Date Fruit Benefits

Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the most popular and well-known fruit in the world. Date fruit is an edible, sweet, small and highly nutritious fruit which grows on medium-sized trees. Eating dates benefits the human body in many ways. Date fruits can be eaten alone or in combination of other herbs or in the form of date shake. Some of the date fruit benefits are:

1. Fructose content of the date fruit treats constipation [1].
2. Zinc [2] content contained in the fruits of date avoids allergies (e.g. Asthma).
3. Several vitamins, minerals and phosphorus play an important role in stimulating reproductive system functioning [3].
4. Dates are useful in the treatment of heart diseases [4] due to its iron content.
5. Vitamin B complex and sugar content of the date fruits are useful in the prophylaxis in renal failure [5].
6. Tannine [6] and vitamin K present in the date fruit help stop bleeding during pregnancy.
7. It is helpful in the treatment of anemia [7], especially iron deficiency anemia in women.
8. Dates play an important role to stop the multiplication and reproduction of cancerous cell [8] as they contain magnesium, calcium and sulfur. It is one of the important benefits of eating dates.
9. Alkaline salts contained in the fruit of date treats acidity and heart burn [7].
10. Some agents like carotene in date fruits helps improve dizziness.
11. Flour of dried date fruit is helpful to treat asthma [2] and pertussis.
12. Date fruits alleviate stress of pregnancy and childbirth [9].

References

1. Wisten, A. and Messner, T., 2005. Fruit and fibre (Pajala porridge) in the prevention of constipation. Scandinavian journal of caring science , 19(1), 71-76.
2. Morgan, C.L. et al. 2011. Zinc supplementation alters airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness to a common allergen. Journal of inflammation (London, England) , 8(1), 36.
3. Al-Kuran, O. et al. 2011. The effect of late pregnancy consumption of date fruit on labour and delivery. Journal of obstetrics and gynecology: the journal of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 31(1), 29-31.
4. Kansagara, D. et al. 2011. Treatment of anemia in patients with heart disease: a systemic review. . PubMed Health,   A Systematic Review. VA ESP Project # 05-225.
5. Saafi-Ben Salah, EB. Et al. 2012. Antioxidant-rich date palm fruit extract inhibits oxidative stress and nephrotoxicity induced by dimethoate in rat. Journal of physiology and biochemistry. 68(1), 47-58.
6. Livdans-Forret, A.B., Harvey, P.J. and Larkin-Their, S.M., 2007. Menorrhagia: A synopsis of management focusing on herbal and nutritional supplements, and chiropractic. The journal of the Canadian chiropractic association , 51(4), 235-246.
7. Vyawahare, N. et al. 2009. Phoenix dactylifera: An update of its indegenous uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. The Internet Journal of Pharmacology, [online] 7(1) Available at: http://www.ispub.com/journal/the-internet-journal-of-pharmacology/volume-7-number-1/phoenix-dactylifera-an-update-of-its-indegenous-uses-phytochemistry-and-pharmacology.html [Accessed on 17 September 2012].
8. Al-Shahib, W. and Marshall, R.J., 2003. The fruit of the date palm: its possible use as the best food for the future? International journal of food sciences and nutrition , 54(4), 247-259.
9. Koffour, G.A., Amoateng, P. and Andey, T.A., 2011. Immunomodulatory and erythropoietic effects of aqueous extract of the fruits of Solanum torvum Swartz (Solanaceae). Pharmacognosy research, 3(2), 130-134.

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Keywords: Date fruit, Benefits of date fruit, Health benefits, Phoenix dactylifera,