They taste very sweet, but according to new research from Israel eating 100 grams of dates a day does not cause an increase in blood sugar and can even improve the quality of cholesterol in your blood. The date has joined the list of fruits that protect against atherosclerosis.

Prof. Michael Aviram of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and the Rambam Medical Center found that in research carried out on healthy subjects, eating 100 grams of dates daily over one month did not cause an increase in blood sugar levels and also that the level of fats (triglycerides) in the blood decreased significantly, as well as the amount of oxidation of fats in the blood. The new finding is about to be published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Aviram was the first to show that the most effective fruits are the pomegranate, red wine (the grape) and olive oil. This was after he researched the effects of dozens of fruits and vegetables on delaying the development of heart and vascular diseases.