Are Prunes Good for You?

Prunes are a good-for-you snack that offers a wealth of nutrients and health benefits related to gut health, bone health, heart health and more! Studies have shown that snacking can be an important part of a healthy diet – but it can also lead to health problems depending on how often someone snacks, what they snack on, why, and how it fits into an overall eating pattern.

How’s your snacking game? If you’re looking to make it work harder for you, there’s hardly a better choice than California Prunes. Often underrated, a serving of four to six prunes (38 grams) is around 100 calories and is deliciously satisfying, with a sweet, deep flavor and a luxurious texture.

Key nutrition in prunes:

• 3 grams of fiber, which helps regulate the body’s use of sugars, helping to keep hunger and blood sugar in check.
• 24 grams of carbohydrates, which provide energy for bodies to perform at their best.
• 20% of your Daily Value of vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting and bone metabolism.
• 6% of your Daily Value of potassium, an important mineral that may play a role in maintaining healthy bones and is important for muscle contractions and fluid balance.
• Other important vitamins and minerals like magnesium, boron, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin B6.
• No added sugar, cholesterol, sodium or fat … and how many snacks can make that claim?

More than 70 peer-reviewed, published studies have examined the nutrition and health benefits of prunes, including how they help support healthy digestion, gut health, bone health, heart health, and even weight management and satiety. Here are a few findings from just the past few years:

Overall Prune Health Benefits

A 2018 systematic review on the health effects of prunes and their fresh cousins, plums, showed promising results on their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and memory-improving characteristics, authors said. They added that plum and prune consumption is associated with improved cognitive function, bone health indicators and cardiovascular risk factors.[i]

Improved Digestion and Gut Health

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial published in 2022, drinking prune juice helped alleviate constipation without side effects.[ii] A 2019 study had similar findings with whole prunes.[iii] These built on earlier studies concluding that prunes worked better than psyllium, the main ingredient in many over-the-counter laxatives, for relieving constipation.[iv], [v] Most recently, a 12-month study among older women eating prunes daily showed a notable increase in a certain type of beneficial gut bacteria.[vi]

Bone Protective Benefits

Several studies among postmenopausal women, who are at increased risk for osteoporosis, have shown bone-protective effects of eating 50 grams a day.[vii]

In one of these, study authors noted there was “high compliance and retention” over the 12-month study[viii] — in other words, the women in the study enjoyed eating prunes daily and didn’t tend to forget or drop out. In another study, authors said the bone-protective health of prunes in postmenopausal women may be attributed to their unique combination of minerals, vitamin K, phenolic compounds and fiber, which may work together for greater effect.[ix]

Recently published research is also showing a bone-protective effect of daily prune consumption in men.[x],[xi]

Heart Health Benefits

Building on other research, a 2021 study found that postmenopausal women who ate 50 to 100 grams of prunes daily for six months had lower total cholesterol, oxidative stress and inflammatory markers than those in a control group.[xii]

Health Snacking for Weight Management

Research has shown that eating prunes as a snack can help suppress hunger more than a higher carbohydrate snack with the same number of calories.[xiii], [xiv] A 2021 study showed that men and women who ate prunes had a reduced appetite as compared to a control group, and snacking on prunes may have contributed to their weight loss – but this needs to be studied further. Overall, the study participants liked snacking on prunes and said it was an easy change to make in their diet.[xv]

Healthy Aging and Improved Cognition

Several studies have suggested that regularly eating foods high in polyphenols, including prunes, has been associated with “reduced aging in humans and may exert beneficial effects on improving insulin resistance and related diabetes risk factors, such as inflammation and oxidative stress,” according to a 2021 research overview.[xvi] Another article notes that eating

polyphenol-rich foods throughout life “holds a potential to limit neurodegeneration and to prevent or reverse age-dependent deteriorations in cognitive performance.”[xvii]

Try grabbing a few prunes as a snack, or try them in recipes – think baked goods, salads, rice dishes and more. Search the California Prunes recipe database for inspiration.

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