Prunes are loaded with powerful anti-oxidants, vitamins and other nutrients. They make amazing low-calorie snacks and help check countless chronic lifestyle disorders.Here is some information about Prunes and their health benefits

What are Prunes?: Prunes and Health

Prunes are essentially dried plums, just like, raisins are dried grapes. The well-liked brands of the dried fruit are manufactured from European plums. Plums are dried at about 90 degrees Celsius, in hot air, for about 18 hours, and that’s how prunes are manufactured.

Prunes present extraordinary and incredible health benefits. They have been proved to be of invaluable assistance in,

1. Key symptoms of menopause  which include headaches, hot flushes, anxiety and depression
2. Prunes improve gastrointestinal health as they are loaded with dietary fiber
3. Prunes control serum cholesterol levels and are beneficial in preventing cardiovascular and coronary artery disease
4. Prunes also play a vital role in fighting osteoporosis, particularly, osteoporosis linked with aging and menopause.
5. This fruit is also known to exert strong anti-cancer effects.

Prunes Nutrition to Promote Health: Nutritional Facts about Prunes

Prunes are loaded with vitamins and minerals that are considered to be very beneficial in enhancing the overall health of an individual. Here are some important nutrients that are found in the prunes,

• Prunes provide abundant amounts of vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Thiamine and Riboflavin. These vitamins are important to enhance health and vital in supporting tissue regeration
• Prunes are also loaded with Boron and Phenolic compounds,  which are powerful anti-oxidants and play a cruical role in preventing cancers
• Prunes are loaded with dietary fiber, which helps improve digestive functions.

Health Benefits of Prunes: Health Promoting Action of Prunes

Prunes exert a strong health promoting action on the body. Here are some key health benefits of including prunes in your routine diet,

• Prunes Help Manage Complaints of Menopause Effectively: Research and clinical studies verify that, an adequate intake of prunes, on a daily basis, by menopausal women, augments the presence of growth factors and enzymes that promote bone growth. Osteoporosis or bone de-mineralization is strongly linked to menopause. Thus, prunes increase bone health and prevent the susceptibility to fractures. What’s more, the high anti-oxidant content prevents the development of cancer. Vitamin A, vitamin B complex and iron check anemia, hot flushes, tingling numbness and mood swings successfully.

• Prunes Promote Colon Health: Prunes ease the most stubborn and long standing instances of constipation, effortlessly. Prunes supply ample dietary fiber. Fiber adds weight to the stools, softens them and speeds up the expulsion of the toxic wastes, by reducing the passage time. Prunes help to detoxify the colon, by sweeping all old built up fecal matter, toxins and slush. More over, the beneficial bacteria present in the gut, make use of the fiber and synthesize butyric acid, the principal energy-source that helps sustain optimal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

• Prunes Help Lower Serum Cholesterol Level:The potent anti-oxidants of the fruit avert free-radical damage. They prevent the oxidation of the low density lipoprotein, (LDL or the bad cholesterol), and hence, shield the heart and blood vessels from grave injury, and help ward off cardiovascular diseases.

Quick Serve Prunes Recipes: Including Prunes in Your Dialy Diet

While buying prunes, make sure that they are totally blemish free and have a blackish-blue skin. The fruit should be to some extent elastic. Several dishes, both, savory and confectionary, taste wonderful and scrumptious, when prunes are added. Importantly, the nutritional quality of the dish is stepped up appreciably. Here are a few suggestions :

• Add chopped prunes to yogurt, milkshakes and smoothies.
• Diced prunes make wonderful additions to home baked whole wheat breads, muffins, cookies and cakes.
• Prunes also create a delectable filling for poultry dishes.