The miracle fruit that claims to be Kaisu Lu, eating three pounds will open your eyes to a new world

Recently, prunes have suddenly become popular, especially fresh prunes.

Not cheap~

The biggest highlight of this kind of prune, known as the "miracle fruit", is not how rich in nutrition it is, but its magical laxative effect! !

Many netizens have complained about their "wonderful experiences" after eating prunes.

Image source: Weibo

If… From a scientific perspective, is it possible to treat constipation by eating prunes?

His real name is European Lee, and his stage name is Ximei

Prunes look like plums, but they actually belong to the Rosaceae family, and their formal Chinese name is Prunus mume. To put it bluntly, what we eat are plums, not prunes.

The fruit of European plum (Prunus domestica L.) looks similar to plum. Among the fruit trees in the Rosaceae family, Prunus and Apricot are closely related, so they are sometimes confused. However, the taste of fresh prunes is similar to plums, but they taste sweeter.

Prune photo credit: hippopx

European plums are native to West Asia and Europe and are introduced and cultivated in various parts of China. They bloom in May and bear fruit in September. Because the ripening time is concentrated in August and September, their preservation is also a headache.

Although fresh plums are delicious, their shelf life is limited. They are mostly used to make candied fruits, preserves, jams, and fruit wines. The varieties with high sugar content are made into dried plums.

Before this wave of eating fresh prunes, we were used to eating prunes in dried form. The sour dried apricots and prunes are our common childhood memories.

Prunes – Intestinal feces pusher

Prunes have an important and magical effect - they promote bowel movements.

Generally speaking, there are three main types of substances in the fruits and vegetables we eat daily that can promote bowel movements: dietary fiber, fructose, and sugar alcohols.

Dietary fiber plays an important role in the formation and shaping of stool. It can be simply considered that dietary fiber is the steel skeleton of stool. Stool can be shaped only because of the presence of dietary fiber. In addition, dietary fiber is highly hydrophilic, which increases the volume and moisture of stool, thereby promoting intestinal peristalsis and helping the body to defecate.

Studies have shown that diarrhea may occur only when you consume more than 20 grams of dietary fiber at one time. However, the dietary fiber content of prunes is not high, with only about 1.4 grams of dietary fiber in every 100 grams of prunes. In other words, you need to eat about 3 kilograms of prunes at one time to get enough, which is really difficult.

The principle by which fructose promotes bowel movements is similar to that of dietary fiber, and the human body's ability to absorb fructose alone is poor, so fructose can generally remain in the intestines to promote bowel movements.

However, fructose and glucose generally exist at the same time in the fruits and vegetables we eat daily. Experiments have shown that once glucose and fructose are ingested together, the absorption effect of fructose will be greatly enhanced, which means that it is difficult for fructose to stay in the intestines and promote defecation.

Studies have found that the effect of promoting defecation can only be achieved when the ratio of fructose to glucose in fruits exceeds 1:1. However, the ratio of fructose to glucose in prunes is about 0.56:1, so relying on the fructose in prunes to promote defecation is not feasible.

Sorbitol is a functional oligosaccharide that is difficult to digest. It can form a hypertonic environment in the intestines, which can absorb and retain more water. At the same time, sorbitol can produce gas when decomposed by intestinal bacteria. Under the combined effect of water and gas, the volume and humidity of stool increase, which promotes human defecation.

According to experimental data, for most people, if they take more than 5 grams of sorbitol at a time, their stomachs will start to growl, and if they take more than 10 grams at a time, they will have obvious diarrhea symptoms.

Prunes are rich in sorbitol, with an average of 2.6 grams of sorbitol in every 100 grams of fresh prunes. Therefore, theoretically, if you eat about 80 grams of prunes at a time, you can ingest more than 10 grams of sorbitol, which can promote bowel movements.

Moreover, although a large amount of vitamin C is lost in the process of prunes being made into dried prunes, very little sorbitol is lost, so dried prunes also have a good laxative effect.

Dried prunes, Image source: Wikipedia

From this point of view, sorbitol is the secret weapon of prunes in promoting bowel movements!

Why doesn't eating prunes have any effect on me?

From a theoretical perspective, eating an appropriate amount of prunes can indeed have an effective laxative effect, but in practice this is not always effective.

Image source: Wikipedia

First of all, different people react differently to sorbitol's laxative effect. If you have irritable bowel syndrome, you may have diarrhea after eating a few prunes, while people with insensitive intestines may not have any reaction even if they eat one or two kilograms at a time.

Secondly, the sorbitol content of different varieties of prunes varies greatly. The sorbitol content of 2.6 grams per 100 grams is just an average value. If you are unlucky enough to buy a prune variety with a sorbitol content of 1 gram per 100 grams, then eating two kilograms of it in one go may not be effective.

Thirdly, consuming prunes only relies on the effect of sorbitol to temporarily relieve constipation symptoms, and cannot cure constipation once and for all. Moreover, prunes are not suitable for patients with diabetes or acute or chronic gastroenteritis.

Finally, I want to remind everyone that we eat fruits for scientific diet and to maintain good health, and we should not consume them in excess in pursuit of some special effect!

Do you have a strong "reaction" to eating prunes? How much should you eat to "work"? Come to the comment section and share your experience!

END

Audit Expert

Wang Guoyi, Postdoctoral Fellow in Food Safety

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo