Why Do Prumes Make You Poop?

Why do prunes (and pears, plums, etc) make you poop? It can’t be the fiber. At least not for prunes, as they don’t have much. What is the nature of the poopy prune magic?

:smiley: [sup]What’s a prume?[/sup]

It is indeed the fiber, specifically soluable fiber:

Prunes

Your confusion about the nature of fiber might be due to the difference between soluble fiber and insoluble fiber:

High Fiber Diet

kniz, a prune is merely a dried plum. And the word “prune” is so associated with the geriatic lifestyle that California prune growers have changed their name to the California Dried Plum Association. (kinda like how a garbageman is a sanitation engineer)

Anyway, prunes seem to have a stool softening effect beyond the amount of fiber they contain. They are high in sorbitol (a sugar alchohol) which can cause diarrhea in large amounts and which may contribute to the effect. (this would also explain why prune juice - which has no fiber - seems to have the same effect) But the research is inconclusive. Here’s a fascinating article all about prunes and how the prune growers are trying to market to a younger crowd.

Tremorviolet, kniz didn’t ask “What is a prune?” The question was “What is a prume?” referring to the typo in the OP.

This question is obviously a typo. What the OP meant to ask is:

Why Do Prumes Make You Poot?

Huh, I figured I was being whooshed (not that the smiley was a tip-off or anything) but didn’t see it. I’d be a crappy copy editor. :slight_smile: