Prunes are dried plums that taste sweet and chewy without any added sugar. They are not only a tasty snack but also full of important nutrients.
Prunes provide vitamin B6, manganese, and copper, which help the body turn food into energy.
They also contain vitamins and antioxidants that help the immune system and protect our cells from damage. This keeps the body strong and helps prevent illness.
Fruits and vegetables, like prunes, are known to help lower blood pressure. Keeping blood pressure at a healthy level is important for heart health. High blood pressure can lead to serious problems like heart attacks and strokes.
Researchers at Shifa College of Medicine recently studied how prunes can help the heart, especially by lowering blood pressure. They worked with 259 people who had different levels of blood pressure. These people were split into groups. Some ate prunes or drank prune juice every day. Others just drank plain water on an empty stomach.
The results were encouraging. People who ate prunes had lower blood pressure than those who only drank water. Even eating just three prunes a day made a big difference. People who ate six prunes daily saw a bigger drop in systolic blood pressure.
Systolic pressure is the force of blood in the arteries when the heart beats. Diastolic pressure is the force when the heart rests between beats. Lowering both is good for heart health.
The study also looked at cholesterol, which affects the heart too. There are two main types of cholesterol. HDL is called “good” cholesterol because it helps remove harmful cholesterol from the body. LDL is the “bad” cholesterol that can build up in the arteries and cause problems.
In the study, people who didn’t eat prunes had an increase in good HDL cholesterol. But those who did eat prunes had lower total cholesterol, including less bad LDL cholesterol. This means prunes might help protect the heart by lowering harmful cholesterol levels.
This study shows that adding prunes to your daily diet could be a simple way to care for your heart. Just a few prunes each day may help manage blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. Making small changes to your routine—like snacking on prunes or adding them to meals—can lead to better health over time.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about How to eat your way to healthy blood pressure and results showing that Modified traditional Chinese cuisine can lower blood pressure.
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