You will know all about how good strawberries can be for your health. Many tout the benefits of antioxidants found in all types of berries. These antioxidants help to fight free radicals and oxidative stress to keep the cells healthy. They help to promote good cell growth and repair as you get older, fighting against problems like cancer, aging, and even dementia.
However, what about the benefits that you do not hear about? There are so many reasons to add strawberries to your diet. All these reasons are too often overlooked or become overshadowed by the antioxidant benefits.
So, it is time to pay the other benefits some attention. It is time to understand why you need to get more strawberries in your diet. Here are eight unheard benefits of strawberries.
Help to Prevent Many Eye Problems
One of the most significant overlooked benefits is for your eyes.
You have likely heard that carrots help you see in the dark. Well, they are not the only ingredients to help protect your eyesight. Strawberries are packed with healthy goodness that will boost your optical nerve health, reduce the feeling of dry eyes, and prevent the development of macular degeneration disease. Studies have also shown that strawberries can help to avoid infections within the eyes and slow down the process of aging, helping you keep your eyesight for a longer time.
How is all this possible? Well, this is linked to specific antioxidants. Flavonoids are the most important, but ellagic acid and phenolic phytochemicals are also essential for supporting the health of your eyes. Many fruits and vegetables that are orange, red, or yellow include these antioxidants to support your eye health.
The antioxidants will help to prevent the deterioration of the nerves within your eye; often affected by (you guessed it) free radicals. However, the antioxidants also help to reduce the amount of ocular pressure. This is pressure on the ocular nerve, which can lead to deterioration and damage. Those with high pressure around this area are more likely to see signs of glaucoma, macular degeneration, and other common age-related eye diseases.
Strawberries are also packed with potassium. The fruit is commonly overlooked since bananas, and sweet potatoes also have it, but you cannot forget about the pressure correcting benefits of potassium. The nutrient will release the pressure from the ocular nerve, supporting the overall eye health as mentioned above.
Treat Gout, Arthritis, and Other Similar Conditions
The muscles and tissues will degenerate over time. This is part of aging, but that does not mean you have to just put up with it. You do not need to just accept arthritis and gout as part of your daily life.
Much of the tissue and muscle damage is due to toxic substances accumulating in your body. Uric acid can lead to more free radicals, while oxidative stress damages the cells. It is the toxins that mostly cause the onset of gout, arthritis, and other similar disorders and illnesses.
Strawberries will help you avoid the deterioration of muscles and tissues. Again, it is all in the antioxidants; the flavonoids to be exact. The flavonoids will fight against the development of free radicals and reduce the other toxins within the body. There are also detoxifiers within strawberries, helping the body get rid of the buildup of toxins and improve your chance of avoiding deterioration.
At the same time, strawberries have anti-inflammatory benefits. While tackling the reason for arthritis and gout, the fruit will also address the symptoms. If you currently have either, you can find you get a new lease on life, as you no longer must put up with the daily, troublesome symptoms.
Reduce Your Risk of Hypertension
What about high blood pressure? This is another condition that people just expect to gain at some point. We are not talking about a temporary increase in your blood pressure because of a stressful day at work or lots of events happening at once. Hypertension is a constant increased blood pressure rate.
Hypertension is a deadly disorder and silent. You will not realize you have it unless you regularly have your blood pressure tested (usually because your doctor is worried) or because you have got the following signs of it. While there are plenty of drugs, strawberries can help to reduce your risk of developing hypertension and help you reverse the condition if you do already have it.
It is all due to the potassium levels within the fruit, as well as the amount of magnesium; a nutrient we usually overlook and do not get enough of. The nutrients work together to reduce sodium levels within the body. They also help to keep other risk factors to a minimum, reducing your chance of developing serious high blood pressure conditions.
At the same time, the potassium will improve the health of the blood vessels and arteries. It helps to reduce the rigidity of them, meaning the blood can flow through the body better. Your organs get all the oxygenated blood they need, and you feel ten times better.
Improves Other Cardiovascular Health
It is not just hypertension that strawberries can help avoid. The fruit will help to reduce your risk of many other cardiovascular problems and diseases. While it is linked to the antioxidants like ellagic acid and flavonoids, it is not the reduction in the risk of free radical damage that is the benefit.
The antioxidants will help to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in the body. They also counter the effects of the bad cholesterol, when the levels are high for whatever reason. Bad cholesterol causes a layer of friction along the arteries, making it hard for the blood to flow. When the bad cholesterol is lowered, there will be more good cholesterol, creating a smooth, protective layer over the arteries instead.
Plus, you have the magnesium and potassium working together. They will keep the arteries fluid and bendy, allowing the blood to work its way through your body better. Your heart does not have to do as much work, and your whole cardiovascular system will thank you.
Reduces the Inflammation Of Your Body
We have already mentioned how strawberries help to reduce inflammation to help treat and avoid gout and arthritis. This is not the only part of the body that benefits.
Inflammation is part of the immune response within the body. When the body feels like there is an invader or something dangerous, the inflammatory response is one of the first elements to kick off. However, inflammation can make your health worse. It puts pressure on your nerves, causing chronic pain. People with carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and some digestive issues can find that reducing inflammation will make it easier to get by day after day.
How do strawberries help? Well, the antioxidants certainly help. They will lower the C-reactive protein levels in the blood, a sign that there is inflammation of the body. Just getting 16 strawberries on a weekly basis will help to keep levels of C-reactive protein to a minimum.
Improve Your Short-Term Memory
Can’t remember what you had for breakfast this morning? Forget where you put your keys? You are not alone. The short-term memory is regularly affected by a variety of issues. Sometimes they can just be normal, stress-related issues. You may have been trying to do two or three things at once and not paid enough attention.
However, there are also more serious reasons for your short-term memory failing. Your brain can succumb to all types of damage and problems, especially when inflammation is involved. Free radicals have been linked to the damage of cells and the cause of dementia.
Strawberries will help due to their level of anthocyanins. Studies have shown that you can double your short-term memory capabilities by eating foods that have good anthocyanin counts. It will take just two months to see the results.
Reduce the Risk of Birth Defects Developing
If you are pregnant, you will want to eat foods that help your developing baby. Those who are trying to conceive will find eating for the health of the baby now is beneficial. You will not know right away that you are pregnant. The baby starts developing long before your missed period and will want the nutrients right away to help prevent congenital disabilities.
However, how do strawberries help? Do not you need more folic acid to prevent birth defects?
That is precisely how the fruit helps. Strawberries are one of the best sources of the B vitamin. Folic acid will help with the early development of the central nervous system and brain. It helps to ward off various autoimmune disorders in the early stages.
Of course, the strawberries will also help boost your immunity. Getting more vitamin C and antioxidants will further help with the development of your baby. If you are well, your baby has more chance of getting all the nutrients it needs.
Help to Boost Your Weight Loss Efforts
You will hear a lot about how fruits and vegetables help to boost your weight loss efforts. So really, off the bat, this is not an unheard benefit of strawberries. However, the benefits of your weight loss efforts go much deeper than most other fruits and vegetables. The deeper benefits are the unheard ones.
Strawberries have anthocyanins. We have already seen that they will help to boost your short-term memory, but they help in other parts of your body. These compounds give strawberries their red color and help with the stimulation of fat burning. Studies have shown that animals with more anthocyanins in their diet were 24% more likely to lose fat (not just weight).
At the same time, nutrients help with satisfying your hunger levels. Strawberries are packed with fiber, which is much harder for the body to digest. The body must take its time, leaving you with this feeling of being fuller for longer (and sooner) compared to if you ate chocolate, crisps, and other junk food. By reducing the amount, you feel you need to eat, you are more likely to stick to a diet. You also eat fewer calories throughout the day without realizing it.
Moreover, to further improve your weight loss efforts, you do not feel like you are missing out on anything. Strawberries are naturally sweet. This natural sweetness is often seen as a bad thing for weight loss, but it is a major benefit. When your body gets the natural sweetness, it thinks it is getting the sugar it is craving. You tackle those pesky cravings for chocolate and cookies without telling yourself “no.”
You will find it much easier to stick to whatever diet plan you have created. There is something sweet to look forward to at the end of the day.
You Do Not Need to Eat Strawberries Whole
Many people view the only way to get your fruits and vegetables is through eating them whole. This is not the case. All the benefits you have seen above are gained just by enjoying strawberries in every way they come.
It is possible to blend them down into smoothies or cook them into a diet-friendly version of a strawberry cheesecake. You can make a strawberry puree or even chop them up and top your cereal with them. All these methods will get all the nutrients into your body, and sometimes in better ways. The nutrients are already broken down, making them easier to absorb.
The only way that may not be as beneficial is through juicing. You get rid of the pulp, which removes the fiber and a lot of other nutrients. If you want juice, opt for a blended smoothie instead, using the whole fruit.
It is time to try out more strawberries in your diet. You know all about the way they can help prevent cancer and boost your weight loss through the lack of calories, but what about all the other benefits? You have likely not heard of the ways you can protect your eye and joint health. You only need a handful a day, and you will get all the unheard benefits mentioned above.
