Yes, science is always testing more foods that might or might not help us live longer, get less injured, stay more cognitively engaged, or avoid various serious medical conditions.
The latest one of these studies that we’ve come across at Fit is a Feminist Issue is: Prunes.
Yes, these.
Prunes are the new new fruit for bone health (well, according to a 2022 study that just came across our social media feeds, and also a 2024 study by the same prune-forward research group).
In the 2022 study, they looked at the impact of daily prune intake on hip bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. They divided the study participants into three groups:
- no prunes
- 50 grams of prunes daily (4–6 prunes)
- 100 grams of prunes daily (10–12 prunes)
What did they find? Read on…
A 50-g daily dose of prunes can prevent loss of total hip BMD in postmenopausal women after 6 mo, which persisted for 12 mo. Given that there was high compliance and retention at the 50-g dosage over 12 mo, we propose that the 50-g dose represents a valuable nonpharmacologic treatment strategy that can be used to preserve hip BMD in postmenopausal women and possibly reduce hip fracture risk.
Fine print: participants in the 100-gram group (10–12 prunes a day!) didn’t keep up the prune pace very well; their dropout rate was much higher than in the no-prune or the 50-gram group.
The same good prune-induced effects happened in this 2024 study, measuring cortical bone structure and estimated bone strength of the tibia bone in postmenopausal women. Here’s what one of the researchers said in this article:
“This is the first randomized controlled trial to look at three-dimensional bone outcomes with respect to bone structure, geometry and estimated strength,” said Mary Jane De Souza, distinguished professor of kinesiology and physiology at Penn State. “In our study we saw that daily prune consumption impacted factors related to fracture risk. That’s clinically invaluable.”
“It’s pretty exciting data for a 12-month study,” De Souza said. “We were able to maintain and preserve bone at the weight-bearing, cortical bone of the tibia and the maintenance of cortical bone and bone strength is key to avoiding fracture.”
This Penn State-based research group is doing a variety of studies to better understand the relationships between prunes and bone health, including how prune consumption affects the bacteria in the gut biome. I’ll spare you the details, but those really motivated can read more about it here.
Let’s now take a moment to put this new research in perspective.
We have all seen a ton of articles touting some food or supplement and its effects on some aspect of our functioning, longevity and overall health. And (I hope that) we have all learned to take these splashy headlines with a grain or pinch of salt (but not too much salt, as that’s supposed to be bad for us… sigh…)
I mean, it’s hard enough to manage our busy and complex lives without piling on extra daily portions of prunes or blueberries or flaxseed or kale or grapefruit or whatever the new food-of-the-week is. And, the effects of some of these foods on our particular long-term health goals are often pretty diffuse and small, compared to factors like regular physical activity or good sleep.
For me, this prune news has captured enough of my interest that imma buy some prunes and see if I like them enough to eat them regularly. You do you.
Hey readers, any prune fans out there? Let us know– I promise this is a safe space for sharing.
