Top 6 Health Benefits Of Eating Strawberries Backed By Research
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Strawberries are a common fruit that’s red, juicy, and sweet. Scientifically dubbed Fragaria × ananassa, strawberries are a summer fruit that are low-lyiny and growing close to the soil. Strawberries are a delicious fruit commonly eaten fresh, atop salads, and reduced into jams or chutneys among other preparations. Best of all, strawberries are highly nutritious and provide consumers with great health benefits. Packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, strawberries have lots of nutrition to offer. Check out a few reasons you may consider adding strawberries to your diet.
Important Note: All of the claims about the health benefits of strawberries made herein are supported by only the most current scientific research at the time of this publication.
Highly Nutritious
Strawberries are made of more than 90% water making this fruit incredibly hydrating. Moreover, a serving of strawberries is low in fat, calories, and protein as well as carbohydrates. Best of all, strawberries are loaded with vitamins and minerals that can contribute well to your overall health. Strawberries contain an abundance of vitamin C
which contributes to skin and immune health. They have tons of folate which contributes to cell growth and formation as well as other important biological functions. Strawberries also contain trace minerals such as manganese and potassium which regulate blood pressure among other bodily functions. Finally, strawberries are chock full of folate and antioxidants, the benefits of which you’ll read more about below.
General Consensus: 5/5 and here is why. Undoubtedly, strawberries are a highly nutritious, low-calorie fruit that is a good addition to your diet.
Good Source of Fiber
One of the best reasons to eat strawberries is that they’re high in fiber. That means they’re supportive of weight loss and good for digestion. Concerning weight loss, strawberries are a low-calorie food, weighing in at just 32 calories per 3.5-ounce serving. Furthermore, the high fiber content delivers a sustained feeling of fullness which may discourage you from eating unwanted and unnecessary calories. Incredibly, strawberries have a whopping 26% fiber content, providing 2 grams of both soluble and insoluble fiber per serving. Another important function of fiber is that it improves digestion in a few significant ways. Specifically, fiber feeds the good bacteria in your gut as well as improves the quality of bowel movements.
General Consensus: 5/5 and here is why. Strawberries are packed with both soluble and insoluble fiber, both of which are good for digestion and gut health as well as supportive of weight loss.
Full of Antioxidants
One of the greatest benefits of including strawberries in your diet is that they’re loaded with powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants are responsible for fending off the harmful free radicals that may eventually lead to chronic illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Specifically, strawberries are loaded with plant compounds known as anthocyanins. Some of these anthocyanins include pelargonidin, ellagic acid, ellagitannins, and procyanidins. Each of these plant compounds helps to mediate inflammation and oxidation that otherwise leads to disease. The anthocyanins found in the flesh and seeds of strawberries are especially supportive of heart health. Moreover, ellagitannins and ellagic acid fight bacterial infections as well as carcinogenic cells.
General Consensus: 5/5 and here is why. The data doesn’t lie when it comes to the antioxidative properties of strawberries; including them in your diet is an effective way to prevent many chronic illnesses.
Promotes Heart Health
Strawberries are packed with myriad nutrients that may protect your heart from disease. For starters, strawberries are rife with the aforementioned anthocyanins that limit the oxidation of the free radicals that could lead to cardiovascular disease. Thousands of scientific studies have drawn the connection between the anthocyanins in strawberries to improved heart health. Several other studies have indicated that individuals who consume an anthocyanin-rich diet have a lower risk of dying from heart-related incidents. Furthermore, one study showed that subjects with existing cardiovascular disease experienced an improvement in good cholesterol levels when regularly consuming strawberries; this is important as high levels of bad cholesterol typically lead to heart-related illnesses. Other cardiovascular-related benefits of a strawberry-rich diet include improved vascular function and an improvement in blood lipids.
General Consensus: 5/5 and here is why. Inevitably, eating a strawberry-rich diet improves your chances of avoiding cardiovascular dysfunction.
Regulates Blood Sugar
Studies indicate that regular consumption of strawberries may lead to an improvement in managing blood sugar levels. The importance of maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is integral to avoiding obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Some studies have shown that eating strawberries beneficially slow down the digestion of glucose while reducing spikes in blood sugars and insulin resistance.
General Consensus: 4/5 and here is why. Dozens of studies support the claim that consuming strawberries may actually help issues having to do with metabolizing glucose as well as improve insulin production.
Prevents Cancer
A final benefit of including strawberries in your diet is that doing so may reduce your risk of a cancer diagnosis. Notably, the proliferation of cancerous cells is often caused by oxidative stress and inflammation. As already suggested, strawberries are loaded with antioxidants that prevent these conditions. Additionally, strawberries have been shown to reduce tumor growth in animal studies. Lastly, the plant compounds ellagic acid and ellagitannins have been scientifically linked to the inhibition of carcinogenic cell growth.
General Consensus: 3/5 and here is why. Much of the research connecting strawberries to cancer prevention has been in lab and animal studies; human research is needed.
Unlikely Benefits: Further Research Needed
May Treat Symptoms of Osteoarthritis
General Consensus: 2/5 and here is why. The theory concerning this subject is that the antioxidative properties in strawberries can inhibit the inflammation connected to osteoarthritis symptoms; unfortunately, there are too few studies on strawberries and this ailment, though. More research is warranted.
