Who among us doesn't like dates? This is truly a delicious sweet fruit, which in the East bears the proud name "bread of the desert". Fruit has become an indispensable part of our diet due to its nutritional properties and pleasant taste. Dates are the fruits of the date palm, which is a fruit crop of tropical and subtropical deserts and semi-deserts that does not tolerate cold and frost. The homeland is considered the territory of the Euphrates and Nile valleys.
Dates are known to be a staple food substitute for bread in Arabia and North Africa. In the wild, the palm tree cannot be found. Its wood is often used in construction, and palm leaves are often used in weaving various products. The leaves are fern-shaped and brownish-red in color, the fruits can be yellow, brown, gray-blue in color with a sweet, fibrous pulp, grow in huge clusters. To harvest, locals carefully cut and lower these clusters to the ground, and then dry them in the sun, where dates become a well-known delicacy.
Date trees There are more than 300 varieties in the world, but only a few species of them are exported by Israel, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, Sudan, Oman, Morocco, Tunisia, USA. At the moment, the undisputed leader in the production and supply of dates is Saudi Arabia.
Composition of dates
Calorie content of dried dates
per 100 g of product is 305 kcal:
- Proteins - 2, 2 g
- Fat - 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates - 71.9 g
This is the only fruit containing up to 60-65% carbohydrates. It is high in fluoride, which protects our teeth from tooth decay, and selenium, which reduces the risk of heart disease. Fruits contain up to 23 types of amino acids, as well as dietary fiber, pectins, provitamin A, B vitamins, including pantothenic acid, which helps carbohydrates to be absorbed more easily. Of the trace elements and minerals, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, potassium, manganese, aluminum, sodium, cobalt, cadmium, boron, sulfur are present. No cholesterol.
Useful properties of dates
Eat dates! They have a positive effect on mental activity, increase efficiency and vitality! These fruits are just a godsend for the beauty and health of hair and nails, as they perfectly replenish the loss of potassium in the body, are rich in folic acid and vitamin E. They are recommended for use in cardiovascular diseases, tumors, oncological diseases, tuberculosis, arrhythmias, hypertension. They strengthen human immunity and act as an antipyretic agent. Dates are useful for physical fatigue, chronic fatigue, paralysis of the facial nerve and even for increasing male sexual potency. With indigestion, you can make a decoction of dates with rice, which has been known since ancient times. To do this, rinse 5 fruits, pour a glass of water, boil for 15 minutes, then cool and remove the seeds. The pulp is rubbed and a little of the same broth is added to it. The resulting mixture is mixed with a glass of boiled rice and the healing agent is ready to use.
In search of the best recipe for losing weight, one cannot fail to mention the world famous "date diet". Despite the high calorie content, the product contains a lot of glucose and fructose, they can completely replace the consumption of confectionery sweets.
In cooking, they are used as a sweet filling for biscuits, pies, added to salads, stuffing for minced meat, pilaf, stew. Fruits are processed into cubes, pasta, syrup, carbonated juice, sugar, alcohol, vinegar. You can make flour from them and get honey.
It is known that ground and roasted fruit pits replace coffee. So, in the Israeli chain of coffee houses "Cafenetto" you can order a date cappuccino, which is not inferior to the taste of ordinary coffee, but it is much healthier - because the bones are rich in vitamins and other useful substances.
People often ask if there are significant differences between fresh and dried dates. If determined by their appearance, then fresh ones are absolutely smooth, they do not show any wrinkles, they taste very juicy, however, not as sweet as dried ones. Unlike dried ones, which are often passed off as fresh, you can't eat a lot of them - just a few things will easily satisfy any hunger.
How are dates related to childbirth?
Dates contain the chemical oxytocin, which is medically known as a birth control drug. This same substance helps the female body produce milk immediately after childbirth.
How to grow a date palm yourself?
If you are a connoisseur of the beauty of palm leaves and have perseverance and patience, then by all means try to grow such a palm tree right at home! Please note that the seed will begin to sprout in three months, and the long-awaited beautiful leaves can only be admired in a few years.
To grow a date palm, you will need several seeds, which must be planted in the ground so that their upper part is covered with 1 cm of soil. It is advisable to use a mixture of sand, turf and leafy soil, peat, humus for this purpose. The optimal time for planting is spring. Place the pot in a warm, bright place. To accelerate the emergence of sprouts, hold the seeds in hot water for a few minutes before planting, or rub them with sandpaper a little - so cracks form in the dense shell of the bone, which allows moisture to get inside faster.
Dates harm and contraindications
Even such a seemingly useful product can be harmful. It should be feared by people with diseases of the stomach and duodenal ulcer during an exacerbation. Excessive single use leads to dysfunction of the spleen, liver, toothache, diseases of the biliary tract.
In order not to harm your health, be sure to pay attention to the appearance of dates - they must be dry and fresh. Often on the shelves are very dry or shriveled fruits, on the skin of which mold and crystallized sugar appear. Make sure they are neatly stacked in rows in a box. In addition to "Caspirus" and "Kaspiran", which are praised by many raw foodists, there are also dates with the romantic name Le Palmier, the inside of which is not dark, but whitish, and the taste is not sugary-sweet at all. Their naturalness can be understood not only by these characteristics, but also by the branches of the palm tree. In addition to the above, you can find La Palma, The Palm, Palm Sasha, Palm Yulya, etc. on sale.
