8 Health Benefits of Eating Strawberries Regularly

Strawberries are more than just sweet and juicy—they're packed with vitamin Cfolateand fiber. These nutrients may boost immunitysupport blood sugar controlaid healingand help protect against conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

1. Maintain Blood Sugar Level

Because of strawberries' lower glycemic index (the way carbohydrates impact blood sugar)they don't prompt a spike in blood sugar levels like some other fruits maymaking them an excellent option for people with diabetes.

2. Support Anti-Inflammatory and Wound-Healing

Compounds in strawberries that hold antioxidant properties combined with the fruit's vitamin C can help reduce pain and inflammation from conditions like osteoarthritis and promote skin healing.

3. Promote Heart Health

Eating at least three servings of strawberries weekly has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack in a study on young and middle-aged women. The fruit's anthocyanins (antioxidants)flavonoidsand potassium can help lower blood pressure.

4. Support a Healthy Immune System

The generous amount of vitamin C in strawberries can help bolster immune system cells that protect against viruses and bacteria.

5. Boost Folate

Strawberries can serve as a solid source of folate or vitamin B9which is crucial for the body's DNA maintenance and particularly important for a healthy pregnancy.

6. May Lower Cancer Risk

The antioxidants found in strawberries might help protect against cancer. Howevermore research is needed on how these compounds can reduce inflammation and cancer cell spread.

7. Help Lower Cholesterol

Some promising studies have shown that daily strawberry consumption may help lower total cholesterol by up to 10% and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (often referred to as "bad" cholesterol) by 13%.

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8. Strengthen Cognitive Abilities

Initial research suggests that eating strawberries daily can help support brain healthpotentially improving cognitive processing speed and function.

Strawberry Nutrition Information

A lot of nutrition benefits are packed into this tinyjuicy fruit. For example1 cup of strawberries amounts to:

• 49 calories
• 0.5 grams (g) of fat
• 1 g of protein
• 12 g of carbohydrates

Pluswith around 90 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C per cupstrawberries can help adults get their total dose of vitamin C per day. A cup full of the fruit's 40 micrograms (mcg) of folate also provides around 10% of the daily recommended intake.

How Many Strawberries Should You Eat in a Day?

Everyone's dietary needs differ based on agemedical historyoverall healthand more. But for most healthy adultsjust 1 cup of strawberries provides 100% of your daily vitamin C needs.

Studies have shown that eating at least 1.5 to 1.75 cups of strawberries per week seems to be the sweet spot for seeing some of the fruit's other health benefits.

There are many ways to work this amount of strawberries into your daily routine. For exampleconsider:

• Eating fresh strawberries when in season and frozen strawberries during winter months
• Adding strawberries to breakfast foodslike yogurtpancakesmuffinsor oatmeal
• Adding strawberries to smoothiesalong with other berries and ingredients
• Using strawberries on top of toasts or in salads

Strawberries (and other berries) will last longer if placed in the coldest part of your refrigeratorlike a produce drawer or a sealed container. If possibleeat them within three days to get the most out of their nutritional intake and freshness quality.