Dates with the Latin name of Phoenix dactylifera is a plant that is famous and popular with its unique fruit. They are rich in nutrients, including carbohydrates, fiber, protein, vitamin C, manganese, water, and a little fat. Dates are scattered throughout the Middle East, and other regions with a hot temperature.
The taste of dates that are legit and sweet is unquestionable. But what about the nutritional content of the fruit?
The type of carbohydrate in the dates itself is simple carbohydrates that are glucose and fructose. Glucose is a carbohydrate that is ready to absorb and needs insulin in its absorption, while fructose is the sugar found in the fruit.
To get into the cell, fructose does not need insulin, thus the dates are safe for people with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). In addition, dates also contain vitamins A, C, B complex, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid.
And this fruit is also enriched with minerals such as potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, selenium, magnesium, sodium, cobalt, and zinc.
Dates do not contain fat, free of saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium so it is a good source of fiber for the body. And dates also contain potassium and manganese.
Even according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), dates have a higher total polyphenol than your usual fruit or vegetable consumption.
This is because the environment where dates grow is a dry environment like the desert so that polyphenols are more formed as a form of protection of dates from stress. Dates are also the fruit with the least moisture content of 15-30% only which varies according to the level of maturity.
Based on the research of scientists, all types of dates are rich in protein, sugar fiber, vitamins A and C, as well as minerals, such as iron, calcium, sodium, potassium. Protein content in dates by 1.8-2 percent. While palm fiber contains 2-4 percent and sugar by 50-70 percent glucose.
Dates become a fruit that is very suitable for consumption by anyone without any age difference. Even to children, dates give benefits to educate the brain. Are they any other health benefits of dates we should know about? Let’s take a closer look.
1. Improves Health and Bone Growth
The process of health and bone growth of children can not be underestimated because it will greatly affect their future. Just like benefits of jin jun mei tea, to help children’s bone health, Moms and Dads can try to invite their children to consume dates regularly.
One of the main ingredients contained in dates are magnesium, copper, and manganese. These very contents are very useful for bone health, you know.
Not only that, there are also about 140 milligrams of potassium content in dates that can increase bone density by reducing the amount of calcium discarded by the kidneys.
2. Helps Children’s Immunity
Other than health benefits of dates with honey, one of the benefits of dates for other children is to help adequate intake of vitamins and increase their immune power. Date fruit is one of the fruits rich in vitamins.
There are vitaminS C, B1, B3, B3 to B5 which are certainly very useful for children’s immune ability.
3. Smoothen Digestion
Not a few parents are worried about their child’s digestive abilities. Food consumed by children can be one of the aspects that affect the child’s digestive power.
If the food consumed has a small fiber content, this can make the child’s digestion work more heavily. That’s why, you need a cure for this, a delicious one like the health benefits of plum cakes.
One of the benefits of dates for children is to have a high fiber content. If your child regularly consumes dates, the fiber content contained in the dates can help the digestive process become smoother.
4. Prevents Diabetes
Not a few parents get used to their children eating a variety of sweet snacks. It is a pity, because sweet snacks are actually dangerous for children in the long run.
Your child can become more susceptible to diabetes, which will certainly be very disruptive for their future. Parents need to know that this health problem is already lingering around the childs’ lives since they were little. They need to use another alternative, in case their kids want to consume a sweet snack.
Well, one of the substitutes for it is the dates fruit. The content of flavonoids in dates has an important role to balance blood sugar levels in the body. In addition, the sugar content in dates is also processed longer by the body, so it is safe to be consumed by children.
5. Strengthening Their Teeth
Toddlers have milk teeth that will later be replaced by fixed teeth. This stage is an important moment, so your child should be used to eating foods that can stimulate the growth of teeth well.
Some of them who are routinely accustomed to eating dates, can trigger the growth of strong teeth. Dates have an excellent texture for teeth. In addition, with a high calcium content, dates can be a stimulus so that children’s teeth become denser, stronger, and not easily broken. You can also make this benefit optimal by having the benefits of pomegranate juice as well.
6. Increasing Appetite
When the toddler grows and is introduced to consume dates slowly in his/her food mixture, then slowly, the effect of the benefits of dates can increase the appetite of them. So that we can always meet the needs of eating babies.
This aims so that the baby’s nutritional intake can always be fulfilled from all sources of food that need to be consumed. So that toddlers can avoid malnutrition diseases that often occur in infants to children.
If the toddler’’s nutrition is fulfilled from childhood, of course the growth and development of his/her body will run well in the future.