Strawberries are delicious treats for many people, and increasing your intake can be a healthy choice to make for your overall diet. You can eat strawberries on their own, in smoothies or fruit salads or as toppings for cereal, yogurt or even sandwiches. In most places, fresh strawberries are sweetest and most affordable in the summer, and frozen strawberries are available year-round.
A cup of sliced, raw strawberries has only 53 calories, so strawberries can be part of a diet to control your weight. They have 1 g protein, 0.5 g fat and 12 g of carbs, which includes 8 g natural sugars. Like all other plant-based foods, strawberries are cholesterol-free. Sugar-sweetened strawberry fruit drinks, frozen strawberries with added sugar, strawberry-flavored ice cream toppings and strawberry jam are high in calories and lower in nutrients than strawberries without sugar.
Phytochemicals
A cup of strawberries provides 3.3 g of dietary fiber, 0.4 mg of lignans and 20 mg of phytosterols. These compounds are examples of phytonutrients, or healthy components in plant-based foods, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Dietary fiber lowers your levels of bad LDL cholesterol, has a laxative effect to reduce your risk for constipation and might help regulate your blood sugar. Lignans and phytosterols might reduce your risk for heart disease.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants protect the cells in your body from chemicals called free-radicals, whose oxidizing effects might lead to diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and heart disease. Strawberries might be protective against these oxidative diseases because of their high oxygen radical absorbance capacity, or ORAC, value, according to the Department of Agriculture. The ORAC value measures the total antioxidant effect of foods due to their variety of antioxidant components, such as vitamin C, flavonoids and carotenoids. Strawberries also provide the antioxidant coenzyme Q10.
Other Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamin C is not only an antioxidant, but also necessary for strong tendons and ligaments, as well as for fat metabolism, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. A cup of strawberries provides 98 mg of vitamin C, or 163 percent of the daily value. Strawberries have 254 mg of potassium, which supports heart health and lowers blood pressure. A cup of sliced strawberries supplies 40 mcg folate, which is essential for preventing neural tube birth defects.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Fruits and Fruit Juices
- Linus Pauling Institute ; "Coenzyme Q10"; Victoria Drake; February 2007
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010"; January 2010
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; "Lignans"; Victoria Drake; January 2010
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; "Oxidative Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods"; 2007
- Linus Pauling Institute; "Vitamin C"; Victoria Drake; November 2009
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