Prunes can Aid Weight Loss

Eating prunes along with a healthy diet can help reduce weight, a new study finds.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Liverpool, has found that the dried fruit helped dieters lose weight.

Dried prunes are good source of fiber and have around 6.1 g of dietary fiber for every 100 g. The fruit is high in simple sugars and phenols.

Prune - for all its sweetness - isn't considered as a fruit-of-choice for dieters. However, the new study shows that people wanting to lose weight can benefit from it.

Researchers at the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, obtained data from 100 overweight/obese people to see if prunes helped or hindered weight loss program over a 12-week period.

The team hypothesized that the fruit makes people feel full for a longer period, reducing their urge to eat more food.

For the study, researchers divided people into two groups: one was asked to eat prunes as part of the weight loss diet, while the other was given instructions about healthy snacking.

Researchers found that people who ate prunes lost around 2kg (around 4 pounds) and reduced waist circumference by 2.5cm. However, people who didn't eat prunes lost an average of 1.5kg (a little over 3 pounds) in weight and shed 1.7cm off from their waists.

"These are the first data to demonstrate both weight loss and no negative side effects when consuming prunes as part of a weight management diet. Indeed in the long term they may be beneficial to dieters by tackling hunger and satisfying appetite; a major challenge when you are trying to maintain weight loss," said Dr Jo Harrold at University of Liverpool, lead author of the study, in a news release.

"Maintaining a healthy diet is challenging. Along with fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit can provide a useful and convenient addition to the diet, especially as controlling appetite during dieting can be tough," said Jason Halford, Professor of Experimental Psychology and Director of the University's Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory.