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If your child suffers from constipation regularly, you have probably been advised to give them prune juice. After all, when it comes to treating constipation1, prune juice is highly beneficial.
Prune juice for babies is a popular cure for constipation2. However, the health benefits of a glass of prune juice don’t end there.
Stick to the end of the article and read on to find out more about the health advantages of prune juice for babies.
What is Prune Juice?
Prunes are dried plums that are high in minerals, fiber, and naturally occurring sugars.
Sorbitol, a kind of sugar, serves as a laxative and aids in constipation. As a result, prune juice contains a high concentration of sorbitol3 and can provide constipation relief for the affected.
Plums are available in a variety of colors, textures, and flavors. Prunes are any dried plum, but the term is most commonly associated with the dried variant of the widely accessible European plum Prunus domestica.4
Prunus salicina and Prunus americana are two other common plum varieties. These three types of plum account for the majority of the world’s prune production.
All three are freestone plums, which means the pit can be easily removed. This simplifies drying and storing and also ensures that the prune remains intact throughout the process.
Making a healthy beverage is the simplest method to get the most out of these sweet, nutrient-dense plums5.
Benefits of prune
Prunes have numerous health benefits and can be included in a balanced diet. Some of the benefits of prune are mentioned down below:
Energy source: Prunes’ simple sugars are a healthy source of energy and do not cause a blood sugar increase.
Fiber: Prunes are high in dietary fiber. They include soluble fiber, which attracts water into the colon and softens and makes the stool easier to pass. They also include insoluble fiber, which adds volume to the stool, makes stool soft and helps it move more quickly.
Vitamins and minerals: Prunes are high in boron, which is thought to help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that causes bone weakness. One serving of prunes contains all of the boron that the body requires for proper functioning. Prunes also include a lot of potassium, vitamin K, vitamin A, niacin, riboflavin, and vitamin B6.
Phenolic chemicals: Prunes contain a high concentration of phenolic compounds, which contributes to their laxative effect. These substances in prunes is also beneficial for heart health and can prevent chronic illnesses.6
What Should You Be Aware Of?
While prune juice for babies can help with constipation, it lacks the full range of advantages provided by the dried plums from which it is prepared:
High sugar content: Fruit juices, particularly prune juice, contain a high concentration of water and sugar. This high sugar content ids constipation, but children should only be given little amounts of juice. Because of the high sugar content, children who consume an excessive amount of fruit juice may get diarrhea.
Not as much fiber: Juices that have been strained or are pulp-free do not have as much fiber as whole fruits. For children, prune juice with pulp is a better option.
Constipation: While prune juice can assist with constipation, not pooping is also frequent in babies and children, so giving your children prune juice may not always be essential. It’s typical for babies to go a few days without having a bowel movement.
Cavities in teeth: Despite the fact that prune juice provides natural sugars, drinking too much fruit juice may cause cavities, especially if consumed late at night.
Benefits of Prune Juice for babies
Here are some of the surprising benefits about prune juice.
1. Smooth Bowel Function
Constipation is a condition in which the body has trouble passing stool. This can be expressed as follows:
- Dry and hard bowel movements.
- Having less than three bowel movements each week.
- feeling as if you’re straining to pass stool.
Constipation is common in children under the age of five. It is a common cause for kids to visit a doctor.
Stool withholding can occur as a result of constipation. This may aggravate constipation.
Because of its propensity to stimulate the digestive tract, prune juice has long been used to alleviate constipation. Prune juice will not work for every child, and it is crucial to understand its limitations as a constipation cure.
Prune juice for babies and infant constipation:
Prune juice for babies can help with constipation. Prune juice is created from dried plums, which contain a high sorbitol concentration, according to a reliable source. This chemical is both laxative and diuretic.
Infants range in age from two to twelve months. Even if your kid is of this age, it’s still not a good idea to offer them juice unless their doctor says it’s okay.
Paediectricuams can help you to chart how to include prune juice in your toddler’s diet. 1 ounce of prune juice every month of life, with a maximum daily dose of four ounces, is a decent rule of thumb.
To treat constipation, prune juice should be given not more than twice a day. If you want to assist your baby stay hydrated, dilute the juice with water. Continue to feed your baby formula or breastfeed as usual. If your child does not use a cup, use a syringe or a spoon to administer prune juice.
[Click here to buy Prune Juice for babies]
2. Prevents Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids are caused by bowel movements that are sluggish and hard. Cases of infants getting hemorrhoids are rare but not uncommon. They don’t suffer from frequent occurrences of the condition as much as adults.
Also called piles, Hemorrhoids, cause painful bulging veins in the anus and lower rectum. Hemorrhoids develop in neonates as a result of prolonged bouts of constipation. Constipation occurs in babies when they are rapidly switched from a breastfed to a solid food diet.
To avoid this, switching from a liquid diet to solid food should be done gradually. Even if your infant is on a liquid diet, he or she may experience constipation. Constipation is usually linked to breastmilk and iron-fortified formulas.
Hemorrhoids are also caused by prolonged constipation.
The benefits of prune juice for babies are endless as both constipation and hemorrhoids can be treated well with prune juice.
Because prunes are high in fiber, they can be used to treat and prevent constipation, as well as hemorrhoids, which can develop as a result of persistent constipation.
3. Treats Anemia
When your child’s body doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells, he or she develops anemia.
Anemia causes a slew of other health problems, including respiratory problems, irritability, and weariness. Prune juice has a high iron content, which aids in the treatment of iron deficiency.
4. Increases Bone Strength
Potassium is abundant in prune juice. Potassium is a mineral that is linked for boosting bone health.
Other health benefits of potassium include stimulating neurological development, balancing water in the body, and controlling fluids in the body, among others.
As a result, prune juice for babies can aid your baby’s development in the growing years.
How Much Prune Juice Should I Give to The Baby?
It is okay to give your baby prune juice if your baby is one year of age and older, to ease constipation.
Although prune juice for babies under the age of 12 months is relatively safe and considered low-risk, it is not recommended unless your doctor agrees. Furthermore, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies under the age of six months should only be fed breast milk.
Prunes are ideally given to your kid around the age of six months when they get introduced to solid foods. Instead of prune juice, you can offer your baby whole mashed or pureed prunes.
Whole pureed prunes include both sorbitol and fiber, which will aid your baby to relieve constipation. This will also assist kids in developing healthy eating habits.
If your doctor recommends it, you can mix two ounces of prune juice with two ounces of water. It’s preferable to offer the juice in a cup during mealtimes, but if your infant can’t yet drink from a cup, you can use a dropper as well.
Takeaway
Many people know that eating prunes or drinking prune juice can help with constipation. Prunes, on the other hand, may provide extra health benefits like lowering hypertension risk and supporting weight loss as well.
If your child is under the age of one year or has a history of food allergies, proceed with caution and see a physician before consuming prune juice.
When providing prune juice to your child to ease constipation, make sure to measure out quantities carefully. Please note that excess consumption of prune juice by babies may overwhelm their digestive system, causing even more discomfort.
We hope that this article cleared all your doubts and questions about the benefits of prune juice for babies and was helpful for all the parents.
Please share your thoughts, questions, and suggestions with us so that we may work together to build a world full of happy and healthy babies!!
[Read more articles on our website, Icyhealth.]- Hsieh, Christine. “Treatment of constipation in older adults.” American family physician 72.11 (2005): 2277-2284. ↩︎
- Schiller, Lawrence R. “Nutrients and constipation: cause or cure?.” Practical Gastroenterology 32.4 (2008): 43. ↩︎
- Silveira, M., and R. Jonas. “The biotechnological production of sorbitol.” Applied microbiology and biotechnology 59 (2002): 400-408. ↩︎
- Donovan, Jennifer L., Anne S. Meyer, and Andrew L. Waterhouse. “Phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of prunes and prune juice (Prunus domestica).” Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 46.4 (1998): 1247-1252. ↩︎
- Wallace, Taylor C. “Dried plums, prunes and bone health: a comprehensive review.” Nutrients 9.4 (2017): 401. ↩︎
- Strong, Kathleen, et al. “Preventing chronic diseases: how many lives can we save?.” The Lancet 366.9496 (2005): 1578-1582. ↩︎
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