The New Complete Book of Food

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r Dates

Nutritional Profile

Energy value (calories per serving): High

Protein: Low

Fat: Low

Saturated fat: Low

Cholesterol: None

Carbohydrates: High

Fiber: Very high

Sodium: Low (fresh or dried fruit)

High (dried fruit treated with sodium sulfur compounds)

Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins

Major mineral contribution: Iron, potassium

About the Nutrients in This Food

Dates are a high-carbohydrate food, rich in fiber and packed with sugar

(as much as 70 percent of the total weight of the fruit). Dates are also a

good source of nonheme iron, the inorganic iron found in plant foods, plus

potassium, niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin, but they are an unusual fruit

because they have no vitamin C at all.

A serving of 10 whole pitted Medjool dates has 16 g dietary fiber and

2.2 mg iron (12 percent of the RDA for a woman, 27 percent of the RDA

for a man).

The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food

With meat or with a vitamin C- rich food. Both enhance your body’s abil-

ity to use the nonheme iron in plants (which is ordinarily much less useful

than heme iron, the organic iron in foods of animal origin).

Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food

Low-carbohydrate diet

Low-fiber/low-residue diet

Low-potassium diet

Low-sodium diet (dried dates, if treated with sodium sulfite)