The 411 on Dates

Today we’re talking all about dates. No, not the outings you go on after meeting someone on Bumble or Tinder. I’m talking about dates, the food! Now I’ll be the first to admit that I originally wasn’t going to do this post. I thought to myself, “Dates are probably the most un-photogenic food I could possibly blog about.” Haha, Blogger problems. But then I realized that this post HAD to happen. Photogenic or not. This information you have to know. 

What are Dates?

Without boring you to tears, dates come from a flowering plant species in the palm family. There are many different types of dates, but the kind you’ll likely find in the grocery store are medjool. This type of date is grown mainly in Morocco, but is also grown in places like the USA, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. 

Dates are a great source of energy and fiber, and contain vitamins such as thiamin, folate, vitamin K and vitamin A. They also contain essential minerals like calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc. 

Why are They Awesome? 

Dates can help with a bunch of issues, but today I’m going to cover digestion, energy, cholesterol and allergies. 

First up, let’s talk digestion. I have a pretty terrible digestion system, as many of you know. So when I find foods that can help ease my pain, I research and research some more to get more details on why and how they work. Dates contain a lot of soluble fiber and potassium which helps get things moving, if you know what I mean. Win/win for everyone. 

Now I don’t know about you, but around 2PM every day, I start to crash. It’s my afternoon slump. Because of this, I like to get all of my important to-dos done in the morning hours. But sometimes this isn’t always feasible. Things come up, and important work needs to be done at all hours. Dates can help with that! They are a great snack for boosting energy because they are filled with natural sugars: fructose, sucrose and glucose. The sugars mixed with the fiber helps keep energy levels high, but won’t give you a crash like you’d typically get from just eating a candy bar.

Moving right along to cholesterol. A lot of you are in your twenties, so you probably don’t think you have to worry about heart health and high cholesterol, but there’s nothing that I love more than prevention! Basically, what happens is bad cholesterol (LDL) can collect on your blood vessel walls and cause blockages. This puts you at a greater risk for a heart attack. Eating dates can help lower cholesterol and prevent this from occurring. 

A lot of Americans suffer from seasonal allergies (10-30% of the population!). If you do some Googling, there are loads of ways to help lessen the this annoyance. But since this whole article is about dates, we’re obviously highlighting them. Dates contain organic sulfur, which isn’t a common element to find in food. According to this study, sulfur can help reduce seasonal allergies. I understand that it’s just one study, but it’s pretty interesting stuff so take it for what it is.  

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