Will a handful of dates a day make your skin better?

The taste of winter jujube can surpass that of most fruits in autumn. When you bite it, it is not only crunchy but also super sweet. As long as you eat the first one, there will be a second one, a third one...

However, I advise you not to eat too much! You can eat up to 1 handful of winter dates every day. As for why? In this article, let’s talk about eating winter dates.

Nutrition of winter dates

The name of winter jujube makes many people think that it is a winter fruit, but this is not the case. Winter jujube refers to late-maturing varieties with a fruit growth period of more than 120 days. In places north of the Huaihe River and the Qinling Mountains, the fruits mature in early to mid-October, and particularly late-ripening varieties will mature until late October. They are called winter jujubes because of their late maturity.

Among many fruits, winter dates have pretty good nutrition, especially vitamin C and dietary fiber, which are excellent.

Dietary fiber: According to the data in the "Chinese Food Composition Table", the insoluble dietary fiber content of winter dates is 2.2g/100g, which is 1.3 times, 2.5 times, and 3.7 times that of apples, plums, and oranges respectively.

Vitamin C: The vitamin C content of winter jujube is as high as 243mg/100g,[2] which is considered the best among fruits and is known as the "natural vitamin C pill". This content is higher than that of kiwi fruit, nearly 4 times that of oranges, and nearly 7 times that of oranges. Just eating two or three winter dates a day can meet the general population’s vitamin C needs throughout the day.

In addition, winter dates are also rich in the mineral potassium, with a content of 195mg/100g. Although it is not as good as bananas, it is 2.4 times that of apples. It is also acceptable as a daily potassium supplement fruit and is relatively friendly in terms of blood pressure control.

What are the benefits of taking a handful of winter dates every day?

There are almost 5 winter dates in a handful, about 100 grams. If we could eat a handful a day, what health benefits would it have for our bodies?

Improved skin: Eating a handful of winter dates can absorb about 243 mg of vitamin C, which can meet 243% of the daily vitamin C requirement of the general population! Vitamin C not only promotes the formation of antibodies and enhances the body's resistance, but also promotes skin health.

Collagen is an important component in maintaining skin's firmness and elasticity, and vitamin C plays a key role in collagen synthesis, preventing sagging skin and wrinkles. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for beautiful skin.

Prevent constipation: Dongzao can provide us with rich dietary fiber, especially insoluble dietary fiber. The intake of insoluble dietary fiber can promote gastrointestinal mechanical movement, promote defecation, reduce the residence time of feces in the intestine, and plays an important role in preventing constipation and maintaining intestinal health.

Antioxidant ingredients: Taking in antioxidant ingredients can help us remove excess free radicals from the body and have anti-inflammatory effects. In addition to vitamin C, which is an antioxidant component, winter dates also contain flavonoids and polyphenols, and the content in the green ripe stage is higher than that in the semi-red stage.

Although winter dates are good, don’t show off

Winter jujubes are crispy, sweet and delicious. It’s so enjoyable to show off winter jujubes every day! Be patient, winter dates are delicious, but don’t eat too much! Winter jujubes are high-sugar and high-calorie fruits. Eating too much will not only raise blood sugar, but also make you gain weight.

Calories: The calories of winter dates are slightly higher at 113kcal/100g, [2] which is higher than the calories of bananas and jackfruit. For those who need to lose weight and control their weight, please keep your mouth shut and don’t eat too much. If you can't help but eat 10 or so pills at once, the caloric intake is equivalent to eating a bowl of steamed rice.

Sugar content: The sugar content of winter dates will gradually increase with maturity. The sugar content of fully mature winter dates is as high as more than 20%, or even up to 28%. [5] Data in the "Chinese Food Composition Table" shows that the carbohydrates in winter dates The content is as high as 27.8%, which is nearly 2.7 times that of grapes.

The soluble sugars in winter jujube mainly include fructose, glucose and sucrose. In the early stage of fruit development, fructose and glucose accumulate mainly, while in the later stage of fruit development, sucrose dominates. [6] Sucrose is not very friendly to blood sugar, so people with high blood sugar or diabetes should eat less.

What is the relationship between winter dates and red dates?

When it comes to jujube, the one that everyone is most familiar with is not winter jujube, but red jujube. Many people may be curious, what is the relationship between winter dates and red dates?

In fact, red dates are dried fresh dates, and fresh dates include many different varieties of dates. Winter jujube is one of them, including Chengwu dong jujube, Shandong jujube, Xuecheng dong jujube, long jujube, donkey nipple jujube, and September jujube. Qing et al. Among them, Chengwudong jujube, long jujube, donkey nipple jujube, and September green jujube are suitable for making dried jujubes, while Shandong jujube and Xuechengdong jujube are suitable for fresh eating. [1]

Some friends may be curious: Why are fresh dates green or alternately red and green, but dried dates are completely red?

In fact, during the ripening process, the color changes of fresh dates will go through multiple stages: green ripening stage, white ripening stage, semi-red ripening stage, and full red ripening stage. Current research shows that the color change of winter jujube peel is mainly the result of the joint action of multiple pigments. The change of anthocyanin content plays a leading role in the red change process, and flavonoid pigments play an auxiliary coloring role. [7]

That is to say, the dates are all green at first, and when the fresh dates are fully mature, the skin turns red. Even if they don’t all turn red when picked, they will gradually turn red during later storage. [1] After drying the completely red fresh dates, they are the red dates we see.

Many nutrients in dried red dates are concentrated, such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, dietary fiber, etc., but the vitamin C content is lost more, only 14mg/100g. [2]

In addition, although red dates are very "red", don't expect to eat them to replenish iron and blood! Even though the iron content of red dates is pretty good, higher than most fruits and higher than pork tenderloin, after all, the iron it contains is non-heme iron, and its absorption and utilization rate is poor, only 2% to 20%. The absorption and utilization rate of heme iron is as high as 15% to 35%. In terms of iron supplementation, it is more recommended to eat pork liver, duck blood, and razor clams for better results.

How to preserve winter dates?

It is best to store winter jujubes in cold storage. The lower the temperature, the lower the respiration intensity of winter jujubes, and they are more resistant to storage. The lower the maturity, the longer the winter jujubes can be stored.

Studies have found that under refrigeration conditions, winter jujubes in the white ripening stage can be stored for about 100 days; winter jujubes in the semi-red stage can be stored for about 60 days; and full red fruits can be stored for about 30 days. However, long-term refrigeration of winter jujubes can easily lead to water loss and worsen the taste. Therefore, some research suggests that if you buy a lot, you can store winter dates in an environment of about -1℃ for a better taste.

Moreover, there is no need to worry about winter jujube being frostbitten when stored at around -1°C. An experiment observed the effects of different temperatures on the cold damage index of winter jujube and found that:

Winter jujube treated at -0.5°C showed no symptoms of chilling injury during the entire storage period.

Winter jujubes treated at -1.5℃ only showed mild symptoms of chilling injury when stored for 90 days.

The cold injury symptoms of winter jujube treated at -3°C were the most obvious. Cold injury symptoms appeared after 30 days of storage. After 90 days of storage, the cold injury index was as high as 68%, and the cold injury symptoms were the most serious. [8]

Considering that vitamin C will be lost if stored for too long, winter dates should not be stored for more than 45 days at most. Winter jujubes have thin skin and crispy flesh, and are sweet and delicious. In order to control your weight and blood sugar, you have to keep your mouth shut!