Eating Dates Protects Against Arterial Clogging

Eating 100 g of dates a day does not cause an increase in blood sugar and can even improve the quality of cholesterol in the blood. This is what researchers from the Technion and the Rambam Medical Center found in research they did that’s about to be published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

The study was led by Prof. Michael Aviram of the Technion's Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and the Rambam Medical Center who has been researching for many years the health benefits of fruits and vegetables and was the first to cite the pomegranate, red wine (grapes) and olive oil in suppressing the development of heart disease and stroke. This new study highlights the health benefits of eating dates — improving the quality of cholesterol in the blood by delaying its oxidation.

"Oxidation of cholesterol is of central importance in its absorption in the artery wall and could cause blockage of the blood supply to the heart and brain, a phenomenon that causes heart attack or stroke," explains Prof. Aviram. "Now it is the turn of the date to be researched," says Prof. Aviram. "The suspicion has arisen that since we are talking about a "sugar bomb," a diet rich in dates could bring about an increase in blood sugar level. In research done on healthy subjects, it was found that eating 100 g of dates daily for one month did not cause an increase in blood sugar levels. Not only was this found, but the level of fats (triglycerides) in the blood decreased significantly, as well as the amount of oxidation of fats in the blood."

In this research, the Halawy and Medjool dates were studied and it was found that the Halawy has slightly better health properties than the Medjool. Thus, the date joins the list of fruits that protect against atherosclerosis.

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