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Medjool Dates: Benefits, Nutrition, Blood Sugar & How Many to Eat
What's in a Medjool date, how it affects your blood sugar, what the human trials show for digestion and late pregnancy, and how many to eat as a whole-food swap for refined sugar.
Evidence-based40 sources citedUpdated October 1, 2026
The Dr. Axe Score™
Scientific Evidence
6.8/10
Randomized trials and pooled analyses on whole dates, plus a glycemic index test and a pilot on Medjool itself.
Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory
6.2/10
Phenolic acids, mainly ferulic and coumaric acid compounds; in a 10-person pilot, Hallawi dates cut serum oxidative stress by 33% but Medjool didn't, and CRP held steady on Khalas dates over 12 weeks.[15][4]
Clinical Effectiveness
7.2/10
Our judgment: a useful whole-food sweetener; in two trials, HbA1c held steady on daily dates; held back by calorie density.
Nutrient Density
5.2/10
Per calorie against other fruit: good copper and potassium, almost no vitamin C, vitamin A or folate.
Why this score?
Why Medjool Dates scores 6.4 / 10
- How the score works: Scientific Evidence rates research amount and quality; Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory, protective compounds and measured effects; Clinical Effectiveness, the team's judgment of real-world usefulness (human trials, traditional use and Dr. Axe's clinical experience); Nutrient Density, per calorie against other fruit. These are editorial judgments, not clinical measurements.
- Interaction check: Low; the details are in the side effects section. Interactions are reported separately and don't change the score.
- Weighting: Evidence 30% · Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory 25% · Clinical Effectiveness 25% · Nutrient Density 20% (6.8×0.30 + 6.2×0.25 + 7.2×0.25 + 5.2×0.20 = 6.43, shown as 6.4).
The score weighs that everyday value alongside the human trials on dates in blood sugar, late pregnancy and digestion.
A transparent, weighted index built for foods. See how it’s calculated →
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Medjool dates at a glance
Medjool dates are the large, soft, caramel-sweet fruit of the date palm and a satisfying whole-food swap for refined sugar. Two Medjools (48 grams) carry 3.2 grams of fiber, 334 milligrams of potassium and 19% of the daily value for copper, along with 133 calories and 32 grams of natural sugar.12 Medjool measured 55.3 on the glycemic index, right at the line between low and medium.3
- Starting portion: one or two Medjools, with nuts or cheese
- Blood sugar: 60 grams of Khalas dates a day for 12 weeks, or three Khudary dates a day for 16 weeks, left HbA1c unchanged versus raisins or no dates45
- Late pregnancy: pooled trials link dates to about half the need for labor induction6
- Kidney disease or a potassium-raising medicine? Count the potassium in your dates
Pull a Medjool date apart and it gives way like soft caramel. By weight it's about two-thirds sugar, split almost evenly between glucose and fructose,1 yet the same bite carries fiber, potassium, copper and plant compounds. That package is a big part of why a date doesn't act like a spoonful of table sugar in your body.
Raw honey remains my number-one sweetener,7 and dates are the whole-food swap I recommend for white sugar.8 As I've said on my show, sugar isn't the culprit; the trouble is sugar stripped of the fiber and nutrients a whole food carries.9 People were growing date palms in Mesopotamia by the fourth millennium B.C.,10 and today the research includes a glycemic index test on Medjool itself.
Watching your blood sugar? Open the free Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes protocol.
Dates, another distinguished fruit in the Bible, are a fiber powerhouse. Just a 3.5-ounce serving gives you almost 7 grams of fiber!Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS
Did you know?
Descendants of eleven Medjool offshoots shipped from Morocco in 1927 now grow a quarter of U.S. dates and most Medjools harvested worldwide.10
Less than 1% of a Medjool's sugar is sucrose; in the smaller Deglet Noor, more than a third is.111
The King James Bible names the palm tree 33 times (counting "palm tree" and "palm trees"), and the palm of Scripture is the date palm, though its fruit is never named.1213
What are Medjool dates?
Quick answer
Medjool dates are the large, soft, caramel-flavored fruit of one variety of date palm, Phoenix dactylifera. One pitted Medjool weighs about 24 grams, more than three times as much as a Deglet Noor, the smaller, firmer date also sold in U.S. stores.111
Medjools come to you ripe and partly dried, soft enough to squeeze and sweet enough to pass for dessert. Everything on this page is about that whole fruit with nothing added. Date sugar, date syrup and date seed extracts are different products, so don't expect the research below to carry over to them.
A short history of Medjool dates
When Israel reached Elim after three days in the wilderness and the bitter water of Marah (Exodus 15:22-23), they found "twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees" (Exodus 15:27), a picture of rest and provision in a dry land. The psalmist reached for the same tree: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree" (Psalm 92:12). The Medjool has its own rescue story: in 1927, with a fungal disease destroying Medjool palms in Morocco, USDA scientist Walter Swingle sent offshoots from a healthy stand to the American Southwest, which is why you can find them in your grocery store today.10
Medjool dates nutrition facts
Quick answer
Two Medjool dates (48 grams) have 133 calories, 3.2 grams of fiber and 32 grams of naturally occurring sugar, with no added sugar, plus 334 milligrams of potassium and 19% of the daily value for copper. One date is about 66 calories and 16 grams of sugar.12
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central FDC ID 168191 at the weights shown; the USDA record lists one pitted Medjool as 24 grams. % Daily Value uses FDA reference values.12
| Nutrient | 2 dates (48 g) | % DV (2 dates) | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 133 | n/a | 277 |
| Carbohydrate | 36 g | 13% | 75 g |
| Fiber | 3.2 g | 11% | 6.7 g |
| Total sugars | 32 g | n/a | 66.5 g |
| Added sugars | 0 g | 0% | 0 g |
| Protein | 0.9 g | 2% | 1.81 g |
| Potassium | 334 mg | 7% | 696 mg |
| Copper | 0.17 mg | 19% | 0.362 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.12 mg | 7% | 0.249 mg |
| Magnesium | 26 mg | 6% | 54 mg |
| Iron | 0.43 mg | 2% | 0.9 mg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg | 0% | 0 mg |
Two dates give you about a fifth of your daily copper and a tenth of your fiber, but almost no protein or fat, so add a few nuts or a bit of cheese.
What are Medjool dates good for?
Quick answer
Medjool dates provide fiber, potassium and copper and can add whole-fruit sweetness to meals.1 In two randomized trials, adults with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes ate Khalas or Khudary dates daily and kept their HbA1c steady.45 Pooled trials also link dates in late pregnancy to less need for labor induction, and a trial in healthy adults found more frequent bowel movements.614
Where the research stands
Dates have randomized trials behind them in blood sugar, late pregnancy and digestion, mostly using other varieties;45614 Medjool's own research includes a glycemic index test and a 10-person pilot.315
| Benefit | Evidence | What was studied | What the research shows | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiber, potassium and copper | Strong | Two Medjools (48 g) | 3.2 g fiber, 334 mg potassium, 19% DV copper1 | 133 calories |
Fits a blood-sugar-conscious diet | Moderate | Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes; Khalas or Khudary dates, 12-16 weeks | HbA1c held steady for 12-16 weeks, no different from raisins or no dates45 | Quality of life improved on Khudary dates5 |
Late-pregnancy labor support | Moderate | Women eating dates in late pregnancy | Need for induction about halved (risk ratio 0.48)6 | Six to seven dates a day in the last month6 |
Bowel regularity | Emerging | Healthy adults; 7 Ajwa dates (about 50 g) a day, 21 days | More frequent bowel movements than at baseline14 | Stool ammonia also fell14 |
Triglycerides and cholesterol | Mixed | Healthy adults (Medjool); type 2 diabetes or prediabetes (Khalas, Khudary) | Triglycerides down 8% on Medjool;15 total cholesterol fell about 8 mg/dL on three Khudary dates a day, though not significantly more than without dates;5 no lipid change vs. raisins4 | Pooled trials of dates or date vinegar lowered total cholesterol16 |
How dates work in your body
A date works in three ways, and the first is the best established.
Fiber adds bulk. Most of a date's fiber is insoluble,17 the kind that holds water and adds volume to stool.
Medjool date benefits, ranked by evidence
Ranked by evidence, Medjool dates are best for adding fiber and minerals to a sweet snack, fitting a blood-sugar-conscious diet, supporting late pregnancy and keeping you regular.
1
A sweet source of fiber and minerals
Strong evidenceComposition · USDA FoodData CentralTwo Medjools carry 3.2 grams of fiber, 334 milligrams of potassium and 19% of the daily value for copper.1 Only about 5% of Americans meet the fiber recommendation,19 and a date in place of candy moves you closer.
Study takeaway: two Medjools add 3.2 grams of fiber and 19% of your daily copper.
2
Fits a blood-sugar-conscious diet
Moderate evidenceHuman study2 RCTs · 179 randomized, 157 analyzedIn two randomized trials of adults with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, HbA1c held steady on daily Khalas or Khudary dates, with no statistically significant difference from raisins or from avoiding dates.45 See the blood sugar section.
Study takeaway: HbA1c held steady on daily dates in two randomized trials.
3
Support in late pregnancy
Moderate evidenceHuman studyMeta-analysis · 48 studies; 7 pooled for inductionWomen who ate dates in the last weeks of pregnancy were about half as likely to need labor induction (risk ratio 0.48, five randomized and two non-randomized trials).6 The late-pregnancy section below has the amounts, plus the review's results for hemoglobin and breast milk.
Study takeaway: pooled trials link dates in late pregnancy to about half the need for labor induction.
4
Regular bowel movements
Emerging evidenceHuman studyCrossover trial · Ajwa dates · 21 adultsHealthy adults ate seven Ajwa dates a day (about 50 grams, the weight of two Medjools) for three weeks, and a starch-and-sugar control matched for calories and sugar for three weeks; 21 adults finished both phases. On dates, bowel movements became more frequent and stool ammonia fell, both compared with baseline. In lab tests, stool water from the date weeks also did less DNA damage to cells than stool water from the control weeks; gut bacteria counts didn't change.14 Dates haven't been tested in chronic constipation.20
Study takeaway: seven Ajwa dates a day made bowel movements more frequent than at baseline in healthy adults.
5
Triglyceride and cholesterol markers
Mixed evidenceHuman studyPilot · 10 healthy adults · MedjoolIn a pilot of 10 healthy adults, 100 grams of Medjool dates a day (about four) for four weeks was followed by an 8% drop in triglycerides; cholesterol didn't change.1521 A 2025 meta-analysis of four trials of whole dates or date vinegar, in 298 adults with type 2 diabetes, found total cholesterol fell, while LDL, HDL and triglycerides didn't change significantly.16 See high triglycerides.
Study takeaway: in a 10-person pilot, triglycerides fell 8% after four weeks of about four Medjools a day.
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Open the free protocol → →Do Medjool dates raise blood sugar?
Quick answer
Less than their sweetness suggests. Medjool measured 55.3 on the glycemic index in a study of 10 healthy adults, right at the line between low (55 or less) and medium (56 to 69), and one 24-gram date has an estimated glycemic load of about 9, which is low; in two randomized trials, eating dates daily kept HbA1c steady.1345 Two at once come to a glycemic load of about 18, so one or two at a time works best.
The glycemic index compares a food's effect on blood sugar with pure glucose, using portions with 50 grams of available carbohydrate. Values vary by variety and lab, though neither multi-variety study found the varieties differed significantly:322
Glycemic index of dates by variety (glucose = 100)
| Variety | Who was tested | Glycemic index |
|---|---|---|
Medjool (Saudi-grown) | 10 healthy adults | 55.33 |
16 other Saudi varieties | 9 or 10 healthy adults each | 42.8 to 74.63 |
Five UAE varieties | 13 healthy / 10 with type 2 diabetes | 46.3 to 55.1 / 43.8 to 53.022 |
Variety not named (Toronto) | 10 healthy adults | 67.623 |
In the UAE study, people with type 2 diabetes scored no differently from healthy adults.22 Your portion matters even more than the index. By USDA's numbers, one Medjool has about 16.4 grams of available carbohydrate, so its estimated glycemic load is 55.3 × 16.4 ÷ 100 ≈ 9, which is low; two come to about 18, which is medium, and four to about 36, which is high.13 That's the simple case for enjoying one or two at a time rather than a handful.
If you're watching your blood sugar, the longer trials are the ones that matter, and they're reassuring. In 79 adults with type 2 diabetes (61 finished), 60 grams of Khalas dates a day for 12 weeks held HbA1c steady, from 7.6% to 7.5%, no different from the raisin group. Fasting glucose, insulin resistance, lipids, blood pressure and CRP didn't change on either food.4
In 100 adults with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes (96 analyzed), three Khudary dates a day for 16 weeks left HbA1c unchanged compared with avoiding dates, and quality-of-life scores on a standard questionnaire rose about 31 points more than in the no-dates group, mostly through better mental health.5 So you can make room for dates in a blood-sugar-conscious diet: in both trials, HbA1c held steady for three to four months.45
Pair dates with nuts or plain yogurt to add protein or fat to the snack. In glycemic index tests of Khalas dates in healthy adults aged 32 to 67, adding plain yogurt made at most a minimal difference to the glycemic index.24 If you take insulin or another blood-sugar medicine, check your meter the first few times you add dates; a change in carbohydrates can change the dose you need, and your doctor makes that adjustment.
Three markers that show how your body handles sugar
Only HbA1c reflects a three-month average;25 fasting insulin and the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio are snapshots from the same draw. These markers can't tell you how a particular serving of dates affects your blood sugar. A laboratory A1C test can diagnose prediabetes or type 2 diabetes; without clear symptoms, a diabetes diagnosis needs a second measurement to confirm it.25 Targets are Dr. Axe's functional ranges.
- HbA1c: Your average blood sugar over about three months. Dr. Axe's target is under 5.4%.
- Fasting insulin: How hard your body works to hold glucose steady. Dr. Axe's target is about 2 to 6 µIU/mL.
- Triglyceride-to-HDL ratio: A window on metabolic health. Dr. Axe's target is under about 1.5.
See the cellular bloodwork panel
Have results? Analyze them free → →Can dates help in late pregnancy?
Quick answer
They may help labor start on its own. In a 2024 review of 48 studies of dates in pregnancy, labor and after birth, pooled trials linked dates in late pregnancy to about half the need for labor induction (risk ratio 0.48, seven trials) and about 1.15 centimeters more dilation on arrival at the hospital (five trials), though most of the studies were at high risk of bias.6
Eating dates in the last weeks of pregnancy is a long Middle Eastern tradition, tested in more than a dozen late-pregnancy studies. In the pooled results, pregnancies ended about two days sooner, and about a third more women went into labor on their own (risk ratio 1.32). Bishop scores, the checklist used to judge whether the cervix is ready for labor, ran 2.47 points higher, and the latent phase, the slow early stretch of labor, was about three and a half hours shorter. The active phase ran about 68 minutes shorter, and more women had a spontaneous vaginal birth (risk ratio 1.09). The second stage wasn't shorter, and the drop in cesareans (risk ratio 0.75) narrowly missed statistical significance.6 Oxytocin-like compounds are one proposed explanation, not yet confirmed in people.6
In a randomized trial of 182 first-time mothers, 94.5% of the women who ate 70 to 76 grams of dates a day from week 37 went into labor on their own, compared with 41.3% of those who didn't. Of the women eating dates, 5.5% needed oxytocin to speed labor along, compared with 48.7%. They also arrived at the hospital more dilated (4.05 versus 2.54 centimeters), and their active labor and second and third stages were significantly shorter.27 In a non-randomized study from Jordan, 69 women who ate six dates a day for their last four weeks arrived at the hospital more dilated than 45 women who ate none (3.52 versus 2.02 centimeters), and 96% went into labor on their own, compared with 79%.37 A randomized trial of 154 first-time mothers found less need for medication to speed labor, though labor didn't start sooner.26
The 2024 review found three more benefits. In eight non-randomized trials in Indonesia, women with mild or moderate anemia in the third trimester ate dates or drank date juice daily for 7 to 14 days alongside their iron tablets. Their hemoglobin rose 0.93 grams per deciliter more than in women taking iron alone.6 Eaten just after the placenta was delivered, dates cut bleeding in the first day by about 31 milliliters compared with standard care, such as an oxytocin injection, across four randomized trials.6 After birth, daily dates raised breast milk output about 30 milliliters more than standard care, measured as change from baseline, across three pooled trials.6 In one of them, a randomized trial of 48 breastfeeding mothers, 10 dates a day for four weeks raised breast milk output 23% from where it started, significantly more than in mothers who didn't eat dates, though the babies' weight-for-age didn't differ.38
The amounts were food amounts: the late-pregnancy studies mainly used six or seven dates a day (60 to 80 grams) in the last month,6 and the 70 to 76 grams a day in the 182-woman trial is about three Medjools by weight.27 That's roughly 48 grams of sugar a day, and the trials excluded high-risk pregnancies, so confirm the amount with your OB, especially with gestational diabetes.6
How do Medjool dates compare with other dried fruit?
Gram for gram, Medjools roughly match Deglet Noor dates, prunes and raisins on potassium and fiber, and carry almost no sucrose; they're also the sweetest of the four, so one or two is plenty.
| Food | Calories | Sugar | Fiber | Potassium | Research or practical note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medjool dates | 277 | 66.5 g | 6.7 g | 696 mg | |
Deglet Noor dates | 282 | 63.4 g, about 38% sucrose | 8.0 g | 656 mg | About 7 g per date; included in lab studies of date extracts1118 |
Prunes | 240 | 38.1 g | 7.1 g | 732 mg | |
Raisins | 299 | 65.2 g | 4.5 g | 744 mg |
Medjool dates vs. white sugar
Two Medjools hold about as much sugar as 32 grams of white sugar, and they bring fiber, potassium and copper along with it.140
| Per serving | 2 Medjool dates (48 g) | White sugar (32 g) |
|---|---|---|
Sugar | 32 g1 | 32 g40 |
Calories | 1331 | 12440 |
Fiber | 3.2 g1 | 0 g40 |
Potassium | 334 mg1 | About 1 mg40 |
Copper | 19% DV1 | 0% DV40 |
Not sure how dates fit your day?
Ask Dr. Axe AI. Answers are grounded in this library, with sources shown.
How many Medjool dates should you eat a day?
Quick answer
One or two Medjools is a practical starting portion, not a clinically established daily dose. That's about 66 to 133 calories and 18 to 36 grams of carbohydrate, so fit it to the rest of your meal.1
In The Biblio Diet, Jordan Rubin and I put it simply: dates are high in calories, so enjoy them in moderation.8 For regularity, the digestive trial used about 50 grams a day, the weight of two Medjools;14 build up over a week and drink more water. Managing weight or blood sugar? Stay at one or two and count them in that meal's carbohydrates.
How to eat, buy and store Medjool dates
Stuff them with almond butter or goat cheese for a two-bite dessert.
Sweeten breakfast by chopping one into oatmeal or plain yogurt.
Blend one in. A single date sweetens a smoothie on its own.
Bind no-bake treats like raw brownie bites.
Swap out sugar with date paste, dates blended with water, one to one.8
Buy plump, glossy dates whose only ingredient is Medjool dates. Skip dried fruit treated with sulfites, which The Biblio Diet keeps on its avoid list,8 and any package with fuzz or a sour smell. Choose organic when you can, since you eat the skin. Store them sealed, and refrigerate any you won't eat within a month.39 Prep by slicing lengthwise and lifting out the pit; for date paste, soak pitted dates in hot water, then blend.
Myths vs. facts
Myth
Dates are basically candy.
Fact
Two Medjools carry 3.2 grams of fiber, 334 milligrams of potassium and 19% of the daily value for copper, along with their natural sugar.1
Medjool dates side effects & who should be careful
Quick answer
Dates are a safe everyday food in normal amounts. A few groups should adjust how they eat them, and the list below says how.
Interaction check: Low for food amounts. The main thing to watch is potassium. Two Medjools carry 334 milligrams, and dried fruit is on the list of foods to limit when potassium runs high. So if you have kidney disease or take an ACE inhibitor, an ARB or spironolactone, count your dates toward your potassium for the day.30 See hyperkalemia.
Can dates upset your stomach?
They can if you add a lot at once or have a sensitive gut. Dried fruit is on the limit-for-now list in my SIBO protocol, because it feeds fermentation.31 With SIBO or IBS, wait until you're reintroducing foods, or start with half a date.
Who else should be careful?
For babies and young children, the CDC lists uncooked dried fruit among the fruits to avoid, so skip whole dates and date pieces; if you share dates, mash or blend them into a smooth paste, have your child sit up, and watch them the whole time they eat.32 Date allergy is real and can overlap with date palm pollen allergy; stop and get care right away for hives, swelling or wheezing.33 And since dates are eaten raw, watch for recalls: 2021 hepatitis A outbreaks in England and Wales (29 cases) and Australia (6 cases) were traced to imported Medjool dates.3435
Good to know before you eat dates daily
With kidney disease or a potassium-raising medicine (ACE inhibitor, ARB or spironolactone), count their potassium
On insulin or another blood-sugar medicine, check your meter; your doctor adjusts the dose
With IBS or SIBO, start with half a date
For babies and young children, no whole dates or pieces; a smooth paste only, eaten sitting up and supervised
The bottom line
Should you eat Medjool dates?
Yes. If you love something sweet, a Medjool date is one of the best ways to have it: a whole fruit that brings fiber, potassium and copper with its sugar, and a whole-food way to sweeten your kitchen. People have eaten dates for thousands of years, and I value that history because foods eaten this consistently, for this long, are worth taking seriously. Pooled trials support dates in late pregnancy, and the digestive benefit is promising.
Buy dates with one ingredient, enjoy one or two at a time with nuts or cheese, and use date paste in place of white sugar. Then enjoy them the way people have for millennia: a few at a time, shared, and eaten with thanks.
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Open the free protocol → →Medjool dates: frequently asked questions
Are Medjool dates good for you?
Yes, in sensible amounts. Two Medjools (48 grams) carry 3.2 grams of fiber, 334 milligrams of potassium and 19% of the daily value for copper, with 133 calories.1
How many Medjool dates can I eat a day?
One or two Medjools is a practical starting portion: about 66 to 133 calories and 18 to 36 grams of carbohydrate, so fit it to the rest of your meal.1
Do Medjool dates raise blood sugar?
Less than their sweetness suggests. Medjool measured 55.3 on the glycemic index in a study of 10 healthy adults, right at the line between low and medium, and one 24-gram date has an estimated glycemic load of about 9, which is low; in two randomized trials, eating dates daily kept HbA1c steady.1345 Two at once come to a glycemic load of about 18, so one or two at a time works best.
Can people with diabetes eat Medjool dates?
How many calories are in a Medjool date?
About 66 calories and 16 grams of natural sugar in one 24-gram Medjool.1
Are Medjool dates good for constipation?
Dates may support regularity: in a trial in which each of the 21 healthy adults tried both conditions, seven Ajwa dates a day, about 50 grams, for 21 days made bowel movements more frequent than at baseline.14
Are Medjool dates better than regular dates?
How many dates should I eat for labor?
Do dates help with iron during pregnancy?
In eight non-randomized trials in Indonesia, pregnant women with mild or moderate anemia who ate dates daily, usually seven a day, or drank date juice alongside their iron tablets raised hemoglobin 0.93 grams per deciliter more than women taking iron alone.6 Dates themselves are low in iron, 2% of the daily value in two Medjools, so they partner with iron-rich foods rather than replace them.1
Do dates help breast milk supply?
In a 2024 review, daily dates after birth raised breast milk output about 30 milliliters more than standard care across three pooled trials, one randomized and two not.6 In the randomized one, 48 breastfeeding mothers who ate 10 dates a day for four weeks raised their output 23% from where they started.38
Do Medjool dates need to be refrigerated?
Not if you'll finish them within a month: sealed at room temperature, soft dates like Medjool keep about that long. The refrigerator keeps them for several months, and the freezer longer still.39
Are dates good before a workout?
Yes. They're a portable source of quick carbohydrate, about 18 grams per Medjool.1 In a 2026 randomized trial, 30 volleyball athletes ate Medjool, Zahidi or Qaranfali dates (50 to 70 grams of carbohydrate) before exercise, and the Medjool group covered 1,280 meters in an endurance test, a 15.3% improvement; the trial compared the three varieties with each other.36
When is the best time to eat Medjool dates?
No time of day has been shown to be best. Pick one that makes the habit easy, like breakfast or an afternoon snack, and if you check your blood sugar, count the date's carbohydrate in that meal.
Do dates lower cholesterol?
They may help with blood fats. A 10-person Medjool pilot found an 8% drop in triglycerides.15 On three Khudary dates a day, total cholesterol fell about 8 mg/dL, though not significantly more than without dates,5 and lipids didn't change against raisins in a Khalas trial.4 A 2025 meta-analysis of four trials of whole dates or date vinegar in adults with type 2 diabetes found total cholesterol fell.16
Can I use dates instead of sugar in baking?
Yes. Dr. Axe recommends date paste, dates blended with water, as a one-to-one swap for sugar in recipes.8
Freshness & update log
September 26, 2026 — Rebuilt to the current DrAxe.com standard. Added Medjool's own glycemic index (55.3) and glycemic load, glycemic index results by variety, two randomized trials in type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, a 2025 meta-analysis on cholesterol, and a 2024 review of 48 studies on dates in late pregnancy and after birth, with its results for labor, hemoglobin, bleeding after birth and breast milk and the amounts used, and a side-by-side of two Medjools and the same 32 grams of white sugar. Rebuilt the nutrition facts from USDA FoodData Central at one- and two-date weights, with a per-100-gram column. Scored under the current food weighting (editorial score 6.4). Replaced the earlier blanket cholesterol claim with the trial results (triglycerides fell 8% in a Medjool pilot, and a 2025 meta-analysis found total cholesterol fell), and corrected the earlier claims that dates are rich in calcium for bone health and a high soluble-fiber food. Added guidance on potassium, choking risk, SIBO and food-safety recalls.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Dates, medjool. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 168191.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.
- AlGeffari MA, Almogbel ES, Alhomaidan HT, El-Mergawi R, Barrimah IA. Glycemic indices, glycemic load and glycemic response for seventeen varieties of dates grown in Saudi Arabia. Ann Saudi Med. 2016;36(6):397-403. doi:10.5144/0256-4947.2016.397. PMID:27920411
- Butler AE, Obaid J, Wasif P, Varghese JV, Abdulrahman R, Alromaihi D, Atkin SL, Alamuddin N. Effect of date fruit consumption on the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial. Nutrients. 2022;14(17):3491. doi:10.3390/nu14173491. PMID:36079749
- Alalwan TA, Perna S, Mandeel QA, Abdulhadi A, Alsayyad AS, D'Antona G, Negro M, Riva A, Petrangolini G, Allegrini P, Rondanelli M. Effects of daily low-dose date consumption on glycemic control, lipid profile, and quality of life in adults with pre- and type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2020;12(1):217. doi:10.3390/nu12010217. PMID:31952131
- Salajegheh Z, Nasiri M, Imanipour M, Zamanifard M, Sadeghi O, Ghasemi Dehcheshmeh M, Asadi M. Is oral consumption of dates (Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit) in the peripartum period effective and safe integrative care to facilitate childbirth and improve perinatal outcomes: a comprehensive revised systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2024;24(1):12. doi:10.1186/s12884-023-06196-y. PMID:38166785
- Axe J. The shocking reason your anxiety, brain fog & bloating may start in your gut. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026.
- Axe J, Rubin J. The Biblio Diet. Hachette Book Group; 2025. ISBN 9781546008439.
- Axe J. 11 Foods with SHOCKINGLY High Amounts of Sugar (Best Sugar Substitutes). The Dr. Josh Axe Show. July 22, 2024.
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