The significant potassium content in dates, as well as the high levels of soluble fiber in the fruit, can treat constipation (8). Dates are essentially a perfect and tasty digestive regulator!
3. Prevent and Treat Gastric Ulcers
Dates are soothing on your digestive tract and have been used for centuries as a home remedy for ulcers. One 2005 study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacy confirms that dates do in fact have the ability to soothe inflamed ulcers in your digestive tract.
Researchers said, “The results indicated that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the date fruit and, to a lesser extent, date pits, were effective in ameliorating the severity of gastric ulceration and mitigating the ethanol-induced increase in histamine and gastrin concentrations, and the decrease in mucin gastric levels.” (9)
In fact, the study even showed that eating dates was more effective for treating ulcers than a common drug, lansoprazole.
4. Facilitates Labor
This benefit may be a bit surprising to some people, but it goes back centuries. In Islam, the Koran states that Allah told the Virgin Mary to eat dates when she gave birth to Jesus (10). As such, dates are commonly used by pregnant women in Muslim culture. There is science to back this claim, however.
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A 2011 study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology titled, “The effect of late pregnancy consumption of date fruit on labor and delivery,” showed that women who ate 6 dates daily for 4 weeks prior to their scheduled due date, had significantly improved cervical dilation when in labor. They also experienced less damage to their cervical membranes after giving birth.
Plus, the study concluded they went into more spontaneous labor (98 percent compared to 79 percent) and only 28 percent of women needed drugs like prostin/oxytocin to induce labor. In fact, researchers say it was significantly lower as 47 percent of non-date fruit consumers needed this medication. Finally, women who ate dates experienced an overall shorter labor (11).
5. Prevent Cancer
