No bones about it: Eating dried plums helps prevent fractures and osteoporosis

[Celebration]

This ought to get people going. :silly:

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-bones-dried-plums-fractures-osteoporosis.html

"Over my career, I have tested numerous fruits, including figs, dates, strawberries and raisins, and none of them come anywhere close to having the effect on bone density that dried plums, or prunes, have," said Bahram H. Arjmandi, Florida State's Margaret A. Sitton Professor and chairman of the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in the College of Human Sciences. "All fruits and vegetables have a positive effect on nutrition, but in terms of bone health, this particular food is exceptional."

Arjmandi and a group of researchers from Florida State and Oklahoma State University tested two groups of postmenopausal women. Over a 12-month period, the first group, consisting of 55 women, was instructed to consume 100 grams of dried plums (about 10 prunes) each day, while the second — a comparative control group of 45 women — was told to consume 100 grams of dried apples. All of the study's participants also received daily doses of calcium (500 milligrams) and vitamin D (400 international units).

The group that consumed dried plums had significantly higher bone mineral density in the ulna (one of two long bones in the forearm) and spine, in comparison with the group that ate dried apples. This, according to Arjmandi, was due in part to the ability of dried plums to suppress the rate of bone resorption, or the breakdown of bone, which tends to exceed the rate of new bone growth as people age.

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"Don't wait until you get a fracture or you are diagnosed with osteoporosis and have to have prescribed medicine," Arjmandi said. "Do something meaningful and practical beforehand. People could start eating two to three dried plums per day and increase gradually to perhaps six to 10 per day. Prunes can be eaten in all forms and can be included in a variety of recipes."

[demosincebirth]

1. Never heard of dried plums. If it's referring to dried prunes, don't over eat

'em. They'll do more than help your bones.

[izquierdista]

2. "Dried prune" is a redundancy

Fresh plums, when dried, are referred to as prunes. The type commonly dried and boxed up as prunes is the Italian Prune Plum, if you want another example of redundancy. Also, plums tend to have pits with clinging flesh, while prunes are usually freestone.

[demosincebirth]

14. When I was young, in California, I picked prunes and worked in a drying shed. I also

picked plums and they went straight to market. Back then they were two different fruits and I'm pretty sure they still are. They used to call us Mexicans "prune pickers" Kind of a derogatory term. Also, I know that if you eat enough of both of them you'd better have a toilet near by. That was my original point.

[jberryhill]

17. Oh yeah, then what is prune juice?

Is prune juice what comes out of a plum to make it a prune?

If not, then why not have plum juice? Seems like starting with a dried plum to get juice would be a roundabout thing to do.

[demosincebirth]

20. Good point!

[razorman]

7. Actually, prunes are dried plums, as raisins are dried grapes.

[demosincebirth]

15. Thats funny, as a young man, I used to pick prunes at one orchard and plums in another We .

dried prunes and plums went straight to market.

[eShirl]

21. I'd guess one variety was better for eating fresh, another for drying

Like there are some apple varieties that are great for pie, but way too sour for me to want to eat fresh.

[jberryhill]

18. Ever drink raisin juice?

How about plum juice?

[razorman]

19. Maybe raisins are what's left after grape juice is extracted. I don't know the actual process.

[gateley]

3. The earth provides everything we need. nt

[gateley]

4. I wonder if the drying makes it more efficacious than just eating the

plum? I like the taste of plums better than prunes, but eating 10 plums a day might be a bit much.

[Demoiselle]

5. I have always, I mean ALWAYS LOVED prunes!!

I am perfectly willing to put in a little more time in the bathroom....

[starroute]

11. I'm another life-long prune lover

So now I've got an excuse.

And I've found that if I eat a few more of them, my digestion adapts pretty quickly.

[kestrel91316]

6. 10 prunes a day might be a tad more than my GI tract would be happy with, lol.

That dad-gummed laxative effect. Sigh.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. Prune kolaches are great too!

I love prunes because they're sweet.

[Odin2005]

9. They also give you the shits.

[Historic NY]

10. Too bad it doesn't include plum wine....

had friends husband & wife who made a wicked plum wine using Queen Ann plums....fortified with gin or vodka.

[mod mom]

12. I read an article on non-sorbate prunes after my husband had a bone graft following a

Cervical spinal cord injury. I joined him for osteo porosis reasons. I find non sorbate prunes at Trader Joes, for anyone interested.

[Celebration]

16. Do you eat ten a day?

That seems like a lot...........

[SheilaT]

13. I'm always amazed at various studies

that purport to show that some one magical food cures whatever ails you.

Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly fruits and vegetables. Hasn't someone recently said that?

The other thing we'll do in this country is demonize some food, declaring no one should eat it. I've had some interesting discussions with gluten intolerant folks who have come to believe that no one should ever consume any foods containing gluten.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I don't often eat plums or prunes, and a couple of years ago when I tripped over my own feet in my driveway and broke an arm (non-displaced, hairline fracture), the doctor who looked at the x-ray made a point of saying I have absolutely no signs of bone thinning. I was already 61 when it happened. Then again, I've never smoked and I don't drink diet soft drinks, which leach calcium from the bones.