On this dreary day its hard to think about the upcoming yummy fruits that come with spring and summer in Minnesota. For those of us who can handle strawberries, nothing beats fresh organic, local berries. This study shows eating those yummy berries lowers your cardiovascular risk, improved antioxidant status and lower cholesterol markers. Look ahead SPRING IS COMING!
For the local gardeners, if you ever have any fresh berries you can always drop extras at Rising Sun Chiropractic and we will surely find a good home for them.
It’s a New Day for Health!
Dr. Seth
One-month strawberry-rich anthocyanin supplementation ameliorates cardiovascular risk, oxidative stress markers and platelet activation in humans,” Alvarez-Suarez JM, Giampieri F, et al, J Nutr Biochem, 2013 Nov 27; [Epub ahead of print]. (Address: Dipartimento di Science Cliniche Specialistiche ed Odontostomatologiche, Facoltà di Medicina, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. E-mail: m.a.battino@univpm.it ). | |
Summary: | In a study involving healthy volunteers, supplementing the diet with 500 g per day of strawberries rich in vitamin C and anthocyanins, for a period of one month was found to be associated with various beneficial effects on plasma lipid profile, antioxidant status, anti-hemolytic defenses, and platelet function. Specifically, strawberry consumption was associated with reductions in total cholesterol (-8.78%), LDL cholesterol (-13.72%), and triglyceride levels (-20.80%), respectively, as compared with baseline, while HDL levels remained stable. In addition, significant decreases in serum malondialdehyde (-31.40%), urinary 8-OHdG (-29.67%) and isoprostane levels (-27.90%) were found. Furthermore, strawberry consumption was associated with significant increases in plasma total antioxidant capacity (measured by ferric reducing ability of plasma and oxygen radical absorbance capacity assays and vitamin C levels), spontaneous and oxidative hemolysis were significantly reduced (-31.7% and -39.03%), as compared to baseline, and significant decreases in the number of activated platelets was found. The authors conclude, “Strawberries consumption improves plasma lipids profile, biomarkers of antioxidant status, antihemolytic defenses and platelet function in healthy subjects, encouraging further evaluation on a population with higher cardiovascular disease risk.” |