Stop bone loss by eating this fruit!

by Steve Kroening, ND - October 12, 2022

Did you know that you can stop bone loss by eating a fruit every day? This fruit is more effective than eating dairy products and dark green vegetables.

Yep, it’s true.  Eating this fruit can help prevent bone loss.  And believe it or not, it can even reverse severe bone loss! In fact, several studies prove it.

In the first study, researchers looked at women who were all showing signs of severe bone loss. At the start of the study, the researchers measured the participants’ bone mineral density in the hip, lumbar spine, and forearm. They also looked for specific bone health indicators in their blood.

Then the researchers gave the women a serving of prunes per day. And they did the same tests again after 3 and 6 months.

The researchers found that all of the participants who ate prunes had their bone density increase. That’s 100% effectiveness!

What’s more, all of them also had decreases in a blood marker for bone resorption. That means their bones weren’t breaking down as fast.

Other Studies Confirm These Results

Another study compared prunes to figs, dates, strawberries, and raisins. In this study, researchers divided women into various groups and had them eat extra servings of one fruit per day for a year.

After one year, there was a considerably greater increase in bone density of the women who ate the prunes. They found that the prunes were highly effective at slowing the breakdown of bone.

In fact, while many of the fruits were beneficial, the researchers said prunes are by far “the most effective fruit in both preventing and reversing bone loss.”

A third study, a review of 24 studies, found similar results across the board. In other words, the studies were repeated over and over again – and each study confirmed the results.

It’s the Calcium, Right?

You might assume that in order for prunes to be so effective, they must have calcium in them. After all, your bones need calcium to be healthy.

But prunes don’t contain any calcium! This is important. Here’s why:

If you ask any doctor what you should eat to promote bone health, very few of them will say prunes. Most of them will say dairy products and dark green vegetables that contain calcium. While there are health benefits to eating these foods, bone health isn’t at the top of the list.

In fact, the dairy and bone health link is a pervasive myth! One large-scale Harvard study followed 72,000 women for two decades. The researchers found no evidence that drinking milk can prevent bone fractures or osteoporosis.

Another study looked at the amount of milk 96,000 men drank as teenagers. The researchers found that the more milk they consumed in their teen years, the more bone fractures they experienced as adults.

And yet another study found that adolescent girls who consumed the most calcium, mostly in the form of dairy products, were at greater risk for stress fractures than those consuming less calcium.

What about vegetables? Well, one study looked specifically at the ability of vegetables to build bones. They “found no significant association between vegetable intake and bone mineral density.”

So don’t depend on dairy products and vegetables for your bone health. And don’t take too much calcium in supplement form. Most people don’t need to take more than 500 mg daily for healthy bones. Taking more than that can lead to excess calcium getting into your arteries and causing calcification.

Why Are Prunes So Effective?

While prunes don’t contain calcium, they do contain a lot of other nutrients that are great for your bones. These include potassium, magnesium, boron, copper, and iron, as well as vitamins A and K. These nutrients are all known for helping prevent the loss of bone mass.

Plus, prunes contain chlorogenic acid and other antioxidants that may help shield bones from oxidative damage.

So how many prunes should you eat? Based on the results of these studies, eating just 5 or 6 prunes a day (which is one serving) is enough to get all their bone-saving benefits. But if you have severe bone loss, you can eat up to 10 prunes a day.

Some people, like me, like to eat prunes right out of the bag. Others soak the prunes overnight in half a cup of water and eat them on an empty stomach the next morning. Then they drink the remaining water to get all the nutrients.

But if the idea of eating prunes doesn’t sound appetizing to you, you can mix them with other ripe fruits or vegetables. And you can incorporate them into breads or cakes; their sweet juiciness will help replace some of the sugar in your favorite recipes.

I’ve heard from several women who have reversed their bone loss by eating prunes, taking a bone supplement, and exercising regularly. They all tell me this formula works better than anything their doctor gave them.