In the Book Of Ingredients by Philip Dowell and Adrian Bailey, strawberries are described as "A fruit native to America, can vary widely in size. Available all the year round it can be eaten with cream and sugar and used in preserves, cakes and tarts".
In the present times, when we are consistently regaled with accounts of the high incidence of overweight- and obesity-related conditions that adversely affect health, very little emphasis is put on the health benefits of certain foods.
Fresh strawberries are truly nature's gift to mankind. The little berry has long been recognised even in Roman times for its medicinal uses.
Strawberries contain essential vitamins, fibre, potassium and phytochemicals. The latter are non-nutritive plant chemicals that have protective or disease preventive properties. An average helping (one cup portion) of this fruit contains only 55 calories but then much more than enough of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C for children (140 per cent). In fact, a single serving of strawberries contains more vitamin C than a medium-sized orange. Vitamin C is essential for ensuring proper wound healing and maintaining cartilage strength.
Scientific studies show that fibre is an essential component of a healthy diet. Epidemiologists worldwide assert that people who consume higher amounts of total fibre, cut the risk of heart disease. Heart Health Foundations in America and Europe give much importance to fibre.
Potassium is an important nutrient essential to help the body balance electrolytes. It plays a vital role in muscle contractions and to regulate blood pressure. Diets that provide potassium help minimise the adverse effect of sodium on blood pressure.
US dietary guidelines recommend diets rich in fruits and vegetables to derive enough potassium to avoid hypertension. Eight average-sized strawberries contain 170 mgs of potassium or five per cent of the mineral daily value required.
The anti-oxidants, which also include Vitamin C, play an important part to ward off chronic diseases and conditions including cancer, heart disease, neurological decline and diabetes.
Studies in America at the Human Nutrition Research Centre on Aging at Tufts University found that strawberry extract slowed the age-related decline in cognitive function. Strawberries have high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can retard or arrest cognitive function deterioration.
Within an hour of eating a portion of strawberries there is full absorption of the anti-oxidants, which then start their action against the free radicals that, unfortunately, build up in the body and result in ill-health. Free radicals are produced in the body as a result of inflammation, smoking, exposure to pollutants and UV radiation.
Recent nutritional research studies place strawberries as the second among the top 10 fruits that are most rich in anti-oxidants. Strawberries also help reduce levels of oxidized LDL cholesterol, a major risk component causing cardiovascular disease.
Specific anti-oxidants involved in this activity found in strawberries include the anthocyanins, which give the fruit the characteristic deep red pigment, quercetin and kaempferol, which are known as flavonoids.
Other import substances are chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid and ellagic acid. Ellargic acid particularly acts as a scavenger that mops up cancer-causing chemicals and deactivates them. It also prevents the ability of other chemicals to cause mutations in bacteria and, thus, become more dangerous to humans. The strong anti-cancer action of fresh strawberries is all thanks to ellargic acid, which inhibits carcinogens from binding to DNA in humans.
Woman health advocates giving sound pre-conception nutritional advice cannot over-emphasise enough the importance of strawberries as a rich source of folate. Often called folic acid and folacin, folate is essentially one of the B vitamins.
Folate is especially important for women of child-bearing age because it depreciates the risk that babies are born with spina bifida.
Foliate also offers good protection to cardiac problems and maintains the good neurological functioning. It also actively removes homocysteine, which is an amino acid found in the blood that is well known to cause coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. A serving of eight strawberries contains nearly one tenth of the daily requirements of foliate.
The strawberry is:
• Low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
• High in dietary fibre, Vitamin C, manganese, folate and potassium.
The nutritional value of the strawberry makes it suitable for:
• Maintaining optimum health.
Avoid including strawberries in your diet if you are interested in weight gain. (www.vegparadise.com)
• Festa tal-Frawli (Strawberry Feast) will be held tomorrow at Mġarr between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. It is organised by the Mġarr local council with the collaboration of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs as part of the Naturalment Malti calendar of events.