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No Bones About It: Eating Dried Plums
Helps Prevent Fractures and Osteoporosis
Source:
Florida State University
Posted on
August 24, 2011 |
When it
comes to improving bone health in postmenopausal women —
and people of all ages, actually — a Florida State
University researcher has found a simple, proactive
solution to help prevent fractures and osteoporosis:
eating dried plums, according to a study from Florida
State University on August 17, 2011.
"Over my career, I have tested numerous fruits,
including figs, dates, strawberries and raisins, and
none of them come anywhere close to having the effect on
bone density that dried plums, or prunes, have," said
Bahram H. Arjmandi, Florida State's Margaret A. Sitton
Professor and chairman of the Department of Nutrition,
Food and Exercise Sciences
in the College of Human Sciences. "All fruits and
vegetables have a positive effect on nutrition, but in
terms of bone health, this particular food is
exceptional."
Arjmandi and a group of researchers from Florida State
and Oklahoma State University tested two groups of
postmenopausal women. Over a 12-month period, the first
group, consisting of 55 women, was instructed to consume
100 grams of dried plums (about 10 prunes) each day,
while the second — a comparative control group of 45
women — was told to consume 100 grams of dried apples.
All of the study's participants also received daily
doses of calcium (500 milligrams) and vitamin D (400
international units).
The
group that consumed dried plums had significantly higher
bone mineral density in the ulna (one of two long bones
in the forearm) and spine, in comparison with the group
that ate dried apples. This, according to Arjmandi, was
due in part to the ability of dried plums to suppress
the rate of bone resorption, or the breakdown of bone,
which tends to exceed the rate of new bone growth as
people age.
The
group's research, "Comparative Effects of Dried Plum and
Dried Apple on Bone in Post Menopausal Women ," was
published in the British Journal of Nutrition
Arjmandi conducted the research with his graduate
students Shirin Hooshmand, Sheau C. Chai and Raz L.
Saadat of the College of Human Sciences; Dr. Kenneth
Brummel-Smith, Florida State's Charlotte Edwards Maguire
Professor and chairman of the Department of Geriatrics
in the College of Medicine; and Oklahoma State
University statistics Professor Mark E. Payton.
In the
United States, about 8 million women have osteoporosis
because of the sudden cessation of ovarian hormone
production at the onset of menopause. What's more, about
2 million men also have osteoporosis.
"In the
first five to seven postmenopausal years, women are at
risk of losing bone at a rate of 3 to 5 percent per
year," Arjmandi said. "However, osteoporosis is not
exclusive to women and, indeed, around the age of 65,
men start losing bone with the same rapidity as women."
Arjmandi encourages people who are interested in
maintaining or improving their bone health to take note
of the extraordinarily positive effect that dried plums
have on bone density.
"Don't
wait until you get a fracture or you are diagnosed with
osteoporosis and have to have prescribed medicine,"
Arjmandi said. "Do something meaningful and practical
beforehand. People could start eating two to three dried
plums per day and increase gradually to perhaps six to
10 per day. Prunes can be eaten in all forms and can be
included in a variety of recipes."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture funded
Arjmandi's research. The California Dried Plum Board
provided the dried plums for the study, as well as some
funding to measure markers of oxidative stress.
(Source:
Florida State University's press release, Aug. 17, 2011)
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