Dates, also known as red dates, are rich in nutritional value and have a great taste, making them deeply loved by people. However, not everyone can eat them. The following introduces the groups of people who should not eat dates and the benefits of eating dates. You might want to take a look.
There is a popular saying that "eating three dates a day keeps old age away." Traditional Chinese medicine believes that dates are sweet in taste and warm in nature, able to replenish the middle jiao, benefit qi, nourish blood, and calm the spirit. However, dates are both a food and a medicine, with their own unique medicinal properties. If consumed indiscriminately without considering one's constitution, not only can they fail to provide health benefits, but they can even be counterproductive. So, who should not eat dates? What are the benefits of eating dates? Next, I will introduce them one by one for your reference.
Who should not eat dates?
1. Patients in the early stages of a cold
In the early stages of a cold, the pathogenic factors of wind-cold or wind-heat are rampant in the body. If dates are consumed at this time, their sticky nature can often lead to the retention of these pathogenic factors, causing a "closed-door, keep-thief" situation, making it difficult for the body to expel the illness and hindering recovery.
2. Those with excessive phlegm-dampness
Such people often exhibit a thick, greasy tongue coating, a sweet or sticky feeling in the mouth, poor appetite, and a frequent sensation of abdominal bloating. In severe cases, symptoms may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and swelling of the eyelids and face. The moistening nature of dates can easily exacerbate dampness, causing phlegm-dampness to linger in the body and be difficult to eliminate, thereby worsening the aforementioned discomfort. People with this constitution are more suited to eat foods that strengthen the spleen and promote dampness drainage, such as Job's tears, red beans, Chinese yam, and loofah.
3. Those who are prone to "heatiness"
People with this constitution tend to be heat-prone, frequently experiencing symptoms of "heatiness" such as constipation, bad breath, and swelling and pain in the throat and gums. Dates are sweet and warm in nature, leaning towards a warming tonic. Consuming them in large amounts would be like "pouring oil on the fire."
4. Diabetics
Dates contain a high amount of sugar, which can increase blood sugar levels in diabetics and worsen their condition. Therefore, people with high blood sugar should not eat too many dates.
What are the benefits of eating dates?
1. To give you a rosy complexion
Dates are rich in iron, which plays an important role in preventing and treating menstrual anemia and postpartum blood loss, with effects that are often incomparable to medication. Red dates also contain a large amount of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which regulates the body's metabolism, promotes the rapid generation of new cells, quickly eliminates old and dead cells, and enhances bone marrow hematopoietic function, increasing the number of red blood cells in the blood.
2. To moisturize the skin
Long hours of work in front of a computer can lead to many skin problems, the most serious of which is dryness. Dates are very nutritious, with the highest content of Vitamin C and Vitamin P among all fruits. In fresh dates, the Vitamin C content is 7-10 times higher than in citrus fruits and 75 times higher than in apples. Regular consumption of dates can enhance skin elasticity, plump up the subcutaneous tissue, and make the skin delicate and smooth.
3. To reduce wrinkles
While "eternal youth" is just a legend, wrinkles are inevitable, but they can appear later! The Vitamin C in dates is a highly active reducing antioxidant that participates in the body's physiological oxygen reduction process, prevents melanin deposition in the body, and can effectively reduce wrinkles and pigmentation.
4. To improve posture
Dates are rich in calcium, which plays an important role in preventing and treating osteoporosis, helping to extend the "shelf life" of your upright posture. Among date products, wine-soaked dates suffer significant nutritional loss, with almost all Vitamin C destroyed, but the mineral content increases after soaking in wine. Therefore, the calcium content of wine-soaked dates is the highest among these date products, containing about 75 mg per 100 grams.
5. For weight loss
Dates can promote intestinal peristalsis, making them an excellent choice for weight loss. When you're lounging on the sofa, watching TV, or playing games and your mouth is idle, you can chew on a date. You may have heard that chewing gum can help slim your face; chewing dates is even more effective! However, it is worth reminding that dates have a high sugar content and naturally high calories. Therefore, if your goal is weight loss, please control your intake of dates.
6. To get sick less often
Extracts of dates, including date juice, have anti-fatigue effects. In addition, dates can promote the proliferation of splenic lymphocytes, enhance the body's immunity, make people less susceptible to illness, and significantly improve physical constitution with long-term consumption.
7. To prevent and counteract stones
Fresh dates are rich in Vitamin C, which can promote the conversion of excess cholesterol in the body into bile acids, lowering cholesterol levels. Naturally, the probability of forming stones in the body is reduced. This is also why people who regularly eat fresh dates have a lower risk of developing gallstones.
8. To replenish deficiency and calm the spirit
Red dates have the effects of replenishing deficiency and qi, nourishing blood and calming the spirit, strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach. They are a good health supplement for patients with a weak spleen and stomach, insufficient qi and blood, fatigue, and insomnia.
9. To enrich the blood
Red dates are rich in iron, vitamins, sugars, proteins, and fats. These nutrients are beneficial for the regeneration of red blood cells, improving the body's resistance and restoring energy.
10. To enhance cardiac function
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is often injected as an adjuvant therapy during illness.
11. To improve immunity
Red dates contain a large amount of sugars, mainly glucose, as well as fructose, sucrose, and oligosaccharides composed of glucose and fructose, such as galactose polymers. They also contain large amounts of Vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine, etc., which have strong nourishing effects, can improve the body's immune function, and enhance disease resistance.