t only till a few years ago did those questions cleared up. If you are like me, you are going to have some game-changing revelation today — prunes help you poop more. Now that you are done chuckling, prunes indeed do have their merits despite the ‘stink’ since they have their fair share of dietary fibre. But the more research I did into prunes, the more I uncovered about the many health benefits of these dried plums and the more I let my guard down to sample it. Now I’m a fan of these delish treats and I pray the same cycle doesn’t repeat with my grandchild 40 years down the road.
What Are Prunes?
Prunes, as we have mentioned earlier, are basically plums that have been dried. If you have seen a prune in the supermarket, you must have noticed that most of it originate from the sunny hills of California. That is no coincidence since almost 70% of the world’s prunes originates from the plum tree farms in California. Did you know that a pound of prunes takes up to around three pounds of fresh plums to conceive? Thankfully, a solitary prune tree makes up for it with over 300 pounds of fruit at harvest. Come harvesting time in August, the ripe plums are cleansed and then dehydrated in a controlled operation, before being housed into those resealable packaging that we see today.
Can You List Down The Health Benefits of Prunes?
Sure, we can! Besides just as a tool for improving your digestion, prunes have a high
Prunes May Help You Drop The Pounds
As you might have known, prunes have been highly recommended in improving your digestion. This is attributed to the high fibre and sorbitol content in prunes. Just by ingesting a few, you would relieve constipation and increase your regular bowel movement. Due to the fibre in protein, it could, therefore, fill you up a slightly bit more and curb your hunger pangs. You might be wondering if the use of “may” in our title is accidental… it is not. Prunes may help with curbing your cravings but since they rank high in natural sugar content, they are not meant to be gorged on, especially for those who are looking to lose weight. Always remember, anything that is in excess would turn and be stored in your body as fat.
Prunes Improve Your Skin Health
When we think of antioxidants, our minds naturally gravitate towards the super berries. You get it, you have blueberries, acai berries and even goji berries. But none of them come as close to the amount of antioxidants that prunes have. Within prunes, you would find manganese, iron and plant phenolics which work as antioxidants that help shield our cell membranes from the damage inflicted by free radicals. Of course, our skin would benefit from that as well and you would notice your complexion getting much clearer and your ageing lines fading away with these antioxidants.
Prunes Give You A Full Head Of Hair
We are certainly not messing about… prunes are great for those who feel like age is catching up on them. As we grow older, we are likely to encounter issues like hair loss, dryness and the discolouration of our hair due to iron deficiency issues when we are older. Now that we know prunes are a great source of iron, those little nuggets of prunes that you are adding to your diet would help preserve the overall health of your hair and ensure they stay strong and luscious from the roots to the ends.
How Can You Consume Prunes?
There are so many different ways prunes can be used. Have you ever had a warm apple prune crumble or a coffee cake with dried plums? Due to its sticky texture and sweet taste, prunes are well-loved by confectioneries since they can be used in toffees, brownies, cakes and even ice cream. But prunes aren’t only restricted to just baked goods. Since prunes have been discovered to be healthy, they can be mixed with pork to create a tasty broth, in a coq au vin with chicken or even as a spread on toast. You wouldn’t be short of options to introduce this tasty fruit into your daily diet.