Date

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Women's health through life stages³

  Eating dates helped girls' anaemia, women's fertility and menopause symptoms, though some results differed between studies.

• Benefit

  Labor and childbirth⁴

  In pregnant women, eating dates in the last weeks made labor about 8.5 hours shorter.

• Open question

  Blood antioxidant response⁵

  In healthy people, eating date bars changed some blood antioxidant measures more than fruit bars did.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Antioxidants in lab studies⁷

  In lab studies, dates and date seeds contain antioxidants, but most studies are not in people.

• Benefit

  Gut and metabolic health⁸

  In lab and animal studies, date fruit and seed compounds may help metabolism, but human trials are still limited.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Carbamate levels above limits⁶

  In tests, every date sample had at least one carbamate pesticide, and some had amounts above set limits.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.