Introduction: Jujubes are great for nourishment, but there are also some taboos about eating them circulating online. Some of these taboos have some basis, while others are completely untenable. Here, we will debunk four major misconceptions about eating jujubes.
Misconception 1: Jujubes are very effective at enriching the blood
First, it should be noted that eating jujubes is beneficial for anemia patients, just like eating apples or other fruits. However, if you expect jujubes to have a special blood-enriching effect, or even to treat iron-deficiency anemia like pork liver or meat, that is incorrect.
The iron content in fresh jujubes is relatively high among fruits, at 1.2 mg/100g. However, like other plant-based foods, the iron absorption rate from jujubes is extremely low and cannot be utilized well by the human body.
The Vitamin C (VC) content in fresh jujubes is among the highest in fruits, at 243 mg/100g. VC promotes iron absorption and helps prevent and treat iron-deficiency anemia. However, as discussed above, fresh jujubes often cannot be eaten in large quantities. Eating just eight or ten of them for the purpose of enriching the blood is like scratching an itch through a boot—completely ineffectual.
Misconception 2: Jujubes cannot be eaten with carrots
The reason given for this claim is that fresh jujubes are rich in Vitamin C (VC), while carrots contain an oxidase that destroys VC, so the two together reduce the nutritional value of the jujubes. The first two sentences are correct—jujubes have VC and carrots have oxidase—but the final conclusion is wrong. The destructive power of the oxidase in carrots is very limited; it can't even destroy all the VC in carrots themselves, so how could it destroy the VC in other foods?
Therefore, if you are truly that concerned about VC being destroyed, the "best" strategy would be to simply not eat carrots. But this is problematic too, because vegetables like cucumbers also contain oxidases that destroy VC, so should you stop eating those as well? But that still doesn't work, because other foods have their own drawbacks—for example, eggs have cholesterol, and meat and milk have saturated fat… so should you not eat any of them either? Just starve to death.
As for the nonsense about food incompatibility, such as "jujubes cannot be eaten with seafood" or "jujubes cannot be eaten with scallions," it is not even worth refuting.
Misconception 3: Jujubes should not be eaten in large quantities
Jujubes are a nourishing food
It is well-known that fresh jujubes are not easy to digest. This is because, in addition to having a low water content of only 67% (most other common fruits are 80%-90%), they also have a high dietary fiber content of 1.9%, significantly higher than other common fruits (for example, grapes average 0.4% and apples average 1.2%). Dietary fiber (especially insoluble fiber) cannot be digested in the stomach and small intestine, and consuming a large amount at once can cause gastrointestinal discomfort. The dietary fiber in jujubes is mainly concentrated in the skin. The flesh of the jujube is crisp, but the skin is very thin and hard. It is difficult to crush it completely when chewing. You can try this: chew a fresh jujube, do not swallow it, and spit it out to observe. You will find it mixed with jujube skin fragments of various sizes, separated from the flesh, with irregular shapes and hard, sharp edges. Imagine, after swallowing it, if your gastric mucosa happens to be inflamed or has an ulcer, it would be like rubbing salt in the wound, causing pain or discomfort.
Of course, if your stomach is healthy and has no inflammation, ulcers, or wounds, your tolerance for jujubes will be higher. Even so, eating too many fresh jujubes can still cause stomach discomfort. This is the reason for advising not to eat too many of them. However, even without obvious gastritis or ulcers, people differ in the thickness of their gastric mucosa and their tolerance to certain irritants. Therefore, how many jujubes are appropriate (is it 5 or 35?) is entirely individual, and there is no specific limit. So, can we at least give a rough guideline?
In fact, giving a rough guideline is completely meaningless. When eating jujubes, people can determine for themselves how many are appropriate by simply trying them and seeing how they feel.