Contents:
- Medical Video: Everything You Need to Know About the Keto Diet
- What are the benefits of plums for health?
- 1. Maintain a healthy digestive system
- 2. Lower cholesterol
- 3. Contains high antioxidants
- 4. Maintain heart health
- 5. Prevent anemia
- 6. Treat osteoporosis
- 7. Lower blood sugar
- 8. Reducing the risk of COPD
- 9. Reduces the risk of colon cancer
- 10. Increases brain sharpness
- 11. Lose weight
- Don't eat plums
Medical Video: Everything You Need to Know About the Keto Diet
Plums are one of the superfood foods. Plums belong to the Rosaceae family which also includes peaches, apricots and nectarines. Here are eleven benefits of plums for health.
What are the benefits of plums for health?
1. Maintain a healthy digestive system
The best known benefit of plums is its ability to prevent constipation. Plum fruit fibers compress the faecal mass and expedite the discharging process, thereby reducing the risk of colon cancer and hemorrhoids.
Meanwhile, insoluble plum fiber is responsible for providing food for good bacteria that live in the large intestine, thus helping to preserve the population. Good bacteria in the intestine produce short chain fatty acids called butyric acids. Butyric acid serves as the main fuel for cells of the large intestine and helps maintain the health of its organs.
The good bacteria in the intestine create two other short chain fatty acids, propionic and acetic acids, which are used as fuel by the cells of the liver and muscles. These friendly bacteria also fight pathogenic bacteria that cause disease and prevent them from surviving in the digestive tract.
2. Lower cholesterol
The propionic acid produced by plum fiber is a type of insoluble fiber. Medical evidence has reported that propionic acid has cholesterol-lowering properties. In animal studies, propionic acid has been shown to inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme involved in the production of cholesterol by the liver.
By reducing the activity of this enzyme, propionic acid helps reduce blood cholesterol by binding to bile acids and removing them from the body through feces. Bile acid is a compound used to digest fats produced by the liver from cholesterol. When bile acids are excreted along with plum fibers, the liver must produce new bile acids and break down more cholesterol, thereby reducing the amount of cholesterol in circulation. Soluble fiber can also reduce the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver.
3. Contains high antioxidants
Plums contain unique phytonutrients called neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acids. Both of these substances are classified as phenols. Phenol is one type of antioxidant that has been proven to be able to neutralize harmful free radicals called superoxide anion radicals. Phenol is also proven to help prevent damage to oxygen in fat. Body cells, including brain cells and molecules such as cholesterol, are mostly composed of fat, so it is important to prevent free radical damage to fat.
4. Maintain heart health
Plum is a good source of potassium, an electrolyte that helps in various vital body functions. This mineral helps maintain heart rhythms, nerve impulses, heart muscle contractions, and blood pressure which can reduce the risk of stroke. Because the body does not produce potassium naturally, for that routine consuming plums or juice versions can help you meet your body's daily potassium needs. What's more, natural plums, anthocyanin, can protect against cancer by neutralizing harmful free radicals.
5. Prevent anemia
Shortness of breath, irritability, pale skin, and fatigue are signs of mild anemia. Anemia occurs when the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells. To make healthy red blood cells, your body needs enough iron intake. Plum is a great source of iron and can help prevent and treat iron deficiency. Two hundred and fifty grams of plum contains 0.81 milligrams of iron, which provides 4.5 percent of the body's daily iron requirements.
6. Treat osteoporosis
Dried plums are an important source of boron minerals, which can help build strong bones and muscles. Boron can also help improve mental acuity and muscle coordination.
Plum is even believed to have the potential to treat osteoporosis. A joint study from Florida State University and Oklahoma State University shows evidence that dry plums can prevent loss of bone mass in postmenopausal women who are prone to osteoporosis.The benefits of plums for bone health also include fighting the process of loss of bone density due to radiation in the bone marrow.
7. Lower blood sugar
Plum is a food that has a low glycemic index level. This means that these foods can help you control your blood sugar levels and reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
8. Reducing the risk of COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema, is a type of chronic disease that causes respiratory problems. There are many causes of COPD, but smoking is currently the source of the direct causes of these two diseases.
A new study reports that foods containing polyphenols, including antioxidants, can reduce the risk of COPD. Plums contain high antioxidants, which can fight the damage caused by smoking by neutralizing oxidation stress. This can help reduce the possibility of emphysema, COPD, and lung cancer, although there are no studies that specifically observe plums for lung health.
9. Reduces the risk of colon cancer
Colon cancer is often difficult to detect, but its development can be very malignant. Eating foods high in antioxidants can help reduce your risk of this cancer.
A recent study conducted by Texas A & M University and the University of North Carolina determined that eating dried plums increases the population of good bacteria in the large intestine. This, in turn, can reduce the risk of colon cancer.
10. Increases brain sharpness
Apart from playing a role in fighting free radicals in the body that can trigger cancer, important antioxidants from plums can prevent senility because they help neutralize free radicals that damage brain cells. To get the benefits of this plum fruit, it is enough to routinely eat 3-4 fruits a day.
11. Lose weight
Plums can help you manage your weight. The reason is this dark purple fruit that contains a lot of fiber and has a low glycemic index. The density of plum fruit fibers is slow to be digested by the body while the low glycemic index acts to regulate the release of blood sugar levels, making you full longer. Plum contains natural sorbitol, sugar alcohol with a slow absorption rate in the body.
Don't eat plums
Interested in starting to eat plums? But don't be overwhelming, yes! Excessive consumption of plums can cause flatulence and constipation. Excessive fiber intake can also cause diarrhea.
