Eating prunes improved immune, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers
A study published in The Journal of Nutrition sheds new light on the effect of prune consumption on bone loss in postmenopausal women. Specifically, given that an elevated inflammatory profile may be linked to accelerated postmenopausal bone loss, the researchers investigated the impact of prune supplementation on immune, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers.
This was an ancillary study of a larger 12-month randomized controlled trial called the Prune Study. A total of 183 postmenopausal women aged 55 to 75 years completed the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a “no-prune” control group, a group that ate 50 grams of prunes per day, and a group that ate 100 grams of prunes per day. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 12 months of intervention.
The researchers found that dietary supplementation with 50-100 grams of prunes daily for 12 months reduced proinflammatory cytokine secretion from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and suppressed the circulating levels of activated monocytes. These findings suggest that eating prunes may have a role to play in reducing the effects of bone loss in postmenopausal women.
This study was supported by the California Prune Board.
Damani, J. J., Oh, E. S., De Souza, M. J., Strock, N. C., Williams, N. I., Nakatsu, C. H., Lee, H., Weaver, C., & Rogers, C. J. (2023). Prune Consumption Attenuates Proinflammatory Cytokine Secretion and Alters Monocyte Activation in Postmenopausal Women: Secondary Outcome Analysis of a 12-Mo Randomized Controlled Trial: The Prune Study. The Journal of Nutrition, S0022-3166(23)72732-6. Advance online publication.