California Prunes Spotlight: Aging Gracefully with California Prunes

California Prunes can help women maintain critical aspects of their physical health as they gracefully age. Eating 50 to 100 grams of prunes every day has been shown to have positive effects on both bone health and heart health in postmenopausal women. For perspective, these amounts equate to about six to twelve prunes.

Aging Gracefully with California PrunesAs women age, changes in their hormones lead to decreases in bone density, resulting in weakened, more fragile bones. However, research has shown that eating prunes can mitigate the impact that menopause and aging have on bone health. To date, existing studies have suggested that eating 50 to 100 grams of prunes every day could lead to increased bone mass and decreased bone breakdown (Arimandi et al., 2002; Hooshmand et al., 2011, 2014, 2016; Strock et al., 2021). In other words, California Prunes can help aging women maintain their bone mass and bone strength.

Additionally, California Prunes are beneficial in combating the increased risk of heart disease that develops with hormonal changes in menopause. Researchers recently conducted a six-month clinical study with postmenopausal women and found that women who ate 50 to 100 grams of prunes daily for six months saw improvements in cholesterol levels, decreases in inflammation, and increases in antioxidant capacity (Hong et al., 2021). With this, prunes can play a role in supporting and maintaining overall heart health in women over the age of 50.

Researchers continue to investigate the health benefits of California Prunes, but so far, current research makes clear an important point: A handful or two of California Prunes every day can help women live healthily as they age.


Arjmandi, B.H., 2001. The role of phytoestrogens in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in ovarian hormone deficiency. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 20 (5 Suppl), 398S–402S (discussion 417S–420S).

Hong, M., et al., 2021. Dried Plum Consumption Improves Total Cholesterol and Antioxidant Capacity and Reduces Inflammation in Healthy Postmenopausal Women. Journal of Medicinal Food.

Hooshmand, S., et al., 2011. Comparative effects of dried plum and dried apple on bone in postmenopausal women. Br. J. Nutr. 106 (6), 923–930.

Hooshmand, S., Brisco, J.R., Arjmandi, B.H., 2014. The effect of dried plum on serum levels of receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin in osteopenic postmenopausal women: a randomised controlled trial. Br. J. Nutr. 112 (1), 55–60.

Hooshmand, S., et al., 2016. The effect of two doses of dried plum on bone density and bone biomarkers in osteopenic postmenopausal women: a randomized, controlled trial. Osteoporos. Int. 27 (7), 2271–2279.

Stock, N., Koltun, K., Weaver, C., De Souza, M.J., 2021. Dried plum consumptions improves bone mineral density in osteopenic postmenopausal woman: A case report. Bone Reports (14).