Strawberries are one of the sweetest and juiciest fruits around, and they taste good alone or made into a fantastic jam or dessert. No wonder they are called the “Queen of the Fruits.” These red berries are considered a healthy power food because they have essential nutrients that your body needs to thrive.
Eating just a few of these berries each day can have a dramatic impact on your health. Their nutritional value far exceeds that of oranges, bananas, apples, or pears. The nutrient-packed fruits can help you fight infection and disease in your body, and it helps you have glowing skin.
Health Benefits of Strawberries
Fruit lovers can’t resist these appealing looking berries as their red hue makes them one of the love boosting fruits. Have you ever had a chocolate-covered strawberry and a glass of wine on a date?
Additionally, their health benefits are among the vast reasons why these should be on your weekly grocery list. Since these berries are so easy to grow, you can plant them in your garden to have continued health without paying the middle man. Here are 12 benefits that show why the strawberry reigns supreme.
1. Whitens and Brightens Your Teeth
The abundance of Vitamin C in strawberries helps you to polish your grill. People spend hundreds of dollars to have their teeth whitened, and nature holds the power to give you a smile you want for a fraction of the cost.
Plaque is a sticky substance that adheres to the teeth from consuming sugary foods and drinks, and it’s tough to get off. However, the vitamin content helps to turn that yellow hue to a sparkling white. Did you know that Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman uses strawberries to brush her teeth every day?
Kidman prefers natural methods to get her teeth clean and shining. She applies a thick paste to them, and she allows it to sit for a few minutes before brushing it into the surface. Whatever she’s doing is working wonders because her teeth look amazing.
2. Lighten Freckles
Freckles are a beauty mark that you either love or hate, and there doesn’t seem to be any in-between. When you mention freckles, you get a visual image of a red-headed child with a cute smile and these marks across the bridge of the nose. While they may be adorable on a kid, many adults want to get rid of them.
The best way to lighten your skin tone and fade away these beauty marks is to use strawberries. If you think that sounds crazy, you are not alone. The vitamin and mineral content, as well as the antioxidants, help to wash away impurities as it lightens the skin.
There’s no need for expensive treatments to erase these little brown dots, just pick up a quart of berries at your local supermarket. Use a blender or food processor to whip them into a paste. Allow the mixture to sit on the affected area for 5-10 minutes. You can repeat this process every day until you get the desired results.
3. Fights Acne Better Than Pimple Cream
While you have the paste working on your freckles, you can also use it to fight acne. The high antioxidants in these berries make it just as good as some of the pimple creams you find on the market. The little seeds help to exfoliate the skin and lift the dirt and debris that will cause future acne. Isn’t nature amazing?
4. Improves Mental Health
You’ve heard an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but what does eating strawberries do for you? Is it possible that consuming a few of these berries can alter your mood? Homocysteine is an amino acid that is absorbed from foods like meat.
When the levels become too high in your body, it prevents the blood from getting proper nutrients to the brain. Elevated levels are also linked to heart disease. This acid can also cause your B12 and B6 levels to be abnormally low.
However, eating a hand full of these red berries when your mood tanks have shown to boost your happy hormones. The abundance of homocysteine can cause your dopamine and serotonin levels to tank, making you depressed and moody. Yet, the vitamins and minerals in these berries prevent this acid from building up in the body.
5. Helps with Allergies and Asthma
Allergies and asthma are caused by inflammation in the body. A strawberry has impressive anti-inflammatory properties that help to protect your body from both allergies and infections. The vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants found in these berries make spring allergies a thing of the past.
6. Strengthens Your Eyesight
You’ve probably been told your whole life that carrots are great for eye health. True, the beta carotene in carrots helps strengthen your peepers, but they aren’t the only fruit or vegetable with these superpowers.
The abundance of the “C” vitamin in this fruit helps to strengthen both the retina and cornea in the eye, but it’s the pigments like lutein that do the real work. Additionally, studies show that it can help to prevent cataracts too.
7. Boosts Immunity
Your immune system is an integral part of your overall health. The potent vitamin amounts in a strawberry are well known for being a booster of your immunity. You can build your body’s defense system by eating just one-half of a cup each day.
8. Prevents Birth Defects
Expectant mothers need healthy amounts of folate to help the baby’s brain develop. The nutrients in these red berries have been proven to help prevent specific congenital disabilities, specifically those that affect the skull and spinal cord. In the early stages and throughout the entire pregnancy, adding a variety of nutrient-rich berries is recommended.
9. Improves Heart Health
Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. The strawberry has ellagic acid in them that helps in lowering cholesterol levels, which can reduce your risk of myocardial infarction. The high vitamin content can strengthen both the arteries and blood vessels and lower your blood pressure. Adding some superfoods, like berries to your diet, can only help to keep your heart healthy.
10. Burns Stubborn Fat
Are you struggling to lose stubborn fat? Do you have trouble areas that have significant fat storage that won’t seem to melt away? The red hue that gives the strawberry its bright color is caused by anthocyanins. These water-soluble, glycoside pigments have a high PH level that can help to burn that unwanted fat from troubled areas.
11. Fights Malignancy
Many folks prefer to try a holistic approach to fighting cancer. Chemotherapy is often destructive because it destroys not only the good but also the bad cells within the body. A strawberry has an ellagic acid called phytochemical that is known to suppress the growth of malignancies.
Other beneficial oxidants like lutein and zeathancins also help destroy free radicals in the body by canceling their harmful effect. They can prevent cancer from occurring, but they can help stop the spread once the bad cells have begun their destruction.
12. Slows the Aging Process
Did you know that many major cosmetic companies add the “C” Vitamin to their products? The reason they add these vitamins is that it helps to promote glowing skin naturally.
Oxidants found in strawberries and other fruits help to protect your skin from harmful UV rays. They also can help to stop or slow the aging process by protecting you from wrinkles. While it’s not the fountain of youth, it’s an inexpensive way to slow the hands of time without harmful side effects.
Final Thoughts on Why You Should Be Eating Berries Every Day
The many health benefits of strawberries are too vast to mention them all. For instance, did you know those who are experiencing hair loss can find these berries quite helpful? It’s the high levels of Vitamin B5 and Vitamin B6 that nourish and keep the hair from falling out.
Additionally, the magnesium and copper help to keep dandruff at bay. The most wonderful part about adding these berries to your diet is they are delicious. You can really play around with them in recipes, smoothies, or infuse your purified water with them.
The fact that nature provides something so healing and beneficial to your body is mind-blowing. All the things on this list can be treated with medications from your doctor or over the counter, but the problem is that they all come with side effects or a big price tag.
When you use strawberries to treat what ails you, you don’t need to worry about side effects. Forget your face feeling like it’s on fire after treatment or an upset stomach from cancer drugs. Nature provides everything you need to keep your body healthy from your head to your toes.
