Benefit Heart Health

Regular consumption of plums and prunes may be beneficial to heart health. They've been researched for their ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, both of which are key risk factors for heart disease. In one study, individuals who drank prune juice and ate three or six prunes every morning for eight weeks were compared to a control group that drank merely a glass of water on an empty stomach.

Those who took prunes and prune juice had lower blood pressure, total cholesterol, and "bad" LDL cholesterol levels than those who drank water. Research indicated that males with high cholesterol had decreased LDL cholesterol levels after eating 12 prunes daily for eight weeks. Several animal experiments have yielded comparable results. In general, mice were given dry plum powder and plum juice tend to have lower cholesterol and higher "good" HDL cholesterol levels. These findings, however, cannot be applied to people.