Strawberries' Health Benefits
Strawberries are as attractive on the outside as their inside - they are filled with many necessary nutrients a body needs.
No wonder they are crowned "The Queen of Fruits".
You can also choose strawberries as perfect ingredients for salads, smoothies, bread, cakes and desserts, especially fondues.
Due to their bright, appealing appearance, chefs also love to use them as decorations to enhance the presentation of dishes, making them look more appetizing to the guests.
How Strawberry Get Its Name
It was believed that the word 'strawberry' did not exist until 1538.
During harvest, children would pick the fruits and string them on straws of grass to be sold, thus the fruit was named 'strawberry'.
In the olden days, strawberries originated in the wilderness of Europe and America. Wild strawberries are small and tend to bear fruits only during month of June.
But now the berries we buy today are much bigger in size because they had been cross-pollinated by scientists over the years - Scientists crossbred the wild species with the Chilean strawberries which were so much bigger in size than the wild berries.
Nutritional Values in Strawberries
Unlike most other fruits, you can easily see the seeds of strawberry grown outside of it, with an average of 200 seeds per fruit.
Nutrients found in strawberries include vitamin A, C and B6, fiber, potassium, folate and various antioxidants and flavonoids. Your immune system needs these fighters to protect against diseases related to heart and cancers.
Strawberries surpass super fruits like apples, oranges and bananas, in terms of providing the most nutrients.
For example, comparing the vitamin C level in 100g of strawberries and 100g of oranges, strawberries exceed oranges by 10mg. Best of all, they are low in calories and absolutely fat-free!
Not only their juicy flesh are good, but also their leaves and roots are medicinally used to treat diarrhea, indigestion and gout, etc.
You'll find strawberry leaves in blended herbal teas. The fruit juice is also useful in soothing sunburns, cure skin blemishes and remove discoloration on the teeth.
How Strawberries Keep You Away from Heart Disease
Strawberries can help you combat heart disease with its exclusive "3 Musketeers" - potassium, fiber and folate.
Studies have proven that potassium can significantly lower blood pressure, which may then reduce the risk of heart disease.
Fiber, both soluble and insoluble, also lowers the risk of both cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.
As for folate, it can help you effectively reduce homocysteine, an independent risk factor for heart disease.
In addition, the antioxidants in the fruit also deter the oxidation of bad cholesterol. Oxidation speeds up the build-up of plaque on the arteries which may endanger the heart.
Besides as an antioxidant, flavonoids have anti-inflammatory effect on arteries, meaning they prevent blood clotting, thereby reduces risk of stroke.
How Strawberries Protect You Against Cancer
Strawberries can effectively fight oxidative activity. Thanks to its high levels of polyphenols and vitamin C.
Antioxidants protect your body cells from damage by carcinogens, the cancer-causing agents. They prohibit the development of carcinogens and delay the tumors from growing and expanding. It was tested that strawberry extracts actually inhibit the growth of cancerous cells.
The Booster for Your Immune System
To have a long and healthy life, your immune system is the key.
It's responsible for fighting infections and removing damaged or malfunctioning cells. But bad news is, your immune system ages with your age.
So to maintain your immune system in tip-top condition, you need to load your body with sufficient vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
As mentioned earlier, strawberries provide most of the nutrients beneficial to your immune system, and the body easily absorbs these nutrients.
Top Ten Skincare Food
In United States, strawberries are rated as one of the best foods for skin care and weight loss. Studies have shown that regular intake of strawberries can improve your skin and hair conditions.
They help you lose weight, due to its high fiber content and aspartic acid, so they are often included in a weight loss diet plan. The role of aspartic acid is to remove excess toxins from your body.
Selection and Storage of Strawberries
In the past, strawberries are not commonly found in supermarkets. But now with advanced cultivation methods, you're able to find them widely available from Australia or United States.
The caps protect the strawberries from absorbing excessive water and turning soggy.To choose fresh ones, watch for bright, deep red fruits with glossy surfaces, without green or white hard tips. The caps and leaves should be fresh green.
If you like sweet strawberries, go for the bright red, smaller ones. Large ones can be watery.
As strawberries do not ripen after they had been harvested, check to make sure the berries at the lower rows of the box are equally ripe as the ones on the top row.
If there are red stains or liquid leaking from the box bottom, it means the berries had been on the shelf for too long and thus, not worth your money.
If you want your strawberries to stay fresh and last longer, do not wash them until you want to use them.
Place them in a container, preferably in layers with paper towels in between the layers, and a dry paper towel at the bottom.
When you're ready to use them, wash them with the caps attached, under cool running water.
After washing, you can remove the caps by slightly twisting them or cut with a fruit knife.
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