Most of us who have investigated treatments for constipation will have come across the prune. These dried fruits are regarded as generally beneficial for relieving constipation, largely due to the large amount of fiber. But what many don’t know about is that the juice from prunes is also an excellent type of treatment.
The cultivation and exploitation of plums has gone on for hundreds or even thousands of years, according to the best archaeological evidence. Modern prune makers follow an ancient tradition. Plums are plucked and collected in one area where temperature is raised to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. In ancient times this was likely done in or near an oven. After drying, the prunes can be further processed to create related products.
The conventional understanding is that prunes get their laxative effects by having a lot of fiber. In fact, the fiber is over 5% by weight, which is quite high for a fruit. Prune juice however has almost no fiber because the particulates are filtered out usually. Therefore, how does prune juice benefit those who suffer from constipation? The key is sorbitol, a long complex sugar.
Sorbitol is present at almost 15% by weight of prunes, and 6% by weight of prune juice. It’s a complex, polymeric sugar. That means on the molecular scale, it’s a very long chain of sugars. This property allows it to absorb and retain water in the gut as it passes through. In fact, it sometimes is used as a sugar substitute in foods that are labeled “sugar free”.
Other fruits that have high sorbitol include the pear. People who have chewed sugarless gum may have also picked up on the fact that one of the main ingredients is sorbitol. This property plus the fact that it tastes slightly sweet means that it’s made its way into many foods that are touted as low sugar.
How does sorbitol achieve its anti-constipatory effects? There are two properties, both of which have already been mentioned. The first is that sorbitol tends to absorb a lot of water, the second is that sorbitol isn’t metabolized by the body. Together, the effect of sorbitol is to bulk up the colonic mass with a lot of fluids.
The increased water content means that the colonic contents become softer and bulkier. A number of other constipation treatments have similar effects, two classes of which are known by their names osmotic and bulk laxatives. The benefits of prune juice are not restricted to helping stomach contents move faster, but also include important vitamins and sugars for energy. For a simple, natural food, it seems that prunes have many benefits.
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