Dried plum is effective in both preventing and reversing bone loss. This study was conducted to examine the extent to which dried plum reverses bone loss in osteopenic postmenopausal women. Subjects included 160 women who were 1–10 years postmenopausal and were not on hormone replacement therapy or any other prescribed medication known to influence bone metabolism. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either dried plum (100 g/d) or dried apple (comparative control) and they also received 500 mg calcium plus 400 IU (10 μg) vitamin D daily. Bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine, forearm, hip and whole body was assessed at baseline and at the end of the study using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Blood samples were collected at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months to assess bone biomarkers. Dried plum significantly increased BMD of ulna and spine compared to dried apple and compared to corresponding baseline values, only dried plum significantly decreased serum levels of bone turnover markers, including bone-specific alkaline phosphatase and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b. These findings confirm the ability of dried plum to improve BMD in postmenopausal women in part due to suppressing the rate of bone turnover. Br J Nutr. 2011 Sep;106(6):923-30. PMID: 21736808.
