Prunes May Blunt Adverse Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Bone Health in Young Adult Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial

JOURNAL: Curr Dev Nutr. 2024 Jul 18;8(9):104417

AUTHORS: Taylor DeMasi, Michelle Tsang, Jenna Mueller, Kristine Giltvedt, Thuy Ngoc Nguygen, Mark Kern, Shiron Hooshmand

Oral contraceptives (OCs) may promote bone loss, thereby leading to suboptimal bone health later in life. Research is needed to determine whether dietary interventions can blunt OC-related bone loss; prune consumption, shown to be effective in improving bone density in previous studies, could provide a safe and inexpensive solution.

In this study of ninety women randomly assigned to a control group not using OCs (non-OC), an OC group not consuming prunes (OC), and an OC group consuming 50 g prunes daily (OC+P) for 12 months, OC use tended to promote minor negative effects on bone, and consuming prunes tended to provide a potential protective effect on trabecular density of the distal tibia and ultradistal radius.