IntoDiet.com

Image Source: Freedigitalphotos.net

Strawberry

• Has anticancer effects
• Raises body antioxidant level
• Rich source of vitamin C

Today’s health topic is about strawberries, well it’s summer and we have delicious fruit season coming our way, I will talk about one of my favorite which is strawberry. Strawberry come into season in april they last all the way through July so take advantage from them now while they are the most nutrient condensed and the most delicious.

Strawberry health benefits

So today I will be sharing with you the health benefits of strawberries, not we really need a reason to know the health benefits because they are really delicious but you have to know that they are packed full of antioxidants that are very powerful and has anti-inflammatory properties and very highly concentrated of vitamin C plus strawberries are very supportive for joint health, a great food to add if you suffer from arthritis, strawberries are also packed full of vitamin K and magnesium which support our bone health, it also contains potassium, vitamin B2 and B5.

Image source: whfoods.com

Strawberries are a key source of ellagic acid which is a phenolic acid that has a potent anticarcinogenic activity and also acts as an antioxidant. Lots of laboratory studies indicate that ellagic acid can inhibit the growth of tumors.

There has been a study done on animals which they eat strawberry rich diet they’ve found that strawberry actually fight free-radical that decrease brain function so they found that those animals improved their motor skills and their learning capacity, so that is really wonderful!

Strawberries are always a sensual delight and with their low calorie content they are a giult-free indulgence. 1 cup of strawberries contain about 43 calories so if you feel you need something sweet grab some strawberries instead of chocolate or candies, they are sweet by themselves!!

How to pick your strawberries?

Now you have to know how to pick your strawberries from supermarket or grocery stores, first of all you have to choose the ripen strawberries because once they are picked they don’t ripen anymore. Then you have to smell the strawberry it should have a really rich aroma, then next notice the color choose the deep dark red and healthy strawberries have a dark green stem to it.

One thing you have to know about strawberries that they do not last long so you have to eat your strawberries with in 3 days, and if you washed them before you refrigerate them that will actually shorten their life so try possibly to wash them right before eating.

Strawberries are really delicious as is, so you do not need a recipe to include strawberries into your diet, but if you need some healthy ways so you can add some strawberries to your fruit salad or eat strawberries with low fat cheese it is really delicious, you can add some honey on your strawberries and be a little creative and add some nuts to make it even more healthy so you have strawberries, honey and nuts yummy what could be better than that?! or you can bake a strawberry cake, try making strawberry cheese cake using low fat cream cheese into it, it will perfect.

And for a bonus strawberries have a low glycemic index about 40 so consider it if you are following a low-GI diet and certainly you can add it to a healthy balanced diet because it is low in calories as I mentioned previously.

So I hope youo enjoy strawberries while they are in season, and I hope you find good useful tips for you in this article.