Dates are high in natural-sweet, so many health-conscious people think they could be health hazardous. Contradictory to many individual’s perceptions, these sweet fruits are packed with a high amount of nutrients, making them an excellent snack for every day. Dates have been a chief ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine for thousands of years. This sweet fruit is widely cultivated across the Middle East, Northern Africa, and South Asia. They’re cultivated in most of the areas of southern California and Southern Florida in the United States and Baja California in Mexico.
Some describe the taste and texture of a date as a chewier, more caramel raisin. Dates have a high amount of sugar content, and like bananas, their sweetness intensifies the riper they get. A date is fresh and ready to eat when it has a wrinkled exterior, plump, and has a slightly glossy sheen. Now, the question is: Are dates keto or can they be eaten on a keto diet?
Can I Eat Dates While on Keto Diet – Brief Explanation
You mean: are dates keto-friendly? Well, as soon as you switch to a keto approach, you will likely have many questions about which foods you can, and cannot eat. Since an approach to the ketogenic diet is often as low as 50 grams of net carbs per day, high carb foods are generally not a regular keto staple. However, there are some exceptions. Fruit, for example, is not a regular carbohydrate. While consuming too much sugar, and too many carbs – is certainly not ideal for a keto diet – the fruit can be a perfectly good choice if you’re looking for dates on keto.
Not just normal food dates are sweet, golden – and packed with numerous, science-backed, nutritional benefits. Since one of the important aspects of the keto diet is its highly concentrated fat content – fattier foods are more readily associated with optimal ketogenic choices. But since the ketogenic diet was formerly intended to reduce and control seizures, there is still room for some sugar.
A study shows that by reducing the number of carbohydrates a person eats, the body is forced to burn fat for energy, a process called “ketosis”. It is the same process that kicks in when someone is on fasting, or because of starvation. Getting on to fasting has been a traditional seizure treatment for centuries.
However, a sugar-rich, heavy carb diet may negatively effect on someone out of ketosis, some nutrient-dense, moderate amounts of sugar will not. Dates are pretty much the best choice in this category. The benefits of dates are numerous ranging from fiber content, to inflammation reduction, to aiding with anemia, in addition to boosting energy, reducing stroke risk, improving bone health, and more.
A regular dates consumption can help lower the risk of diseases via three main preventive pathways: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor. Originate from a Greek word, dates are one of the oldest cultivated human plants of any kind dating back more than 5000 years. Most don’t know that there are over 200 different types of dates, grown throughout the world. As with all foods, dates are far superior in nutrition.
If you are considering purchasing dates directly, the US is not the biggest grower, surprisingly. In fact, the United States only produces around 10% of dates, worldwide. In addition to our aforesaid three aspects of disease prevention, dates are also antidiabetic, a sex hormone modulator, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, and nephron protective.
In a single word dates are well-thought-out to be good for your health. Keto dieters can explain you that your blood sugar under control is crucial for preventing weight gain, and maintaining a healthy metabolism. With 3% of the world population suffering from diabetes, controlling blood sugar is a critical health improvement that can literally save lives, and also help prevent obesity related illnesses etc. The date production originates from Palm trees, and you can find these trees in many tropical regions – after which the dates are dried. Since dates are a dried fruit, they are a more streamlined form of nutrition.
Moreover, unveiling all the beneficial features mentioned above, dates also contain: vitamin B6, fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, and more. Figs and raisins (other dried fruits) have similar nutritional profiles, but dates excel in their fiber content, specifically. Scientific studies have found that dates directly improve with fiber-related issues, such as constipation and blood sugar control. It is quite vital to note that dates are a low glycemic index (GI) food that means your blood sugar does not spike, like when consuming candy or other harmful foods such as junk or high sugar content food.
Nutritional Facts of Medjool Date
Medjool dates are a concentrated source of healthy nutrients. Just 2 dates (48 grams) provide:
- Calories: 133
- Carbs in dates: 36 grams
- Fiber: 3.2 grams
- Protein: 0.8 grams
- Sugar: 32 grams
- Fat: 0 grams
- Calcium: 2% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Iron: 2% of the DV
- Potassium: 7% of the DV
- Copper: 19% of the DV
- Vitamin B6: 7% of the DV
- Magnesium: 6% of the DV
Dates offer a significant amount of fiber and a variety of vitamins and minerals, including iron, potassium, B vitamins, copper, and magnesium.
The Bottom Line
Although most keto experts or dieters discourage eating fruits in general, it is not like you should avoid them at all the time. Whether you should or shouldn’t eat dates on the keto diet depends entirely on you and your goals. If you want to keep your carb-taking at an absolute minimum, then don’t eat them instead to stay on the safer side. To conclude, it’s up to whether you decide to take dates on your diet plan. They are definitely not suitable for everyone’s approach to keto, but they might be for yours. One should always remember that moderation is the key and the thumb rule of a balanced diet.
