Today, we’re going to talk about the amazing benefits of the date fruit. From the date palm, we’re going to find out: Does it actually help with labor and delivery? What does it have to do with cancer? And what is it going to do to your blood sugars?
Hey everybody, Chad Cruiser here with Health and Homestead. Right now, I am next to two of my very favorite trees in the world—or kinds of trees: the date palm, and behind me, we have the fig tree. I love figs; fresh figs are one of my favorite foods. Dates are also one of my favorite foods. I’m in Southern California at an incredible date farm called Anderson’s Date Farm. Check them out if you’re ever down here; the best dates I’ve probably ever had, and also probably the cheapest, so check that out.
But let’s look at the research. What about dehydrated fruit in general? Research reported in March 2020 in the journal of Advances in Nutrition revealed that traditional dried fruit consumption—dried fruit without added sugar or preservatives like sulfur—can lower certain risks of cancer or cancer mortality. They were specifically looking at dates, prunes, and raisins. The research revealed a 24% lower risk of colorectal polyps, a 49% lower risk of prostate cancer, and a 65% lower risk of mortality from pancreatic cancer. The research showed that overall, dried fruit consumption seemed to be more protective against cancer than even fresh fruit. But one of the things you want to try to avoid when eating dried fruit is the sulfurs or the preservatives—they can actually be detrimental to your health.
Did you know that thousands of years ago, they used to believe that eating dates was beneficial for people’s mental health? Well, they taste so good, you might want to imagine that, but has it actually been put to the test? It has. A randomized controlled trial was reported in the journal Nutrients on dates. Three dates were consumed by one group daily for a total of six weeks, and those who consumed three dates a day had a statistically significant lowering of their total and LDL cholesterol. They also had an increase in quality of life and enhancement of their mental health. So, this is phenomenal to think that the date fruit, which is unbelievably tasty, might benefit lower your cholesterol and enhance your mental health in general.
But what about the impact of dates on Alzheimer’s? In a separate study, it turns out that those who consume dates had less memory loss, lower levels of beta-amyloid, and less anxiety. But this was done on transgenic mice that were prone to having Alzheimer’s, so I’ll be honest, I don’t take a massive amount of stock in studies that were done on mice or rodents, so I’m not saying this is going to happen in humans, but hopefully, maybe it will make an impact. I’m guessing in time they’re going to test it on humans.
What about dates in pregnancy? Research reported in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology reports on date consumption and labor and delivery. They had two groups of pregnant women either consume or not consume six dates daily starting four weeks before they were scheduled to have their babies. It turned out that those who consumed dates were, on average, more dilated when they were admitted to the hospital. Ninety-six percent of them had a spontaneous delivery versus 79% who did not consume dates, and those who consumed dates were less likely to need induction. They simply found that those who consumed six dates daily in the last month of pregnancy had more favorable deliveries than those who did not consume dates.
I know what some of you are thinking: Okay, it may help your cholesterol, it may help with the labor and delivery process, it might even help with cancer, but obviously, it must be very detrimental when it comes to just spiking blood sugar levels. Maybe 70% of the date is sugar, and I know some of you are thinking, “Oh, that’s going to make people very large and heavy,” and so forth. I eat a ridiculous amount of dates, and if it helps gain weight, it’s not working for me, I’ll tell you that. But let’s look at the research.
So, what about the blood sugar? Many would fear giving diabetics dates because of all the sugar. What happens when the researchers put it to the test? A meta-analysis was conducted looking at date consumption in diabetics. It turns out that, on average, diabetics who consume dates have lowered fasting blood glucose or lower blood sugar when they’re fasting, a lower post-prandial blood glucose or lower after-meal blood sugar spike than those who are not consumers, and it had no impact on their A1C level. They conclude the study by saying that dates may be beneficial to blood sugar control in diabetics.
You say, “Okay, but how many dates? I mean, we need some more specifics. What about if you eat like two—is that too much? Or three or four? Well, how about five? What if you ate seven or ten?” In a normal person or a diabetic, what would be the impact? Five different varieties of dates were given to people who did not have diabetes, and they were to consume seven to ten dates. They found that there was no significant spike in blood sugar after the meal, and it was found that the dates had a low glycemic index. So, what happens when they gave the same quantities of dates (7 to 10 dates) to people with type 2 diabetes? They had no statistically significant difference in blood sugar and glycemic index.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this research on dates is phenomenal, and it makes perfect sense. I mean, humans throughout history—I mean, it’s clear from our physiology that humans are largely frugivores; we’re largely people who consume fruit. So, the idea that it’s so bad for us, it just—number one, it’s contrary to science, and it’s number two, contrary to the history of humanity. And when you think about it, when it comes to homesteading or growing your own food—now, I can’t grow these anywhere near where I live. I mean, living way up in the north. But regardless, the way that humans historically preserved food—probably the oldest form of preservation was dehydration, drying out foods. And they would do this through various techniques; one of them is simply laying them out in the sun. And if you’re in a place like Southern California, this can happen very, very naturally.
We have a cousin who—he’ll take some fruit, he’ll just put it out on a pan outside. Put it out; you don’t need any kind of special thing, it just will simply dry right there. And so, this is what humanity has done. And the great thing is, you can store fruit clearly through the winter and even much longer. I’ll tell you also, one of the varieties of dates that’s shown the greatest benefit according to research is a variety called Halawi. And Halawi is probably my favorite variety of date; there’s also one called the Barhi, and I just had one here on the farm a few moments ago. And in the right season, when they are first coming off the tree, where they’re still yellow, they begin to brown and they begin to kind of mush, become squishy and wet. And when they do that, I don’t know if it’s called bledding, but regardless, when that begins to happen to me, it is the very tastiest food on planet Earth. I’ve never had anything better than that squishy, just ripening date; there’s really nothing like it.
Looking back through history, they’ve looked at seeds and how long do seeds last? How long will the seed germinate? The oldest seed in the world that germinated that wasn’t frozen was from the date palm. It actually came from Masada, this mountain fortress 2,000 years ago. And a number of years ago, scientists found some date seeds there, and they planted it—or they planted several of them—and they had one of them grow, and it turned out to be a female plant because date palms are what are called dioecious, meaning they have male and female plants. This was a female plant that grew. But then they found more seeds, or they had more seeds; they planted those, and from what I understand, I think they now have a male plant. So, in a number of years, they may be able to pollinate them, and we will find out how these dates end up tasting. At this point, fascinatingly enough, being that these are male and female trees, they hand-pollinate them. So, they take some of the pollen from the males, they bring it over to the female trees; they used to take a little sprig of it and kind of put it up there with the female part of the plant, and that would end up causing them to have the dates. But now I hear they just kind of spread it on the female portion of the plant. I’d love to hear what you have to say. Do you have a favorite variety of dates? Like I said, check out Anderson’s farm; beautiful place. There’s a nice smell out here; there’s just something nice about being out in nature. And I’m thankful that I could come out, and I’m thankful that they let me be here on their property. So, if you have any comments, put them down below. God bless, and have a fantastic day