Are you eating your dates?

Did you know that eating dates during the last weeks of pregnancy has many advantages? Keep on reading to find out more!

You might have heard that you should eat dates during the last weeks of your pregnancy. But did you know that this is not just a myth or an old wives tale? Research actually backs this up! Keep on reading to find out more.

Research on eating dates during pregnancy

On this paper by Kura et al., researchers compared a group of two women: the women of the first group consumed six dates per day on the four weeks prior to their due date, and the women on the second group consumed none. The results they found were quite interesting! Here’s a recap of what they found:

• Women who consumed the dates were more dilated in average when they were admitted to the hospital
• Women in the date-consuming group were less likely to have their bag of waters rupturing prematurely,
• Women who consumed the dates were more likely to go into labor spontaneously
• The use of prostaglandins or artificial oxytocin was significantly lower among women in the date-consuming group
• The average duration of early labor was significantly shorter for women that consumed the dates (510 min in the date-consuming group vs 906 min in the non-date-consuming group!)

Researchers also observed the difference in the delivery outcome (vaginal vs Cesarean) and found it to be more favorable, but non-significant, among the date-consuming group.

All in all, pretty amazing, right? So simply by eating six dates a day from 36 weeks of pregnancy, you might benefit from a shorter labor, and be less likely to need an induction or an augmentation of labor!

Keeping your glucose steady

You might worry that eating dates during your pregnancy might give you glucose spikes. Whether you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or not, keeping a steady glucose is a good idea, both during and after pregnancy. But dates are super sugary, you might be thinking. How am I supposed to eat 6 a days and still keep my glucose steady?

Well, it actually is not that hard if one follows some of the hacks by Glucose Goddess. Here are some options for you to eat your dates and still keep your glucose levels steady:

Eat them with Greek Yogurt 

Greek yogurt is rich in fats and proteins, which serve as a cushion for the carbs on your stomach, and make the absorption of glucose slower, and hence the spike smaller or inexistent! Plus, dates with Greek yogurt really is a yummy combination.

Spread them thorough the day and eat them as a dessert

Eating sweets as a dessert is the best way to prevent them from spiking your glucose. So you don’t need to eat all the dates at the same time: you can eat three after each meal, and if your meals were rich in fiber, fat and protein, they will act as a cushion for the carbs on the dates!

Mix them in a salad

Ok this might not be for everyone, but I personally love bittersweet salads. During summer I love adding peach and nuts to my salads, and you can do the same with your dates! The fiber of the leafy greens and the proteins and fat from the nuts will act as a cushion and slow down the digestion of the carbs as well.

Bottomline

Eating dates during the last weeks of pregnancy is an evidence-based practice that has many benefits! The only possible problem would be their effect on your glucose, but I’m sure with some of these ideas above you’ll be able to enjoy your end-of-pregnancy dates and profit from all the benefits they have, but keep your glucose steady. Do you have your own glucose-steady dates recipes? Share them in the comments!