The Secret Of Dates.

The Secret Of Dates.

Rasulullah (SAW) gave special attention to dates as part of the Muslim’s diet, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Allah Almighty mentioned palm trees many times in the Qur’an, and made its fruit the food of the dwellers of paradise.

So what are the secrets of this great nutriment? Is it possible to think of using dates as remedy for some diseases? What do scientists of today say about dates?

Dates are one of the most nourishing fruits and it is sometimes called the ‘bread of desert.’ More than two third of dates’ weight is natural sugar.

This fruit was highly esteemed by the ancient civilizations more than 5,000 years ago. Ancient Egyptians considered dates as a symbol of fertility, while the Romans and the Greeks used it to ornament their stately triumph pageants. Today, dates are widely grown in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Spain, Italy, the United States and in Africa. There are more than 600 varieties of dates.

Dates and the pre-birth period:

Dates stimulate the uterus by regulating and hastening its contractions to facilitate delivery. The uterus is a relatively large muscular organ and it urgently requires an adequate supply of natural sugar during labour and delivery.

Being a laxative, dates are essential for pregnant women before delivery in order to purge the colon and intestine and to facilitate delivery. As Allah tells Maryam (AS):

وَهُزِّي إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ تُسَاقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا

“And shake the trunk of the palm tree towards thee – thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee.” (Surah Maryam 19:25)

Nutriment and medicine for children:

Dates contain natural sugar which is easily absorbed and digested. Thus, it is safe and comforting for children’s stomach and intestine. And date juice is useful especially if we mix it with milk – it becomes a very nourishing and restorative drink for children and adults.

Dates and honey paste, taken three times a day, is used for the treatment of diarrhoea and Dysentery in children,

This paste also comforts and hardens the gums during teething and it facilitates the process.

Treatment for obesity:

The wide variety of nutritious elements in dates makes it hunger resistive. The cause behind obesity is a persisting feeling of hunger and an appetite for food which drives a person to consume larger amounts of fats and sugar when he eat his meal. So, treatment by eating a few dates when feeling hungry helps reduce hunger and be filled. These dates provide the body with the necessary sugar and stimulate the intestine, which reduce hunger greatly, and eventually, reduce food consumption. Rasulullah (SAW) saying shows this: “A household that has dates doesn’t feel hunger.” (Muslim)

Dates are suitable for reducing weight as it contains only 0.25 gm of fat. This prophetic meal also regulates and stimulates the bowels with the 10 gm of dietary fibre it contains.

Remedy for liver and other inflammations:

Dates remedy the liver and purge it from toxins. Breaking the fast with dates is one of the most magnificent of natural remedies for the maintenance and purging the liver from accumulated toxins. Drinking dates’ juice helps the treatment of sore throat, various types of fever, and common cold.

Having high medicinal and nutritious value, dates are expected to be the best food for the future. Dates contain as high a percentage as 88 percent of carbohydrate (starch), (2.5-5 percent) of fat,(2.3-5.6 percent) of Protein and (6.4-11.5 percent) of vitamins and dietary fibre. The flesh contains (0.2-5 percent) of oil, whereas the seed’s weight is (7.7 -9.7 percent) oil. The weight of the seed is (6.6 – 14.2 percent) of the date’s weight.

Dates contain Vitamins A, B1 and B2, and fluorine which prevent teeth decay. Other minerals found in various proportions in dates include boron, calcium, cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, phosphorous, sodium and zinc.

Additionally, the seeds contain aluminium, cadmium, chloride, lead and sulphur in various proportions. Selenium, element believed to help prevent cancer and important in immune function, is also found in dates.

If you are feeling weak, don’t hesitate to take seven dates (70 gm) in the morning as Rasulullah (SAW) recommended. You will actually be taking 70 milligrams of calcium, which is very useful for the bones, joints and nerves, 35 milligrams of phosphorus, which is nutritious for the brain, and 7 milligrams of iron, which strengthens the body in general and the heart in particular.

Dates are very rich with sugary energy and so the body is supplied with the most important nutrients which is sugar that is irreplaceable as a nutrient for the brain cells and nerves.

Dates protect the fasting person from having constipation as a result of changing meals times or as a result of having low fibre amounts in meals.

The alkaline salts in dates adjust the acidity of blood which result from excessiveness eating of meat and carbohydrates which causes a lot of hereditary diseases as diabetes, gout, renal stones, gall bladder inflammations, high blood pressure and haemorrhoids).