There are many reasons… but here’s 7 Reasons Strawberries Are Healthy For You to start loving them. For starters, strawberries are healthy for the entire body. They can be tart, sweet, tangy, and enormously satisfying as a snack food. Let’s face it. Taste isn’t the only reason we eat food. Albeit, it is sometimes the main reason we’re drawn to any particular food, but many of us take our own health into account when thinking about our daily diet and that means, taste isn’t the end all — be all, of why we eat any meal.
Some people want to eat healthy foods regardless of their taste (beef liver, sardines, and oysters, I’m looking at you). My husband loves beef liver, my daughter loves oysters, and my brother absolutely loves his sardines. Taste is clearly subjective. Some foods are actually healthy for you AND taste good. Strawberries are such a food and should be included in any healthy dietary regimen.
Like any other foods, there’s a certain risk of allergens and if you have concerns or simply don’t know if you are allergic to strawberries then you should consult a physician before adding them to your diet.
1 – Loaded with Nutrients
It’s NOT hard to see strawberries as a healthy food when you take a look at the nutrients in a these fruits. Potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus top the list right along with plenty of Vitamin C. All these nutrients contribute to your health in various ways.
The magnesium punch is just what your tired muscles need to help fight fatigue. The phosphorous is great for repairing and growth of tissues while helping to support and balance other vitamins and minerals, including vitamin D, iodine, magnesium (also in strawberries), and zinc.
2 – A Nice Boost to the Immune System
When you think of foods high in vitamin C, oranges and probably even broccoli comes to mind. However, strawberries are also a great source of this antioxidant powerhouse. You easily get 100 percent of your daily requirement in just one cup of sliced strawberries. The boost in your immune system from the Vitamin C alone is enough to add strawberries to your diet.
3 – Strawberries May Help Fight Cancer
Strawberries may help boost antioxidants defenses. While the development of cancer does not rely on one factor alone. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese. According to USDA data, Strawberries are loaded with polyphenols and contain the carotenoids lutein and carotene. They’re a sweet, juicy and tart berry that can add a great flavor profile to any meal or snack. The antioxidants in strawberries have been shown to help protect our cells from oxidative stress.
4 – Strawberries Contribute To A Heart Healthy Lifestyle
The fiber content and that makes it a win for the heart healthy thinkers. Studies have supporting data that recommend adding berries to your diet as an essential fruit group for a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Strawberries have about 3.4 grams of fiber per cup. Strawberries contain both soluble fiber and non-soluble fiber and both of these types of fiber can reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol and your overall cholesterol among other mechanisms, analysis has shown.
Strawberries are a good source of potassium. A good source of potassium in your nutritional regimen has been shown to help protect against heart disease.
5 – Lower Blood Sugar Levels and Diabetes Maintenance
As a low glycemic index fruit, people watching their glucose levels find this a nice snack. Strawberries may be particularly useful for preventing metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and diabetes. Low glycemic index fruits help to keep blood sugar levels from spiking too high and the fiber content in strawberries helps to slow down the absorption speed into the body of these sugars and actual nutrients. You need both of these processes working well to keep blood sugar in a healthy range.
These results show that berries rich in polyphenols decrease the postprandial glucose response of sucrose in healthy subjects. The delayed and attenuated glycaemic response indicates reduced digestion and/or absorption of sucrose.
6 – Satisfying Fiber And Helps Keep You Regular
Foods like Strawberries, with soluble and insoluble fiber, help to keep your digestion of food regular and moving along. Foods with a good fiber content can also help you feel more full after eating. With Strawberries you get that satisfying feeling of eating without having to eat so many calories.
However, just a head’s up here. The sweeter the taste of the strawberries will usually translate to more sugars in the berry. With more sugars, that means you have more carbs, and therefore you have more calories. There’s an argument to be made that you get more calories when the berry is sweeter and less calories when there’s more tang. You will likely get the same amount of fiber though.
Let’s also keep in mind that drinking strawberry juice and actually eating strawberries whole are not the same thing. You’re not getting near the same amount of fiber (if any at all) in the strawberry juice, where the whole or sliced strawberries are where the actual fiber resides.
7 – May Help Reduce Cognitive Decline
There have been studies that have shown that regularly eating strawberries may slow cognitive decline in men and women. Antioxidants have an effect on all your blood vessels and healthy blood flow is essential to your brain health.
Researcher’s conclusions were that higher intake of flavonoids, particularly from berries (blueberries and strawberries in this study), appears to reduce rates of cognitive decline in older adults.
Results showed higher intake of total flavonoids was associated with lower odds of subjective cognitive decline after adjustment for age, total energy intake, major non-dietary factors, and specific dietary factors. Researchers found that eating strawberries was associated with a 24 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer’s dementia.
Summary
Clearly strawberries can be considered a healthy food and snack. Now, how do you add them to your diet? Strawberries go with many foods so explore your tasting palate.
Adding strawberries to your diet can be as easy as just snacking on whole strawberries for a quick snack. You can slice them on top of yogurt, oatmeal, or any type of grain you choose really. Slice them up and add them to your favorite salad. Looking for a sweet dessert twist? Balsamic vinegar is a good accompaniment to strawberries. Balsamic strawberries over vanilla ice cream can be considered a little piece of heaven on earth.