The California Prune Board was joined at the event by CPB’s USA Nutrition Ambassador Leslie Bonci (MPH, RD, CSSD, LDN), sports nutrition consultant and owner of Active Eating Advice.
Leslie presented to attendees a comprehensive insight into the importance of nutrition/nutrients and the role of exercise in maximising bone strength and maintaining bone health, with a focus on prunes and ongoing prune research.
Key messages from her presentation included
- California Prunes are high in vitamin K and a source of manganese, which contributes to normal bones
- prune consumption is suggested to be beneficial in maintaining skeletal health
- 50 or 100 g of prunes daily can significantly improve total Bone Mineral Density (BMD) compared with a control, reducing the risk of osteoporotic fracture
- prunes contain polyphenols, which research suggests may act as free radical scavengers, suppressing the rate of bone loss
- adding prunes to the diet (100 g/day = 240 kcal) did not significantly affect body weight.
Esther Ritson-Elliott, EU Marketing Director of the California Prune Board, said: “It was an exciting opportunity to be a part of the biennial osteoporosis conference as a stakeholder in their new strategic pathway of prevention.”
"We are currently undertaking our largest ever human trials research that will explore how prunes will benefit bone health so being involved in the conference, and having Leslie Bonci present provided us a fantastic opportunity to share our message to healthcare professionals with specific interest in the prevention/treatment of osteoporosis.”
