This article has been Fact-Checked by Kendall Kennedy MS, RD, RYT
Fruits are often helpful when trying to lose weight but some more than others. Find out whether plums are good for weight loss or fattening.
Plums are relatively low in calories, contain some fiber, and provide you with a few nutrients in small amounts.
In turn, eating more of this fruit will likely make you feel less hungry and consume small portion sizes of other foods that are less helpful when trying to lose weight.
If this happens, you can say that plums are good for weight loss.
On the other hand, you do still need to make the changes above. If you just add plums on top of your regular diet without changing anything else you may even gain a tiny amount of fat.
Something else to note is that there are a variety of nutrients that are important for weight loss and health. Plums do not contain many of these in sufficient amounts so you want to eat other nutritious foods too.
Calories in plums
The total number of calories in plums is not the only important nutrition detail but it does offer some valuable information when trying to lose weight.
100 grams of raw plums contain around 46 calories (1).
While there are vegetables and fruits that are lower in calories too, it is fair to say that plums are relatively low in calories compared to many foods.
41.3 of the calories come from carbohydrates (11.4 g per 100 grams of which 1.4 g fiber).
This makes it so plums are not that keto-friendly and not that good for other low-carb weight loss diets.
Where these calories in plums come from does still influence how good it is for weight loss. However, for now, this fruit does look helpful for this purpose.
Micronutrients in plums
The first thing to look at is the amount of micronutrients in plums.
Micronutrients are a group of nutrients your body absolutely needs to survive and thrive. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals. These are involved in basically every aspect of your health, including weight loss.
100 grams of plums provides you with approximately (1):
- Vitamin C: 16% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Vitamin K: 8% of the DV
- Vitamin A: 7% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in less significant amounts. The amount of vitamins and minerals is rather lacking compared to many other whole foods. For most vitamins and minerals plums are not the greatest fruit.
Plums also contain certain kinds of antioxidants, substances that help your body deal with oxidative damage. It’s not entirely clear if and to what extent antioxidants help weight loss.
One of the main reasons people think plums and other plum related products are good for weight loss is because they can act as a laxative (2, 3). This effect is mainly because of a substance called sorbitol which has laxative effects (4).
The problem with this theory is that laxatives do help constipation but don’t seem to influence fat loss (5). You might empty your intestines which makes the number on the scale go down.
But when you’re trying to lose weight that number is often not what you actually want to change. You most likely want the related health and/or visual effects of fat loss and the laxative effect of plums likely won’t be able to help you with those effects.
Fiber in plums for weight loss
Another very important factor for weight loss is the amount of fiber in your food.
Plums contains around 1.4 grams of fiber per 100 grams (1).
That’s a decent amount of fiber per 100 grams compared to many whole foods.
Fiber has multiple benefits for weight loss. First of all, it feeds your microbiome, the microbes that live in your intestines. The health of your microbiome influences your body’s health and weight. Feeding it well is usually not a bad idea.
Fiber also helps you feel less hungry without adding a lot of calories to your diet. Hunger and cravings can be a big pitfall for people trying to lose weight, so avoiding this is a big plus.
With the amount of fiber in plums you can reduce the time you spend craving for food.
Do plums help you lose weight?
Plums are relatively low in fiber, contain a bit of fiber, and offer a few nutrients in small amounts.
This combination makes it so eating plums will likely help you feel fuller and consume smaller amounts of foods that are less helpful for losing weight.
If this is the case, plums can help you lose weight.
On the flip side, you do still have to make the changes in your diet mentioned above.
If you just add plums on top of the things you already eat and change nothing else in your lifestyle, you will likely not see any weight loss results.
Something else to note is that there are also a variety of other important nutrients for weight loss and health that plums do not contain in sufficient amounts.
In simpler words, you need to eat other nutritious foods too if you want your weight loss results to be sustainable and healthy.
Are plums good for losing belly fat?
Targetting fat loss in a specific area like your belly is generally not possible. Not by eating more of a specific food or by doing a specific exercise. To lose belly fat you have to lose weight overall.
Since there are plenty of foods better than plums for weight loss you might want to choose other foods to lose belly fat.
Plums vs prunes for weight loss
Prunes are simply dried plums, so they are categorized as a dried fruit.
The process to make prunes is very simple. You take some plums and expose them to enough heat so that the water in the plums evaporates. This can be done both with heat from the sun or in devices like an oven.
By removing water from the plums you get higher nutritional values per 100 grams. This includes vitamins, minerals, fiber but also calories.
Consuming water is usually beneficial for weight loss. It helps you burn more calories and feel fuller. If you want to lose weight, plums are most likely better for weight loss than prunes.
On the other hand you have prune juice, which is made by rehydrating prunes and then taking the juice from that mixture. By doing this you basically get water with vitamins and a relatively high amount of sugar. This makes prune juice also not something preferable for weight loss.
Healthiest ways to eat plums
Plums make for a great snack on their own but it also combines great with other healthy foods. Here are some healthy dishes you can combine with plums:
If you are looking to lose weight you want to avoid recipes with plums like crumble, muffins, pie, and most other dessert recipes.
