Prune your bones

Plums are a delicious fruit and it is somewhat mystifying as to why anyone would want to dry them in order to produce a prune. Of course prunes have storage and longevity benefits that their more juicy ancestors lack but can the withered prune really compete with the full, ripe plum? Well, according to new research when it comes to the health of your bones, it seems that prunes have no peer.

While osteoporosis is by no means restricted to women, it is a disease that is of significant concern to women. As its name suggests, osteoporosis involves the bones becoming more porous which means that they become weaker and more susceptible to breakage. As oestrogen levels drop in the first five to seven years after the onset of menopause, women can lose bone at a rate of up to three to five per cent per year. The condition is highly threatening to quality of life for both men and women and so there is a constant search for foods and lifestyle choices that can help battle osteoporosis.

Over the years a group of researchers from Florida State University have tested numerous fruits to see if they would increase bone density. They have tested figs, dates, strawberries, and raisins but they say that none of them showed such positive results as did prunes in a recent trial.

In the new study menopausal women were divided into two groups. The first group consumed 100 grams of prunes, equivalent to around ten prunes, 500mg of calcium, and 400iu of vitamin D daily for twelve months. The second group did the same except for substituting 100 grams of dried apples for the prunes.

Those in the prune group had significantly greater bone density in the spine and ulna (forearm bone) at the end of twelve months.

The researchers believed that the prunes are stopping bone reabsorption (breakdown) and therefore preserving bone mass. They point out that you should not wait until being diagnosed with osteoporosis but do something preventative. You might start out with two or three daily and build up to your ten and you can incorporate your prunes into other dishes, they don’t all have to be eaten straight.

However you do it, if you are worried about bone density it might be prudent to get into a few prunes.

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