An old version of this page claimed that eating Ajwa dates could improve your chances of getting married. We found no study that has looked at that, and nothing below will help you find a spouse. The old page was really about fertility, sex drive and general health, so this version sets out what published research and the hadith actually say about Ajwa and about dates in general.
This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor about fertility, pregnancy, diabetes or any other health concern.
What Ajwa is
Ajwa comes from Madinah in Saudi Arabia. It is a small, roundish, near-black date with finely wrinkled skin and a soft bite. In Malaysia it is also sold under the market name Kurma Nabi (see https://greendiamond.com.my/kurma-ajwa-nabi/). Ajwa does not come from Mecca. We also have a separate post on Kurma Ajwa pricing.
What the hadith says
The well-known narration is in Sahih al-Bukhari. Sa’d reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “He who eats seven ‘Ajwa dates every morning, will not be affected by poison or magic on the day he eats them” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5445). Al-Bukhari records it again in his Book of Medicine, under the chapter “The use of ‘Ajwa dates as medicine for magic” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5769).
That is the full wording. These narrations do not mention marriage, fertility, weight loss, depression or diabetes, so those claims should not be attached to them.
Nutrition: what a lab table shows
USDA FoodData Central has a lab table for Medjool dates (FDC 168191), so we use those figures here. Per 100 g it lists 696 mg of potassium, 6.7 g of dietary fibre, 54 mg of magnesium, 0.15 g of fat and 0.0 mg of vitamin C (USDA FDC 168191). So Medjool dates carry fibre and potassium, are close to fat-free, and are not a vitamin C source. That table gives no support to the old claim that Ajwa is rich in vitamin C. For more on everyday nutrition, see our page on the health benefits of dates and how to enjoy them.
Fertility and sex drive
This is where the old page went furthest, and where the evidence is thinnest.
For men, a 2018 systematic review in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition looked at date palm pollen, pit powder and gemmule extract. It is not about the fruit itself. The studies it found reported better sperm motility and hormone changes, but the authors wrote that “the limited number of studies conducted on this topic indicates that more research is needed” (Tatar & Akdevelioğlu, 2018).
A 2024 study did test the fruit. It was done in hypertensive male rats with impaired sexual activity, fed a date-supplemented diet for 21 days, and their sexual performance improved (Adebayo et al., 2024). That is an animal result. It does not show the same thing happens in people.
For women, a 2025 systematic review of 21 studies concluded that in women of reproductive age, date fruits “positively influenced fertility parameters and sexual function” (Shirdel et al., 2025).
More broadly, a 2015 review of popular natural aphrodisiacs in Sexual Medicine Reviews found that randomised trial data are often lacking, and said more trials are needed before health care practitioners can recommend most of these products (West & Krychman, 2015). The same caution makes sense for dates.
Pregnancy, labour and after birth
A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis included 48 studies. Eating dates in late pregnancy was linked to shorter labour and less need for induction, and eating them after delivery was linked to more breast milk and less bleeding. The same authors rated the overall evidence quality as unacceptable, found a high risk of bias in most studies, and said more well-designed research is needed (Salajegheh et al., 2024).
One randomised trial from Iran gave 100 g of dates to women two hours after a natural delivery and compared them with a control group, 98 women in all. Bleeding over the next 24 hours, scored on a pictorial chart, had a median of 35 in the date group and 39 in the control group, about 9 units lower on average (Niknami et al., 2023). It is one small trial at one hospital in Rasht.
Blood sugar and cholesterol
Dates are sweet, so people with diabetes reasonably worry about them. In a trial run by researchers in Bahrain, 79 people with type 2 diabetes ate either 60 g of dates or 60 g of raisins a day for 12 weeks, and 61 finished. Neither snack changed HbA1c, fasting glucose, cholesterol or blood pressure, and neither made glucose control worse (Butler et al., 2022).
A second trial, also from Bahrain, put 100 adults with type 2 diabetes into two groups: three dates a day for 16 weeks, or no dates. HbA1c did not change, and total cholesterol fell in the date group, by 0.209 mmol/L (Alalwan et al., 2020). Neither trial shows dates prevent diabetes, and neither tested heart attacks or strokes.
Lab studies on Ajwa itself
Much of the Ajwa-specific research we found is in cells and animals. A 2014 review in the Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences summarised reports of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity in parts of the date palm, and concluded that it “can be used for number of complications if further evaluated and isolated” (Mallhi et al., 2014). The phrase that matters is “if further evaluated”. We found no trials in people showing that Ajwa prevents cancer, strokes or Alzheimer’s disease.
So, should you eat Ajwa before a wedding?
Eat it because you like it, or because of the hadith above. Don’t eat it expecting a cure. If you are buying for hantaran or a kenduri, our guide to Kurma Ajwa Aliya for Malaysia covers the buying side, and for carton prices see Kurma AJwa Borong.
References
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5445, Book 70 (Food, Meals), Hadith 74. sunnah.com/bukhari:5445
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5769, Book 76 (Medicine), Hadith 83. sunnah.com/bukhari:5769
- USDA FoodData Central. Dates, medjool (FDC ID 168191). fdc.nal.usda.gov
- Tatar T, Akdevelioğlu Y. Effect of pollen, pit powder, and gemmule extract of date palm on male infertility: a systematic review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2018. PMID 29087245
- Adebayo AA, Ademosun AO, Oboh G. Date (Phoenix dactylifera L. Mill) fruit enhances sexual performance via modulation of oxido-inflammatory mediators and purinergic signaling in hypertensive male rats. Biomarkers. 2024. PMID 38483941
- Shirdel E, Rahimi F, Jafarzadeh M, et al. Improving female health at various life stages: a systematic review of the impact of date fruit products. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2025. PMID 40641695
- West E, Krychman M. Natural aphrodisiacs: a review of selected sexual enhancers. Sex Med Rev. 2015. PMID 27784600
- Salajegheh Z, Nasiri M, Imanipour M, et al. Is oral consumption of dates (Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit) in the peripartum period effective and safe integrative care to facilitate childbirth and improve perinatal outcomes: a comprehensive revised systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2024. PMID 38166785
- Niknami M, Farash M, Rahnavardi M, et al. The effect of date fruit consumption on early postpartum hemorrhage: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Womens Health. 2023. PMID 37612639
- Butler AE, Obaid J, Wasif P, et al. Effect of date fruit consumption on the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial. Nutrients. 2022. PMID 36079749
- Alalwan TA, Perna S, Mandeel QA, et al. Effects of daily low-dose date consumption on glycemic control, lipid profile, and quality of life in adults with pre- and type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2020. PMID 31952131
- Mallhi TH, Qadir MI, Ali M, et al. Review: Ajwa date (Phoenix dactylifera)- an emerging plant in pharmacological research. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2014. PMID 24811825