| What are Plums? |
| Plums Nutrition |
| Plum Health Benefits |
| Does Plum Colour Matter? |
| Risks and Complications of Eating Plums |
| Precautions While Eating Plums |
| Conclusion |
Plums, a medium-sized fruit with flesh that is firm and juicy, are relished across the globe. A stone fruit, because of its hard stone-like centre, is surrounded by juicy flesh. Apart from its flavourful taste, the nutritional value of this fruit makes it super healthy. Here’s everything that you need to know about plum health benefits. Let’s begin with understanding the fruit better.
What are Plums?
Plum is a fleshy fruit with a stony centre. A tropical fruit, plums originated in China around 470 BC. The plum tree is a deciduous tree. It is a species of the flowering plant Rosaceae family.
The plum season in India ranges from April to June. The round or oval-shaped fruit, with a characteristic pit, bears fruits that range from red, purple, green, yellow, and orange in colour. The fleshy pulp inside is generally pink, yellow, or orange.
Plums are consumed both fresh and dried. The dried plums are called prunes. Interestingly, both plums and prunes have different health benefits. Read through for amazing plum health benefits:
Plums Nutrition
A plum is a low-calorie fruit. The fruit is sodium-free, fat-free and cholesterol-free; all-in-all a superfood for good health. It is also loaded with a range of important vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients that confer amazing health benefits.
One medium-sized plum contains:
- Calories – 30
- Carbohydrates – 8 gm
- Fibre – 1gm
- Sugar – 7 gm
- Protein – 0.5 gm
- Vitamin A – 11.2 mcg
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamine ) – 0.018 mg
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin ) – 0.017 mg
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin) – 0.275mg
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid ) – 0.089 mg
- Vitamin B6 – 0.019 mg
- Vitamin C: 6.27 mg
- Vitamin E – 0.17 mg
- Vitamin K: 4.2 mcg
- Potassium: 103.62 mg
- Copper: 0.038 mg
- Phosphorus – 10.56 mg
- Zinc – 0.07 mg
- Iron – 0.11 mg
- Magnesium – 4.62 mg
- Manganese – 0.034 mg
Plum Health Benefits
The mildly sweet taste of plums makes it a super addition to everyday meals. Salads, desserts and plum juice taste amazing. But there’s more to plum fruit benefits than just great taste. The plum health benefits include:
1. Helps Lower Blood Pressure
Plums are known to be naturally rich in Anthocyanin, a potent antioxidant. The antioxidant is known to reduce ambulatory blood pressure instantly. This safeguards people suffering from high blood pressure and confers protective heart health benefits. Furthermore, the high potassium levels in plums help relax blood vessels and stimulate the body to eliminate sodium, helping lower blood pressure instantly.
2. May Help Protect Against Cancers
Anthocyanin is also beneficial for the body as it helps remove harmful free radicals from the body. High levels of antioxidants in foods help neutralise oxidative stress caused due to reaction of oxygen with other chemicals. This leads to cell damage and increases the risk of a range of cancers.
3. Aids Weight Loss
Plums are low-calorie fruits that are rich in fibre. The high fibre content provides a satiating effect and prolonged feeling of fullness which cuts down the unhealthy food cravings that are directly responsible for weight gain.
4. Supports Bone Health
Plum fruit benefits bone health as it contains high amounts of calcium which helps in strengthening bones. The fruit also contained high amounts of vitamins and minerals like vitamin K, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium that have bone-protective effects. Furthermore, research shows that plum nutrition helped in increasing levels of hormones important for bone formation.
5. Helps Improve Heart Health
Plum juice is a proven remedy for reducing high blood pressure. The fruit juice also brings down the total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels while increasing the levels of HDL cholesterol. This conferred protective heart benefits. Furthermore, the presence of calcium in the fruit ensures that the blood clots normally. A steady dose of potassium, Vitamin C, and protective polyphenols further bring down cardiovascular risk factors.
6. Reduces Constipation
Plums have a high content of dietary fibre. Its skin and flesh provide the much-needed insoluble fibre that adds bulk to the stool and makes it soft. This aids in effective bowel movement and reduces constipation. Plums also contain sorbitol, a type of sugar alcohol that is a natural laxative.
7. Boosts Cognitive Health
Research shows that antioxidant-rich foods slow down age-related cognitive decline. Plums are naturally rich in anthocyanin and quercetin, two antioxidants that support brain health. Also, the high polyphenol content reduces age-related cognitive decline.
8. Maintains Blood Sugar Levels
Plums have a low glycaemic index. This means that the fruit does not raise blood sugar levels instantly. This helps in better blood sugar management and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, high content of chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol, helps balance blood sugar levels by regulating appetite. The high-fibre fruit further ensures that the release of natural sugars is slow.
9. High Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Plums are naturally rich in antioxidants and contain plant protective compounds that have high anti-inflammatory attributes. This cuts down on internal inflammation that spurs several health complications.
10. Improves Eyesight
The high Vitamin A content in plums is extremely helpful in boosting vision. Optimum levels of Vitamin A in the blood help maintain a clear cornea. The vitamin also helps the eyes produce pigments that ensure that the eyes see a full spectrum of light. Also, plums nutrition is high in lutein, an antioxidant that promotes eye health.
11. Boosts Immune System
Plums are rich in Vitamin C, which is both a vitamin and an antioxidant. Optimal levels of Vitamin C help in the production of white blood cells, which help fight infections. The antioxidant properties in Vitamin C help neutralise the free radicals, thereby strengthening the body’s natural defence mechanism.
12. Improves Gut Health
The fibre in plums is also prebiotic. Prebiotics are specialised plant fibres that act as food for good gut bacteria. As the probiotic count in the gut increases, it improves gut health. Research suggests that the right balance of gut bacteria is vital for avoiding several health ailments.
13. Improves Skin Quality
High Vitamin C levels in plums stimulate the production of collagen in the body. Collagen is a structural protein found in the skin, tendons, connective tissues, bones, etc. It is the most abundantly found protein in the body. High collagen levels make the skin elastic, soft and youthful.
Does Plum Colour Matter?
Black and reddish-black plums are the most commonly eaten varieties of plums. But plums can also be green, yellow, purple, orange, and even white. Interestingly, colour variation causes flavour variation too. But are the plum health benefits colour specific? Well, a majority of the plum health benefits are common to all plums. However, the variation in colour due to the presence of different pigments does bring about a subtle variation in taste and health benefits too. Thus, there will be a few plum benefits that will be colour specific.
Risks and Complications of Eating Plums
People allergic to birch pollen must avoid eating plums. The first signs of allergic reaction upon consuming plums include itching and swelling of the mouth and throat, watery eyes, and swelling of the lining of the eyes.
Precautions While Eating Plums
As plum belongs to the stone fruit category, the seed of the plum fruit is not edible and must not be consumed. Swallowing the whole plum seed can hurt the oesophagus and can also cause choking. Furthermore, make sure not to blend, crush, or chew the plum seed as it contains high amounts of amygdalin, a chemical that gets converted into poisonous cyanide during digestion.
Conclusion
Plums, a type of stone fruit, are widely consumed for their rich taste. Surprisingly, with over 2000 varieties and a broad flavour spectrum ranging from very tart to sweet; it’s easy to satisfy every taste bud. To top it up, plums nutrition confers amazing health benefits. Plum benefits can be linked to its unique composition of minerals, vitamins and micronutrients.
The various plum health benefits include increased immunity, better blood pressure and sugar management, and improved skin quality. The plum fruit benefits the heart and eyes and promotes digestive health. Its high antioxidant content is especially important for cancer protection. It’s best to choose the ripest plums to enjoy the finest taste and maximum plum fruit benefits. Remember not to consume the stone seed centre as it can be dangerous. Also, eating plum fruit can trigger an allergic reaction in people allergic to birch pollen.
