Prunes

Prunes are dried plums.

They are most well known for their laxative effect. A few dried prunes (or soaked and rehydrated) can help keep us regular. Prunes are extremely high in iron being the highest in iron of all fruits, except for goji berries. A cup of prunes can have up to 5mg of iron and 1 cup of prune juice can contain nearly 10mg of iron. As prunes don’t contain much vitamin C, make sure if you are having prunes for their iron content that you also have some vitamin C rich foods eg add them to a fruit salad.

Prunes do also contain high levels of vitamin A, niacin, potassium and phosphorus and have some calcium, magnesium and copper.

If you are want to eat prunes but are worried about their laxative effect, just have one every second day. They shouldn’t cause a great urgency. But if you are more prone to looser stools then its probably best to avoid prunes altogether.