Does prune juice help with anemia?

Nobody has shown that it does. We found no randomized trial and no systematic review of prunes or prune juice for anemia, hemoglobin or iron stores. What exists is composition data. USDA lists prune juice at 1.18 mg of iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), about 2.9 mg in a 248 g glass, and that is plant iron, which the body absorbs poorly. Daily iron tablets are the option with trials behind them: in a Cochrane review they cut the risk of anemia in menstruating women by 61 percent.

Myth. The claim that prune juice treats anemia has no trial behind it. A glass holds a few milligrams of poorly absorbed plant iron and very little vitamin C to help it along.

What the trials found

No trial of prunes for anemia

The closest thing to a prune trial in the searches was the Prune Study, a 12-month randomized trial in 183 postmenopausal women eating 1.8 to 3.5 oz (50 to 100 g) of prunes a day. Its abstract reports heart, metabolic and bone outcomes and no hemoglobin or iron result. We could not get the full text, so we cannot say whether blood counts were recorded as routine safety checks. A one-week trial of first foods in infants that included prune measured only gut bacteria.

How much iron is in prunes

Dried prunes give less than the juice. USDA lists them at 0.93 mg of iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), which is about 0.1 mg per prune and 0.4 mg in a 1.4 oz (40 g) serving, a modest amount.

All of it is nonheme iron, the plant form. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements puts iron absorption at about 5 to 12 percent from vegetarian diets, against 14 to 18 percent from mixed diets that include substantial meat, seafood and vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body take up plant iron, and prune juice has little of it: 4.1 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g), about 10 mg in a 248 g glass.

What does work

Iron tablets are the comparison that matters. In a 2016 Cochrane review of daily oral iron in menstruating women, the anemia outcome was measured in 10 trials with 3,273 women. Those taking iron were 61 percent less likely to be anemic at the end (risk ratio 0.39, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.60, moderate quality evidence). The figure is relative, and the abstract does not say how many women were anemic at the start, so we cannot turn it into an absolute number.

Tablets have a cost. In five trials with 521 women, stomach and gut side effects were about twice as common on iron (risk ratio 1.99, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.12, low quality evidence). That is a real reason people look for a food instead. It does not make prune juice a tested substitute.

For what prunes and prune juice are actually studied for, mostly constipation, see the prune juice page and the prune page.

Who should be careful

Not for everyone. The bigger risk is the delay. Anemia has several causes, and a juice cannot tell you which one you have. If you have been told you are anemic, or you suspect it, a blood test and a cause come first. Weeks of prune juice can leave the real problem untouched.

Drinking prune juice every day in the hope of raising iron also means drinking whatever loosens the bowels. Two small trials bear on this. In a double-blind challenge in 21 healthy people and 20 with irritable bowel syndrome, 10 g of sorbitol raised overall gut symptoms in the IBS group only. In 104 healthy children aged about 1 to 5, a single serving of pear juice was incompletely absorbed in 84 percent, against 41 percent for apple juice and 20 to 24 percent for grape juice. Neither trial used prune juice, and the sources on this page do not give how much sorbitol a glass of prune juice holds, so treat these as a reason for care with IBS and small children rather than as a measured dose.

If you take iron tablets and your stomach objects, that side effect is common and documented. It is worth raising with whoever prescribed them before swapping the tablets for juice.

What expert bodies say

The World Health Organization calls iron deficiency the most common cause of anemia. It lists other causes as well: acute and chronic infections with inflammation, blood loss, shortages of folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin A, and inherited traits such as thalassemia. A food with some iron in it does nothing for most of those.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements puts iron absorption lower from vegetarian diets than from mixed diets with substantial meat, seafood and vitamin C, and notes that vitamin C enhances nonheme iron uptake. We found no expert body that recommends prunes or prune juice for anemia.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A randomized trial of prune juice against a control drink in people with iron deficiency, lasting weeks, with hemoglobin and ferritin as outcomes. We found none registered.
• Blood count data from the Prune Study, if its full text reports them. That would at least say whether a year of daily prunes moves hemoglobin in women who were not anemic to begin with.
• A measured sorbitol content for prune juice in a source we can cite, which would turn the caution above into a number.

Sources

1. ev-prnan-01 · Position of an expert body · food composition database · n = —
   Prune juice, 100%, fdc_id 2709331: Iron, Fe 1.18 MG per 100 g; Quantity not specified 248 g, 2.9 MG; 1 fl oz (no ice) 31 g, 0.4 MG
   
   Who: USDA FNDDS food composition data
   Effect: 1.18 mg iron/100 g; 248 g = 2.9 mg; 1 fl oz 31 g = 0.4 mg
   Certainty: Composition database value, no interval; the iron is plant-based, non-heme (see ev-prnan-04).
   USDA FNDDS, Prune juice, 100% (fdc_id 2709331) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the dataset
2. ev-prnan-02 · Position of an expert body · food composition database · n = —
   Prune, dried, fdc_id 2709211: Iron, Fe 0.93 MG per 100 g; 1 prune 8 g, 0.1 MG; Quantity not specified 40 g, 0.4 MG; 1 cup 160 g, 1.5 MG
   
   Who: USDA FNDDS food composition data
   Effect: 0.93 mg iron/100 g; 1 prune 8 g = 0.1 mg; 40 g = 0.4 mg; 1 cup 160 g = 1.5 mg
   Certainty: Composition database value, no interval; other databases are not cited without a separate card.
   USDA FNDDS, Prune, dried (fdc_id 2709211) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the dataset
3. ev-prnan-03 · Position of an expert body · food composition database · n = —
   Prune juice, 100%, fdc_id 2709331: Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid 4.1 MG per 100 g; Quantity not specified 248 g, 10.2 MG
   
   Who: USDA FNDDS food composition data
   Effect: vitamin C 4.1 mg/100 g; 248 g = 10.2 mg
   Certainty: The web claim "vitamin C in juice enhances iron absorption" rests on a small amount of vitamin C.
   USDA FNDDS, Prune juice, 100% (fdc_id 2709331) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the dataset
4. ev-prnan-04 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
   The bioavailability of iron is approximately 14% to 18% from mixed diets that include substantial amounts of meat, seafood, and vitamin C (ascorbic acid, which enhances the bioavailability of nonheme iron) and 5% to 12% from vegetarian diets [2,4].
   
   Who: general population
   Effect: bioavailability 14-18% mixed diets with meat and vitamin C vs 5-12% vegetarian diets
   Certainty: Prunes: plant-based non-heme iron.
   NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Iron Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
5. ev-prnan-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs and quasi-RCTs · n = 10 studies, 3273 women (anemia outcome)
   Women receiving iron were significantly less likely to be anaemic at the end of intervention compared to women receiving control (risk ratio (RR) 0.39 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25 to 0.60, 10 studies, 3273 women, moderate quality evidence).
   
   Who: menstruating women aged 12-50, daily oral iron vs control or placebo
   Effect: RR 0.39 (95% CI 0.25 to 0.60), moderate quality evidence
   Certainty: Comparative card: nothing about prunes.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2016 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-prnan-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs and quasi-RCTs · n = 521
   Five studies recruiting 521 women identified an increased prevalence of gastrointestinal side effects in women taking iron (RR 1.99, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.12, low quality evidence).
   
   Who: menstruating women, five trials
   Effect: GI side effects RR 1.99 (95% CI 1.26 to 3.12), low quality evidence
   Certainty: Explains why a "food" replacement is sought; the replacement has not been studied.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2016 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-prnan-07 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover challenge · n = 41
   Overall gastrointestinal symptoms increased significantly after both polyols in patients with IBS only, although they were independent of malabsorption of either of the polyols.
   
   Who: 21 healthy and 20 IBS subjects, challenges with 10 g sorbitol, mannitol or glucose
   Effect: overall GI symptoms increased after polyols in IBS only
   Certainty: Sorbitol, not prune juice; the cards give no sorbitol content of the juice, so applicability is indirect.
   J Hum Nutr Diet, 2014 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-prnan-08 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized single-dose breath hydrogen trial · n = 104
   Incomplete carbohydrate absorption (BH2 peak above 20 ppm) occurred more frequently after pear juice consumption (84%) than after apple juice (41%) or grape juice (white 20%, purple 24%) [p < 0.05].
   
   Who: 104 healthy children aged about 1, 3 and 5 years, one age-specific juice serving
   Effect: incomplete carbohydrate absorption 84% pear vs 41% apple vs 20-24% grape juice
   Certainty: Pear juice, not prune; the quote does not name sorbitol content, applicability to prune is indirect.
   J Am Coll Nutr, 1997 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-prnan-09 · Position of an expert body · WHO information page · n = —
   Iron deficiency is considered to be the most common cause of anaemia; other causes include acute and chronic infections that result in inflammation and blood loss; deficiencies of other vitamins and minerals, especially folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin A; and genetically inherited traits, such as thalassaemia.
   
   Who: global
   Effect: anemia has multiple causes; a food cannot address the non-iron causes
   Certainty: So juice does not replace diagnosing the cause of anemia.
   WHO, Nutrition Landscape Information System, Anaemia · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section