Eating some soaked dry fruits every day is a powerful lifestyle habit.
Black raisins are a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which are much needed by our body. They are rich in healthy dietary fibre, phytonutrients and other elements which are responsible for the healthy living and functioning of our organs. Including black raisins in the diet, ensures your body is getting all that it needs to fight away diseases and infection, ensuring complete health.
In this article, we are going to read about the 11 benefits of black raisins.
Nutritional value of black raisins
The nutritional value of raisins is similar to that of grapes because raisins are nothing but dried grapes.
Typical serving size of raisins is about 1 ounce (oz), a small box, or about 40–50 grams (g).
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the nutritional facts for a serving around this size are:
Calories – 129 g
Protein – 1.42 g
Fats – 0.11 g
Carbohydrates – 34.11 g
Sugars – 28.03 g
Dietary fibre – 1.9 g
The same serving size also contains some valuable vitamins and minerals, including:
Vitamin C – 1 milligram (mg)
Calcium – 27 mg
Iron – 0.77 mg
Magnesium – 15 mg
Potassium – 320 mg
Phosphorous – 42 mg
Sodium – 11 mg
As a study posted to the Journal of Nutritional Health notes, raisins have very high antioxidant levels and phenol content compared to other popular dried fruits.
11 benefits of black raisin
Helps in weight loss
One of the best benefits of eating black raisins is that it helps in weight loss.
How?
Raisins are full of natural sugar so when you eat it your body craves less sugar and so you don’t feel that urge to munch on sugary foods and snacks.
Also, soaked raisins are full of fibres and anything that’s rich in fibre keeps us full for a longer time. When we eat processed food, carbs and junk, we constantly feel hungry over and over again because there’s a lack of fibre but when we have fruits, vegetables and things like dried raisins which are soaked, we stay full for a longer time so we don’t mindlessly eat. Thus eating raisins helps you support your weight loss goals.
Great! Isn’t it?
Improves digestion
Another benefit of black raisin is that it helps in improving your digestion.
How?
As said above black raisin are loaded with fibres so it acts as a mild laxative therefore it helps in relieving constipation and enables you to have a good bowel movement in the morning. In this way, your overall digestion is improved.
Boosts immunity
The next benefit of black raisin we have is that it boosts our immunity.
How?
Black raisins are a rich source of vitamin B and vitamin C. These vitamins are known to strengthen our immunity. Therefore consuming vitamin B and vitamin C makes us less susceptible to infection.
Black raisins also have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties which save our body from many infections, common illnesses and fevers.
Purifies blood
Next in the list of benefits of raisins is the purification of blood.
How?
We are often unable to keep our blood free of toxins and other impurities which eventually results in dry and unattractive skin.
Black raisins are full of natural antioxidants. They accelerate the functions of the liver and the kidney. Furthermore, they eliminate damaging free radicals from our bodies and detoxify them completely.
As your blood gets purified you will see that all your acne and pimple problems are gone and you are left with only clear and glowing skin.
Isn’t that all we girls want?
Cures anaemia
According to the International Journal of medical research and review about 30% or nearly one-third of the world’s population is suffering from anaemia due to various causes and thats a really big problem. But don’t worry as black raisins have got you covered.
Let’s see how black raisins can help in curing anaemia?
The iron content in raisins is very high as compared to any other fruits and vegetables. Raisins are also power-packed with vitamin B complex.
And did you know? Raisins also contain copper which helps in the production of Red blood cells.
So if you add black raisins to your everyday diet, your recommended daily intake of dietary iron will be easily met keeping anaemia at bay.
Good for oral hygiene
Maintaining good oral hygiene is so important for your overall personality because bad breath is such a turn off for everyone.
Black raisins have antibacterial properties therefore it helps to remove bad mouth odour. It also helps to prevent tooth decay.
Overall black raisins help you with killing microbes and bacteria that may exist in your mouth and that’s how it helps with your overall oral hygiene
Prevents premature greying and hair fall
We all are worried about our hair. Whether it is hair fall or premature greying of hair. It is a cause of concern for most women.
Isn’t it?
But once again this superfood has got your back.
Black raisins are loaded with vitamin C and iron. These when present in our body in adequate amounts help the body in absorbing minerals fast, therefore, providing proper nourishment to the hair.
Eating black raisins also helps in blood circulation in the scalp, which in turn stimulates hair follicles and prevents hair loss.
So if you incorporate this superfood into your daily diet you can ultimately put the full stop to the untimely greying of hair and hair fall.
Good for bone health
Gone are the days when bone health was the concern of senior citizens only. Now young people in their 20s or 30s are facing issues with their bone health.
Soaked black raisins have a high volume of boron and it’s got a high content of calcium which are considered building blocks for our bones.
Boron and calcium are required for the integrity of your bone health and lack of these minerals can cause severe disease related to bones like osteoporosis.
Making black raisins a part of our diet will help our body to get enough calcium that it needs to prevent and treat such disease successfully.
Helps in controlling blood pressure
In a world full of stress high blood pressure and hypertension have become part and parcel of our lives. Another amazing benefit of eating black raisins is that it helps in controlling high blood pressure and many other cardiovascular diseases.
Black raisins are good for
- People with cardiovascular problems
- People who have gone through strokes
- People who have cholesterol issues
- People who have high triglyceride levels
The main culprit behind all these ailments is high levels of sodium in our bodies.
As black raisins are rich in potassium, it helps in lowering the levels of sodium in our body. Incorporating raisins into our daily diet can help with lowering high blood pressure.
A word of caution- So if you’re on high bp medication and you’re going to start taking black raisins and you suddenly feel a dip, it could be because the black raisins are lowering your bp. Make an informed decision, do it safely and see if it’s working for you or not. If you don’t feel right get your doctors to bring down your medication so that you don’t actually go into low blood pressure.
Provides energy
Eating black raisins also energizes your physical body and mind.
How?
Raisins contain natural fructose and glucose which keeps your body energetic for a long period of time. Black raisins can also help in preventing weakness. Thats, why you must have seen patients post-surgery or post any heavy treatments like chemo or radiation, are told to consume raisins.
Fight against bad cholesterol
Black raisins are rich in lots of soluble fibres which are basically known to be an anti-cholesterol compound. It transfers low-density lipoproteins (LDL) also known as bad cholesterol which are found in our body from our bloodstream to the liver and facilitates its elimination from the body. Polyphenols, the special class of organic antioxidants present in black raisins, also help in bringing the levels of cholesterol down in our body by restraining various cholesterol-absorbing enzymes.
Are there any risk of black raisins?
While raisins are generally beneficial for overall health, sometimes they may not be the best snack to consume.
Firstly, people who are looking to cut down on calories should be careful about eating large amounts of raisins. If you are on a calorie deficit diet you can eat grapes rather than raisins because one grape and one raisin contain an equal amount of calories however grapes are larger in size than raisins so grapes can make you full sooner and hence you end up consuming fewer calories.
Secondly, if you eat too many raisins, it can increase the soluble fibre. Too much fibre may cause gastrointestinal upset, such as cramps, gas, and bloating. Some people may even develop diarrhoea. However, it is important to note that this would only result from eating a significant amount of raisins since they do not contain excessively high amounts of fibre.
Lastly, because of their small size, people are prone to choking and small children may need to avoid raisins and opt for fresh fruit instead.
However, enjoying raisins in moderation is generally safe.
Takeaway
So the takeaway is that we don’t need to complicate our health by spending on expensive and fancy superfoods. We just have to incorporate simple habits like adding a black raisin into our everyday diet.
And the benefits, what else do I need to say. By the end of this article, I am sure most of you have already made up your mind about adding this amazing food to your diet.