Strawberries

(The Fruit That Is Good For You )

~ By LadyGenes ~

When I think of strawberries I think of summer, picnic's, Strawberry shortcake and a lot of good memories that come with this fruit in our house. Strawberries have been around since before the Christian era started and were highly coveted by ancient Romans. After the fall of Rome they lost their appeal and then reemerged in the Middle Ages in Europe. They really gained in popularity in the 18th century where they developed in to the fruit we know today. These strawberries were enjoyed mostly by the wealthy until the 19th century. The strawberry has been deemed the most popular fruit in the world. The largest commercial producers of strawberries today are the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Besides being a tasty treat and looking beautiful on a plate, the strawberry is very good for you health wise. Strawberries have an element in them called anthocyanins which turns the berry red and it also, and I have to quote this, "they also serve as potent antioxidants that have repeatedly been shown to help protect cell structures in the body and to prevent oxygen damage in all of the body's organ systems." Strawberries have in them a phenol content which helps protect the heart, makes them a anti-cancer fruit and can be an anti-inflammatory fruit! What a gem of a fruit we have for our health.

In a study of the fruit and cancer, strawberries lowered the rate of cancer deaths in a group of over 1,000 elderly people. They found people that ate strawberries were three times less likely to develop cancer then those who didn't eat them at all or very little of them. Strawberries also help in fighting against Rheumatoid Arthritis! The strawberry contains an excellent source of vitamin C which helps the fight of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It also contains, manganese, has dietary fiber, iodine, potassium, folate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, vitamin K, magnesium and last but not least, copper.

Make sure to eat at least 3 servings of fruit that contain high levels of vitamin C to keep you fit and healthy. Strawberries come in red or white and in different varieties which have different flavors. When you purchase your strawberries make sure to use them within a couple days of purchase or they will go bad. Do not leave them in direct sunlight or at room temperature for very long or they will spoil. To store them, you can refrigerate them for a couple of days. You can freeze them by first washing them gently, pat dry, remove or leave the cap and stem on and arrange them in a single layer on a flat pan or cookie sheet and place in the freezer.

So go out and get you some Strawberries, make yourself a nice salad, dessert or just eat them plain! A toast to your health with this beautiful, colorful, juicy fruit, may it be a helper in your fight to be healthy!!

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Information for this article was obtained from this web site:
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php? tname=foodspice&dbid=32

         

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