More than just a juicy fruit that’s a seasonal delight in the kitchen, plums have a lot to offer in health benefits and wellness support, offering nutrients that influence everything from constipation to cognition.
They can be eaten fresh or dried, and are easily transformed into sauces, jams, and chutneys. They can also add a nice sweet touch to your meat dishes or turnovers. But plums aren’t just a tasty treat. They also offer a bevy of health-promoting properties that are hard to ignore.
Mounting research on plums shows promising outcomes on their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and memory-improving qualities. Researchers are particularly drawn to this fruit for its high phenolic content, primarily antioxidants called anthocyanins.
Here’s a rundown of 11 reasons to love and eat plums with gusto today.
1. Promote Bone Health
Dried plums, or prunes, are believed to be effective in preventing and reversing bone loss.To test this, researchers recruited 236 women, one to 10 years postmenopausal, to their study and found that dried plum significantly reduced the blood levels of bone-turnover markers in the subjects. They concluded that dried plum can improve bone mineral density in postmenopausal women partly by suppressing the rate of bone turnover.
Similar findings on dried plums emerged in male animal models, where they increased bone mass, suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines, and promoted peak bone mass. They also prevented bone loss in a male osteoporosis model via varying pathways.
2. Support Cognition
Consuming fruits and vegetables potentially protects against age-related cognitive decline, particularly when it comes to high-antioxidant produce. In a study on aged rats, those that drank plum juice from 19 to 21 months of age showed improved working memory in an activity. Those fed dried plum powder didn’t differ from the control group, likely because of the smaller quantity of phenolics in the powder form.3. Relieve Constipation
Consuming prunes may effectively aid in treating constipation. People who ate 2 ounces or 50 grams of prunes daily for three weeks reported having better stool consistency as well as frequency, compared to the psyllium group.
Be careful, however, as consuming too many prunes may lead to unwanted effects, such as diarrhea. Also make sure there are no added sugars if you’re consuming prune juice for bowel benefits.
4. May Inhibit Breast Cancer
Previous studies highlighted the anti-mutagenic effects of plums. Researchers tested an acetone extract of immature Chinese plum fruit and found it offered higher levels of total phenolics and condensed tannins compared to mature plums.The extract from immature fruit possessed cytotoxic effects, indicating the potential to be a safe, promising dietary intervention against the development of breast cancer.
5. Support Heart Health
In one study, participants drank prune juice and consumed three or six prunes every morning for eight weeks, or drank only a glass of water on an empty stomach. The prune and prune juice group experienced significantly lower blood pressure, lower total cholesterol, and lower LDL cholesterol versus the water group.In another study, men diagnosed with high cholesterol had lower LDL cholesterol levels after they consumed 12 prunes every day for eight weeks. In a separate study, consuming polyphenol-rich peach and plum juice prevented risk factors for obesity-related metabolic disorders as well as cardiovascular disease in animal models.
6. May Fight Liver Cancer
In a study published in 2009, immature plum extracts strongly inhibited cancer cell growth in HepG2 cells, which are implicated in liver cancer. Immature plum and its active compound, epicatechin, were deemed “a natural resource for developing novel therapeutic agents for cancer prevention and treatment” by the researchers.7. Antibacterial and Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Plums, in a study, demonstrated “remarkable power” in antibacterial tests, especially against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, for two extracts studies.A separate study assessed the antioxidant activity in plums that mediates its anti-inflammatory benefits, finding that chlorogenic acids were a major source of the antioxidant activity in the fruit. Consuming fresh plums may be a challenge because they’re seasonal, so converting the juice extract into powder is a common strategy.
Drying, however, may affect the polyphenols present and influence the various ways plum inhibits the growth of foodborne pathogens. Plum extract powders, for instance, showed greater anti-inflammatory activity depending on the treatment and temperature used in the drying process.
8. Lung Cancer Benefits
In probing the underlying effects of purified plum polyphenols on human lung cancer cells, scientists concluded that there is a potential for the polyphenols to be an effective dietary intervention for cancer or during chemotherapy.9. Weight Loss Support
In a study, researchers evaluated the effects of water-extracted plum on adiposity and inflammation in cells, analyzing aspects such as total phenolic and flavonoid content along with antioxidant activity.Their results emphasized the potential for plums to be a natural agent in preventing and improving obesity. Snacking on dried plums may also increase satiety as well as decrease subsequent food intake, helping control obesity.
