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Two new studies suggest that consuming 3–4 servings of strawberries per day can lower risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This research was presented at Experimental Biology 2015 meeting.
Britt Burton-Freeman, PhD, MS, of the Illinois Institute of Technology, and colleagues gave obese adults beverages containing varying amounts of freeze-dried strawberry powder. The adults who consumed the highest concentration of the strawberry powder (equivalent to approximately 3 servings of strawberries per day) had significantly lower blood insulin levels compared to those consuming lower concentrations. The group consuming the highest concentration also exhibited significantly decreased levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and a reduction in the blood marker for inflammation known as IL-6.
RELATED: Could Strawberries Help Prevent Alzheimer’s?
In the second study, Arpita Basu, PhD, RD, of Oklahoma State University, and colleagues administered a freeze-dried strawberry beverage to obese adults and then measured various indicators of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Participants who consumed 3.5–4 servings of strawberries daily had lower total cholesterol, LDL-C, and small LDL particles than those consuming fewer servings; they also had significantly higher levels of glutathione (a biomarker linked with a reduced risk of chronic disease).
While eating multiple servings of strawberries may not be feasible for all, encouraging patients to include strawberries in their diet may help to reduce these risk factors.
For more information visit experimentalbiology.org.
