Health Tip: Tasty strawberries are heathy, too
Berries are making the news again this week. Recently, Health Partner Darren Triplett blogged about his trip to a blueberry farm to pick organic blueberries. This week, we have found a study shows that strawberries have a substance called a “flavonoid” that is good for your health.
The antioxidant may hold the key to preventing health complications related to type 1 diabetes, according to a new study out of the Salk Institute. In the report, researchers that “fisetin,” a naturally-occurring flavonoid found in strawberries and to a lesser extent in other fruits and vegetables, lessens complications of diabetes. Other well-known flavonoids include polyphenolic compounds in blueberries and red wine.
Expert Pam Maher, who is at Salk Institute and an author on the study published in PLoS ONE, says that in plants flavonoids act as sunscreens and protect leaves and fruit from insects, but in foods they are part of the protective effect of the Mediterranean Diet.
Maher notes that the polyphenolics like fisetin and those in blueberry extracts are found in fruits and vegetables and are related to each other chemically.
To test the benefits of fisetin for diabetes, the team evaluated effects of fisetin in type 1 diabetes in the lab. Maher estimates that humans would have to eat 37 strawberries a day. Rather than through diet, Maher envisions that fisetin-like drugs could be taken as a supplement.
Georgia strawberry growers can be found at this web site. Click here and here to find delicious recipes for strawberries. More about stawberry nutrition can be found here.
Filed under: Health Tips, Nutrition, Recipes