[p1necone]

The studies you're linking and the conclusion you're reaching are based on the general idea of eating fruit. Dates have a much higher sugar content by volume/weight than fresh fruit (and are higher than a lot of other dried fruits too I believe).

> "A major point is that most fruit isn't sweet enough to dramatically sweeten a product."

Yes, dried dates are not like "most" fruit. They are sweet enough to "dramatically sweeten a product", that would be the reason they are used for that exact purpose.

Edit: I googled it; dates are anywhere from 40-80% sugar, depending on the variety (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Sugar-content-of-fresh-a...). Even undried dates are at least 40% sugar, which surprised me.

[glofish]

I will mention though that food is always a lot more than a collection of sugars/fats etc.

Putting a date into your blended oat milk is, nutritionally speaking, very likely immensely different (and very likely more beneficial) than putting the equivalent amount of refined sugar. Then we havent even touched on the many other benefits - like behaviorally you are less likely to overindulge with dates than adding another teaspoon of sugar etc.

[criley2]

You sound like the kind of person who thinks that a spoonful of sugar and a multivitamin is functionally identical to a fruit and that is sad because the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly against your reductive approach to food.

No, the studies I linked cannot be handwaved off as you attempted, and no, they do not support your reductive approach. I urge you to read them again if gaining a greater understanding of why whole food is healthier than refined constituents is actually a goal of yours.