Health Benefits of Plum Fruits for human body is very amazing, especially for preventing cancer. You call it plum when it is fresh, and you call it prune when it is dried, but both of them are full of nutrients. So no matter which type that you eat, you can still reap the benefits. The juicy taste of plum is addicting. You might find it tart sometimes, but when it is sweet, you can enjoy it again and again instead of eating the fatty potato chips. Available in different sizes and a range of colors, here are some great benefits of plum that will not only influence your body, but also your skin and hair.
With their high antioxidants, plums are able preventing you from cancer. Antioxidant works by fighting the free radicals, which are the main contribution for cancer. Also, with the help of phytonutrient and anthocyanin contained, plums can be used as a powerful cancer prevention to keep you healthy. However, they don’t work for all kinds of cancers, only certain types including gastrointestinal cancer, respiratory tract cancer, liver cancer and breast cancer.
The way plums prevent your body from cancer is also not an instant treatment. By stopping the cancer cells from growing, plums work slowly and it takes time to get everything fixed up. Also, cancer doesn’t happen automatically. Usually it takes several years to find out its existence as it grows silently. By consuming plums you can at least try to keep your body saved from cancer. If there are cancer cells, plums can help killing them without providing some side effects like hair thinning, just like what chemotherapy does. The effectiveness of plums in preventing cancer has been even proved by some studies and they are claimed to be able killing the cancerous cells without destroying the healthy ones.
Some studies mentioned that dried plums are great for maintaining bone’s health by keeping its density. Reduced bone’s mass is one of the causes of osteoporosis due to the bone’s fragility. It happens more in women than men because they tend to be prone of osteoporosis after getting their menopause. By consuming dried plums, you can keep your bone healthy and prevent osteoporosis as they have some nutrition your bone needs including vitamin K, potassium and copper.
Potassium is a very important nutrient for the bone because it can protect the bone from being weak and getting fractures. Also, the boron, flavonoids and phenolic in dried plums play a significant role in preserving the density of the bones. So as the bone is aging, you can still restore its density by regularly consuming plums.
The high level of cholesterol in your body can be bad for your overall health, especially the heart. Cholesterol is actually essential for your body, but when it is too high, the arteries are in danger. One of the most effective ways to reduce the amount of cholesterol in your blood is by consuming fiber and you can find it in plum fruit.
Feeling exhausted is normal, but when it comes too long, you might get your activities distracted due to the lacking of energy. Thanks to the natural tranquilizers contained in plums, simply eating them five a day can help you fight with tiredness. By eating them the muscles can be relaxed for a while so the tension can be removed and you can recharge your energy for enjoying the rest of the day.
As has been mentioned above that plums are great in lowering cholesterol, it also influences the cardiovascular health. Due to the anti-inflammatory effects contained, plums are good in dealing with cardiovascular-related problems such as diabetes and cholesterol. Moreover, plums also provide vitamin K, which is essential in preventing heart attack. This vitamin can carry out the calcium in the arteries so that it won’t form hard plaque that leads to heart attack. Studies also mentioned that vitamin K is excellent in protecting the arteries and veins, so that’s why this vitamin is also great to keep the blood pressure normal. Why not consume this super fruit when all those huge benefits can be reaped at a time?
Health Benefits of Plum Fruits is one solution for digestive system. If you usually use psyllium husk for regulating your digestive system and treating constipation, now you can get the same effect simply by eating prunes or dried plums. This is because they contain isatin and sorbitol that can flush out the fluids and make your digestive system regular. Moreover, prunes are also rich in dietary fiber with round three grams for every four prunes. Not only are the prunes, the plums themselves also rich in both insoluble and soluble fiber. Plum’s pulps can turn into a mass, which traps the toxins, sugars and fats in the body so that they can be moved easily. That is why plums are good for the cholesterol and cardiovascular. Plum is nutritious even its skin because it contains insoluble fiber. When it is eaten, the fiber won’t dissolve so that it can clean the lining of your digestive tract to remove the toxins and plaques. Now if you want your digestive system to be healthy and your blood sugar to be steady, eat them.
Starting from the digestive system, plums can also make your metabolism boosted. With the fiber is able getting rid of the toxins inside the body as well as losing your weight, the metabolism can be naturally boosted. The antioxidants in plums are the ones that remove the toxin away so that you can prevent some digestive-related diseases such as colon cancer and diarrhea.
People who are lacking of vitamin C should consume more plums to prevent their immune systems from being weakened. Stress and environment can influence your immune system, so if you don’t consume healthy foods you are putting your immune system at risk. As one of high-in-vitamin-C foods, plums can be consumed regularly to provide what your body needs. When your immune system is boosted, you can protect your body from a various inflammations and infections.
The high level of potassium in plums can help balancing the electrolytes in your body so that the cells can work well. Moreover, potassium is needed for keeping your muscle from contraction after doing exercises.
Still talking about its vitamin C content, plumps can improve the blood circulation as it can help the body absorb iron better. Iron is very important in red blood cells forming so that the blood can be properly supplied throughout the body parts and cells.
Not only beneficial for the health, vitamin C is also essential for the skin. This vitamin can prevent wrinkles on your skin, according to a study. This is also helpful in fighting with redness and scar on the skin. When you get your skin wounded, vitamin C can help healing it.
Your cognitive health can be maintained by eating plums since they have flavonoids for aging protection. When the neurological areas are inflamed or aging, you might get some problems in memorizing things or even risks of developing Alzheimer. Consuming plums regularly is helpful in preventing such problems and keeping your brain healthy.
The reason why eating plums can eliminate the feeling of anxiety is because their contents of chlorogenic acids and anxiolytic effects. This benefit has been even proved by some studies that those properties are great in reducing anxiety, so whenever you feel stress and anxious, take some bites of plums and get better.
Plums are sweet, but tart. The unique flavor of plums is great to be added in some types of foods and desserts. You can add them to make jellies or puddings, eat them fresh or even turn them into juice. Even the juice concentrate of plums are excellent for filling. If you want to make granola bars, use it as well to bind all the ingredients together. They will turn out just great. You can just get as creative as possible to include plums in your meals so you can keep them healthy, yet tasty.
The scars on your skin might make you feel unconfident, but don’t worry. You don’t have to buy expensive scar removal products because plums can help you remove those scars with their antioxidants, vitamin E and C. These properties stimulate the new skin development so that your scars can be slowly removed.
Not only for the skin, but plums are also great for your hair. You might once in your life had your hair strong, shiny and healthy, but as you are aging, the free radicals and dust in your environment crush them all. As a result, your hair will be thin, dull and truly uninteresting. So go get them away by using vitamin E contained in plums to let your hair shine again.
The nervous system regulates your sleep, concentration and appetite. When it doesn’t function properly, then those controlled items will not work well too. Plums have amino acid and tryptophan that can produce the serotonin, the one that helps the nervous system function better.
Although it has been mentioned before that plums are good in preventing constipation due to their fiber content, there is more explanation about this benefit. Not only the fibers and not just the dried plums or prunes having such benefit, but consuming fresh plums are also good for your bowel because they carry minerals that can help reducing the gas in the stomach.
So, why does your body needs to absorb iron better? Because it plays a significant role in obtaining vitamin C. Everyone knows how important vitamin C is for the immune system. By guarding the immune system from free radicals, you can keep many diseases related with infections and inflammations at bay. Vitamin C is recommended to be consumed to keep you healthy from some deathly illnesses such as cancer.
Now that you know all those great benefits of plums for your body, skin and hair, you can include this healthy fruit in your meals, snacks or desserts just to add more nutrition to them.
If you are getting bored of just eating the fresh plumps again and again, here are some ideas of how to eat plums in a fun way.
Make this healthy dessert for your family and your kids will surely love it. You don’t have to make it from the scratch, just buy the store-bought pastry and start baking. Add some other ingredients like almond if you like it to make it nutty. You can just use almost any ingredient that you love as long as it is healthy.
Use any vanilla cake recipe that you like and add some cut plums on top of your cake batter as the topping. You will bake the plums and the cake together and finally you will find them very soft and tasty. It is better to use Italian plums for the best result.
This recipe is very simple and easy. You only need to grill your kale quickly to make it crispy and then mix it with ricotta cheese and plums. The plums have to be seasoned first with olive oil, salt, honey, thyme, vinegar and pepper to make them taste delicious. It turns out great at the end and you don’t even need to spend hours in the kitchen.
After the cake and the tart, now you get the pie and it is just as good as those. Buy a store-bought pie crust to make it easy and prepare the plums for the pie filling. You need to toast them first to make them soft and that is why finding the appropriate recipe is needed.
Ready for your breakfast? You have this awesome plum bruschetta that will really make your day. You can firstly toss the plums and cherries together added with vanilla bean seeds, sugar, salt and oil until they release juices. Have your toast spread with ricotta cheese and then topped with your plums. They are just so delicious and healthy.
Plums are sweet, but they still have some side effects you need to pay attention so that you won’t eat them too much.
1. Interfering Certain Medications
One of the plum benefits you can obtain is that they can lower your blood sugar. For people with high blood sugar this will be very great, but those who are going to have a surgery shouldn’t eat this. So if you are taking certain medications, confirm to your doctor first of whether or not eating plums is good for you.
2. Containing High Calories
If you eat fresh plums, you might not get as much as calories contained in prunes. However, since plums are not available all the year, then you might have to eat prunes instead. There are around 240 kCal of energy in just every 100 grams of prunes. This is a quite high calorie amount from a fruit because people usually don’t expect that much. You eat fruit because this is healthy and low calories, so when it has that high amount of calorie, would you still include it in your diet?
3. Increasing the Risk of Kidney Stones
How could that healthy food increase your risk of having a kidney stone? The answer is because its high amount of oxalate. This makes your body cant properly absorb calcium and leave it into deposits. These two things lead to kidney stone that you must be aware of. So if you are prone to this, ensure that you check with your doctor first.
Both the benefits and side effects from plums are important to find out so that you know how to eat them and how much you should limit your consumption. Eat them properly, reap the benefits and prevent the side effects.