In a study from the University of Reading, scientists found that eating dates could help boost gut flora growth and large intestinal health.
The human body’s largest population of microorganisms resides in the intestine and is collectively called the gut microbiota.
The gut microbiota provides essential capacities for the fermentation of non-digestible substrates such as dietary fibers.
Previous research has found a link between the increased presence of certain bacteria in a gut microbiome and colon cancer. They also found that eating plant-based foods is linked to a reduction in the risk in colon cancer.
Dates are considered a staple food item in the Middle East and North Africa, and are also imported in Europe, the UK and USA.
Dates are a moderate source of vitamin B6 and the dietary minerals magnesium, manganese, and potassium, with other micronutrients in low amounts.
Research has shown that dates are in disease-fighting antioxidants, may improve brain health, improve bone health and help control blood sugar.
Dates also contain big amounts of polyphenols, compounds that offer a wide variety of health benefits, such as better digestion and cancer prevention.
In the current study, the team examined whether eating dates could boost the growth of gut microbiota and reduce the risks of colon cancer.
They tested 22 healthy volunteers. These people were assigned to either a control group or a group eating seven dates, approximately 50 g for 21 days. Each group was separated by a 14-d washout period in a cross-over manner.
The team found that although eating dates did not induce big changes in the growth of bacterial groups, there were big increases in bowel movements and stool frequency in the group of the date.
In addition, there were big reductions in stool ammonia concentration after the consumption of dates.
This suggests that daily consumption of seven pieces of date fruit could provide the gut microbiota energy supply and reduce toxic metabolites.
Furthermore, the team found eating date fruit strongly reduced toxic damage to DNA.
These findings suggest that eating date fruit may reduce colon cancer risk without inducing changes in the gut microbiota.
The team suggests that the current study is considered a preliminary one that shows a possible feature of date fruits in boosting colon movements and metabolism and in reducing toxicity.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies that whole grain foods could help increase longevity, and vitamin D supplements strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about plant nutrient that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The research is published in the British Journal of Nutrition and was conducted by Noura Eid et al.
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