Whether you are eating a healthy meal or a tasty one, eating can cause oxidative stress, which releases certain toxins in your body. Studies have shown that eating more strawberries can increase antioxidant absorption and be more beneficial.
You can help to remove the harmful effects of these toxins, by adding antioxidants to your diet. While we are aware that many fruits and especially berries have great antioxidant properties, studies have also shown that strawberries in particular are of great help.
Strawberries
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and are the fifth most consumed fresh fruit in the United States. Berries are known to contain a compound called anthocyanins, which are the source of the color pigments in the fruit.
Several studies have been conducted to understand the beneficial effects of strawberries on prevention of cardiac diseases and diabetes. In the previous studies, it was found that strawberries can counteract post meal blood sugar and bad cholesterol, thereby proving useful in preventing heart diseases and diabetes.
Recent studies
A team of medical professionals from Warwick Medical School were working in this area and discovered that eating strawberries can stimulate a protein called ‘Nrf2’, in our body. This protein seems to increase the antioxidative properties and thus can help in preventing diseases.
During a study, 12 volunteers were given three different portion sizes during three separate treatment periods, which were separated with an interval of one week. Results concluded that people who consumed more quantities of strawberries were capable of assimilating more anthocyanin pigments. This can help the scientists to study the health benefits of individual anthocyanins in berries if possible develop varieties of strawberries that contain the optimal level of the compound.
So the next time you want to indulge in something healthy, you can chomp on some fresh strawberries.