Will I Gain Weight on Medjool Dates?

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Permalink Reply by CheL on May 18, 2009 at 11:06am

eat them if they feel good!!
i ate a bunch for months and months and worried the same thing but slowly my love affair dwindled into a distant friendship.
trust yourself, love. eat em if you love em!!!

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Permalink Reply by Raini on May 18, 2009 at 11:30am

In my opinion, Sugar should be used as energy. So if you do that, you will be fine.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Dee on May 18, 2009 at 11:33am

I've been chowing down on dates for a long time, and have been continually getting thinner. I think your question largely depends on what your caloric needs are compared with your normal caloric intake. Each Medjool date, according to some Internet poking around I just did, has about 66 calories. So, if you have a handful or so per day, that's only 500 calories or so -- which is nothing to scoff at, of course. But, assuming you're a raw foodie, you can probably handle a caloric hit like that (esp. if you're a low-fat raw vegan, 80/10/10er, etc.).

BTW... Damn, I **love** those things! Our local co-op has organic medjools for $9.80/pound. But, I found another local source that sells them (also organic) for $4.88/pound. Whole foods seems to have them, but not in bulk. Just out of curiosity, what're you paying where you live for them?

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Permalink Reply by TonyV on May 18, 2009 at 1:46pm

I just paid $5.79/lb. Yes, they are totally delicious.

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Permalink Reply by TonyV on May 18, 2009 at 1:55pm

Just an update... I had probably five or six dates this morning. I've been listening to my body pretty closely to learn what effect the dates are having on my. So far, I am NOT getting the following physical feelings that I usually equate with REFINED sugars:

1. No increased heart rate.
2. No clouded thinking as though I were "high" or something.
3. No obsession to finish the whole bag at one sitting.
4. No bloated feeling of grossness.
5. No "sweater on my teeth" (do you know what I'm talking about on this one?)

What I HAVE noticed today is that I really wanted to take a nap around 1:30. That may be because I didn't have any coffee today for a change. We'll see.

Any way, thanks for all the great comments!

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Permalink Reply by svelte_in_la on May 19, 2009 at 6:08am

Dates pack the pounds on me.

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Permalink Reply by Mellifera on May 19, 2009 at 6:48am

I think there is something about them that naturally dissuades binging. I don't think I could eat more than 1 myself. Too rich!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Carlton on May 19, 2009 at 7:47am

As you see from the comments, it's certainly possible to enjoy them as much as you like without weight gain. It's also certainly possible to believe that you are being bad for enjoying your food and produce negative results from eating them. What we believe about our food is 50%, maybe even more.

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Permalink Reply by TonyV on May 19, 2009 at 7:55am

Hmm. I really like this comment. It rings true to me. I think I'll stop worrying about it and just get on with my life. Dates are a gift from nature, and I'll enjoy them without worry.

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Permalink Reply by WhoRaw on May 19, 2009 at 8:53am

Hi TonyV
I love dates as well, I purchase some from WF a week ago in bulk. I put them in my smoothie and I eat a few before my spin class.

Enjoy

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Permalink Reply by eatsleepsurf on May 19, 2009 at 8:33am

As always, intuition and self experimentation are best. Just make sure you get them as fresh as possible. The ones I've gotten from Whole Foods are always dried and rubbery. I get mine from my local co-op and they are out of this world. So moist they melt in your mouth! Medjool, honey, bahri, black sphinx...pure bliss! If you can't find them locally, you can always order a wet pack from The Date People, although the season might be over? Oh yeah, stay away from the pitted deglet noor, as they have been steamed and who knows what else!

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Permalink Reply by Jay Dubz on May 19, 2009 at 6:04pm

A natural fruit sugar is always better than the processed white sugar found in most candies. Plus you receive a percentage of fiber, potassium, calcium, and iron from Medjool dates, which is a natural food.

I think you could gain weight eating too much of any type of calories if you’re not actively burning those calories off. But I also believe there are good healthy carbohydrates and useless poor carbohydrates, so comparing Medjool dates gram for gram with a Snicker bar, I think you’ll come out a whole lot better eating a moderate amount of Medjool dates daily.

Peace

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