Dates are often associated with dessert; their natural sweetness and rich flavor are indeed decadent. But this nutritious fruit can offer some pretty impressive health benefits. Here are seven ways dates can protect your health and simple ways to incorporate this super fruit into meals, snacks, drinks, and treats.
Dates Nutrition Benefits
A delicious snack that you can enjoy on their own or with nut butter, dates offer the following health benefits:
- Are nutrient-rich
- Have a variety of antioxidants
- Are naturally sweet and provide no added sugar
- Support digestive health
- Protect heart and health and blood sugar regulation
- Offer brain protection
- Help ease natural labor
Dates Are Nutrient-rich
Three dates provide about 200 calories, 54 grams of carbohydrates with about five grams of fiber, a gram of protein, and no fat. This portion also supplies smaller amounts of a wide range of nutrients, including B vitamins, vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and manganese.1 In other words, dates aren’t simply sugar bombs or empty calories.
Dates Have a Variety of Antioxidants
In addition to their vitamin and mineral content, dates are rich in health-protective antioxidants. One 2019 study found that dates are a good source of natural antioxidants, which can be used to manage oxidative stress-related illnesses.
Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of cell-damaging free radicals and the body’s ability to counter their harmful effects. It’s a precursor to aging and cell damage that can lead to disease. Dates also contain anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial compounds, which means they may also play a role in combating infectious diseases.
Other research published in a 2017 study showed that dates contain many antioxidants, including carotenoids, polyphenols (e.g., phenolic acids, isoflavones and flavonoids), tannins, and sterols. They also possess anti-fungal properties.
Dates Are Naturally Sweet and Provide No Added Sugar
Many people think of dates as dried fruit—but they’re actually fresh fruit since no water is removed. And because dates are whole, unprocessed fruit, their sugar content is naturally occurring. In other words, if an energy bar is sweetened only with dates, the label can list zero grams of added sugar. That’s key because added sugar is the type we should limit due to its association with an increased risk of heart disease and obesity.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that women consume no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day, which equates to 25 grams or 100 calories. The advised cap for men is nine teaspoons of added sugar, which is 36 grams or 150 calories. If you use dates to sweeten a meal or recipe, you haven’t used up any of your daily added-sugar budget, unlike sweeteners such as cane sugar.
Dates Support Digestive Health
Three dates provide about 18% of the daily goal for fiber, which supports good digestive function. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2015 looked specifically at the impact of date consumption on the gut. Healthy men were randomly assigned to eat either seven dates per day or a control addition of a carbohydrate and sugar mixture for 21 days. After a 14-day washout period, the groups switched.
Researchers found that while eating dates, the study subjects experienced improvements in their bowel movement frequency and a reduced level of stool chemicals known to damage cells and trigger mutations that may lead to cancer.
If you’ve ever experienced constipation, you know how it can wreak havoc with your energy level and overall comfort. Dates can be a simple way to get things moving.
Dates Protect Heart Health and Blood Sugar Regulation
A 2020 study tested date consumption on both blood fats and glycemic index. One hundred men and women with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to eat either no dates at all or to add three dates daily for 16 weeks.
The date eaters experienced a statistically significant decrease in total cholesterol and “bad” LDL. And HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar control over the previous two- to three-month period) did not change in the date eaters.
The study suggests that dates could potentially have a beneficial effect on lipid profile, especially in reducing total cholesterol and elevating HDL, because of the high polyphenolic content of dates (polyphenols are micronutrients that naturally occur in plants). In addition, the study suggests that a low-moderate consumption of dates did not impact glucose levels because of dates’ low glycemic index.
Dates May Offer Brain Protection
Protective compounds in dates are also thought to help guard the brain. According to a paper published in 2016, dates have promising therapeutic potential against Alzheimer’s disease due to their ability to combat inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain.
Date May Help Ease Natural Labor
One additional potential benefit of dates applies specifically to pregnant women. A 2020 paper looked at the impact of dates on labor and delivery.
Researchers reviewed previously published studies and concluded that eating dates may reduce the duration of the active phase of labor, the stage during which the cervix dilates. It may also improve the bishop score, a measure that rates the readiness of the cervix for labor. However, date consumption did not affect the length of the first, second, and third stages of labor or the frequency of cesarean section.
How To Enjoy Dates and Add Them to Meals and Snacks
Dates are my go-to sweetener in a wide variety of recipes, including smoothies, energy balls, oatmeal, overnight oats, chia or avocado pudding, and baked goods. I also use pureed dates to make homemade plant-based “ice cream” mixed with ingredients like plant milk, cinnamon, and add-ins, such as chopped dark chocolate and pitted cherries. You can also incorporate dates into savory dishes. They add natural sweetness and balance to garden salads, cooked veggies like sautéed kale or roasted cauliflower, and veggie stir fries.
One of my favorite year-round fast snacks is stuffed dates. I stuff them with nut and seed butters, herbed nut-based, plant-based “cheeses,” and even savory fillings, like olive tapenade and dairy-free pesto. Of course, they’re also perfect as is!
