# Are dates especially healthy?



## JSerene (Nov 4, 2004)

Can anyone answer this question? I love them and have been eating them everyday of late. I can't find anything online singing their praises, as I can with practically every other food I can think of.


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## kdmama33 (Jun 20, 2006)

Dates are especially yummy!







Honestly, I don't know how "healthy" they are. They're a dried fruit, which means they have really concentrated amounts of sugar ... and dates are especially high in (natural) sugar to begin with. As for minerals and such, I'm not sure. According to the nutrition information on the side of the box of Medjool dates I have, a serving has 2% of the RDA of calcium and iron and 4% of the RDA of magnesium. It also has 200 mg of potassium, 10 mg of sodium, 36g total carbohydrates (with 3g being dietary fiber and 29g being sugar), and 1g of protein.

We mostly use dates to make homemade Lara-type bars. They're the gooey, sweet base that holds everything else together and makes for no-sugar-added sweetness.

HTH!


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## mashenka (Oct 8, 2006)

When I was seeing an Ayurvedic practitioner several years back he highly recommended dates as a good form of sugar when you body needs sugars, like in the summer. I hadn't done any further research on the matter. But I followed his advice and made some yummy date shakes! If anyone had further hard facts on dates, I'd love to hear it as when the weather turns hot, I crave dates.


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