This page asks how far dates are heart friendly, and the short answer is: less far than the old version of it claimed. Medjool and Deglet Noor dates carry potassium and fibre, two nutrients linked with heart health, and very little fat. They are also high in sugar and calories. Of the three trials described below, which fed people dates, the one that measured blood pressure and C-reactive protein found no change in either, and the results for blood fats were mixed. This update checks each section of the old page against studies and health-service pages and keeps only what they support.
This is general information, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease, ask your doctor before changing what you eat.
What the NHS says about diet and the heart
To reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, the NHS recommends a low-fat, high-fibre diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables (5 portions a day) and whole grains, and no more than 6 g of salt a day. It also says to avoid too much sugar, because that can raise the chance of developing diabetes, which in turn raises the chance of coronary heart disease (NHS, Coronary heart disease prevention). Dates fit the low-fat part of that advice, with 0.15 g of fat per 100 g for Medjool and 0.39 g for Deglet Noor in USDA data, and need care on the sugar part.
Blood pressure and potassium
Dates are low in sodium and high in potassium. USDA FoodData Central lists Medjool dates at 1 mg of sodium and 696 mg of potassium per 100 g (FDC 168191), and Deglet Noor at 2 mg and 656 mg (FDC 171726).
The World Health Organization says increasing potassium intake significantly reduces blood pressure in adults, and it names dates, with bananas and papayas, among the fruits that contain it. WHO recommends getting more potassium from food and suggests at least 3,510 mg a day for adults (WHO eLENA, potassium). The review behind that advice pooled 22 randomised trials with 1,606 participants and found that higher potassium intake lowered systolic blood pressure by 3.49 mm Hg, an effect seen in people with high blood pressure but not in those without it. The authors say this is potentially useful for most people “without impaired renal handling of potassium” (Aburto et al., BMJ 2013).
That is evidence about potassium, not about dates. The old page said dates are “the best choice” for anyone prone to high blood pressure. In a 12-week randomised trial, 79 patients with type 2 diabetes ate either 60 g of dates or 60 g of raisins a day, and 61 finished. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between or within the groups (Butler et al., Nutrients 2022). The NHS also notes that high blood pressure does not usually cause any symptoms, and the only way to find out is to have it checked (NHS, High blood pressure).
Fibre
The NHS says eating plenty of fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer, and that fibre helps digestion and prevents constipation. It sets a target of 30 g a day for adults, against an average of about 20 g (NHS, How to get more fibre into your diet). In a 2019 set of reviews covering 185 prospective studies and 58 clinical trials, people who ate the most fibre had 15–30% lower rates of cardiovascular death, coronary heart disease and stroke than those who ate the least (Reynolds et al., Lancet 2019).
FDC gives Medjool dates 6.7 g of fibre per 100 g and Deglet Noor 8.0 g. The old page said most of the fibre in dates is insoluble. A 2023 analysis of six date varieties agrees: insoluble fibre made up 77.8% to 91.6% of the total (Stojanovska et al., Foods 2023). The heart findings above are for fibre in general, though, not proof that dates are heart friendly on their own.
Antioxidants
The old page said antioxidant-rich foods lower the rates of heart disease and that dates protect against heart ailments by reducing inflammation. Neither line had a source. One test in people is a pilot study in which 10 healthy adults ate 100 g a day of Medjool or Hallawi dates for 4 weeks. Total, LDL and HDL cholesterol did not change significantly, and triglycerides fell by 8% after Medjool and 15% after Hallawi. A blood measure of oxidative stress fell by 33% after Hallawi dates but not after Medjool (Rock et al., J Agric Food Chem 2009). In the 12-week trial above, C-reactive protein, which the authors measured as a cardiovascular risk marker, did not change either.
A larger trial gave 100 people with type 2 diabetes three dates a day for 16 weeks while a control group avoided dates. Total cholesterol fell by 0.209 mmol/L in the date group. LDL fell by 0.171 mmol/L, but its 95% confidence interval (−0.358 to 0.016) crosses zero (Alalwan et al., Nutrients 2020). We go through these trials in more detail in dates and heart health: what the studies show.
Be careful with calories
This is where the “how far” matters most. FDC lists Medjool dates at 277 kcal per 100 g and gives one pitted Medjool date as 24 g, which is about 66 kcal a date. Four pitted Medjool dates come to about 266 kcal, close to the old page’s “almost 270”. The old page compared that with “about 60 calories” for a whole cup of grapes. FDC’s figure for a cup of grapes (151 g) is about 104 kcal. Deglet Noor dates are much smaller: FDC gives one pitted date as 7.1 g, about 20 kcal at 282 kcal per 100 g.
The old page put it as “Dates may be healthy, but eating more calories than you burn, no matter where they come from, leads to weight gain.” The NHS says the same thing about the second half: you are likely to put on weight if you eat and drink more calories than you use. As a guide, it gives 2,500 kcal a day for an average man and 2,000 kcal for an average woman (NHS, Understanding calories). Its heart disease page adds that a healthy weight reduces your chances of developing high blood pressure (NHS). Medjool dates have 66.5 g of total sugars per 100 g, about 16 g in one date.
How to keep dates in a heart-healthy diet
The old page suggested putting four dates in a bowl and the rest away, or chopping them into a salad or grain dish. The NHS gives a matching portion size: a 30 g portion of dried fruit, dates included, counts as 1 of your 5 A Day, eaten at mealtimes rather than as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact on teeth (NHS, 5 A Day: what counts?). Four Deglet Noor dates come to about 28 g, roughly one portion. With Medjool, one date is 24 g. The NHS sugar page suggests dried fruit as part of a meal, such as on breakfast cereal or in tagines and stews (NHS, Sugar: the facts).
So, how far are dates heart friendly? They bring potassium, fibre and almost no fat, which fits the NHS heart diet. In the one trial here that reported them, blood pressure and C-reactive protein did not change, and the cholesterol results across the three trials were mixed. Keep the portion small and eat them with meals. Our dates are listed on the products page, and you can reach the team through the contact page.
References
- NHS. Coronary heart disease: prevention. nhs.uk
- NHS. High blood pressure. nhs.uk
- NHS. How to get more fibre into your diet. nhs.uk
- NHS. Understanding calories. nhs.uk
- NHS. 5 A Day: what counts? nhs.uk
- NHS. Sugar: the facts. nhs.uk
- WHO e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions. Increasing potassium intake to reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular diseases in adults. who.int
- Aburto NJ, et al. Effect of increased potassium intake on cardiovascular risk factors and disease: systematic review and meta-analyses. BMJ. 2013;346:f1378. PMID 23558164
- Butler AE, et al. Effect of date fruit consumption on the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial. Nutrients. 2022;14(17):3491. PMID 36079749
- Reynolds A, et al. Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Lancet. 2019;393:434-445. PMID 30638909
- Stojanovska L, et al. Soluble and insoluble dietary fibre in date fruit varieties: an evaluation of methods and their implications for human health. Foods. 2023;12(6):1231. PMID 36981157
- Rock W, et al. Effects of date (Phoenix dactylifera L., Medjool or Hallawi variety) consumption by healthy subjects on serum glucose and lipid levels and on serum oxidative status: a pilot study. J Agric Food Chem. 2009;57(17):8010-7. PMID 19681613
- Alalwan TA, et al. Effects of daily low-dose date consumption on glycemic control, lipid profile, and quality of life in adults with pre- and type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2020;12(1):217. PMID 31952131
- USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy): Dates, medjool (168191); Dates, deglet noor (171726); Grapes, red or green, raw (174683). fdc.nal.usda.gov