5 Ways To Include Dates In Your Diet For A Nutrition-Packed Lifestyle

There’s something quite undeniably comforting about devouring dates. The fruit of the palm tree, a loyal companion to kahwa in the Middle East, doesn’t always garner the same love in Indian households. But a glimpse into its nutrition profile and you’d instantly want to add dates to your diet. What’s the best way to eat it? Well, here are 5 ways to include dates in your diet for a nutrition-packed lifestyle.

5 Ways To Add Dates To Your Diet

1. Add It In Smoothies

Packed with potassium, antioxidants, fibre and iron, dates add a butterscotch-y goodness when added into a smoothie. A great ingredient to make your homemade smoothie, thick and luscious, dates add the much-needed sweetness to the drink without solely relying on sugar. Toss in a few Mejdools into a blender, with yoghurt, cinnamon powder, banana and unsweetened oats, and you’ve got a lip-smacking smoothie.

2. Top It On Oats

If you don’t like devouring dates as is, why not add them to your overnight oats? It adds a much-needed mouthfeel and packs your oats with sweetness and fibre. Chop the dates into small pieces and add them atop your oats, let the healthy dish rest in the fridge overnight. Devour it the next morning with the dates helping you ease your digestion.

3. Make Laddoos

There is no dearth of healthy laddoo recipes in India. From laddoos made of ragi, jowar to even dates, the choices are endless. So, turn the simple dried fruit into healthy laddoos, garnished with finely chopped nuts. With Ayurveda terming dates as a health tonic food, eating date laddoos makes your post-meal treat nutritious and guilt-free.

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4. Substitute It For Sugar In Healthy Desserts

Since dates naturally contain fructose, they can be easily substituted in desserts in place of sugar. You can use date syrup instead of maple syrup to sweeten your pancakes; or add them as natural sweeteners in milkshakes, healthy wheat cakes and more. It’s a great way to steer away from artificial sweeteners and refined sugars and embrace a fruit packed with nutrition.

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5. Stuff Them With Chopped Nuts

Dates stuffed with finely chopped nuts is a delicious dessert that’s natural and helps with portion-control as well. Finely chop assorted nuts like pistachios, almonds, cashews, walnuts and even raisins. You can even coarsely ground them. Then slit the dates in the middle with a knife and remove the seed. Stuff the dates with the assorted chopped nuts and bite into one post meal.

So, which of these 5 ways will you adopt to zhuzh up the humble yet nutritious date?

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