In winter comes a sweet red berry, my favourite fruit. I can’t wait for strawberries to come into season. I actually start counting the days and once they are available, I tend to eat a bowl of them every morning. Extremely low in calories, strawberries have a large number of health-giving properties as well.
Though you can eat strawberries by adding them into a number of foods, it is more beneficial if you eat them raw.
Start your morning breakfast by mixing these berries into your morning cereal; this will give you an energy boost for the whole day.
Strawberries are packed with essential vitamins and minerals. They are an excellent source of vitamin C which is very good for your hair and skin. They contain more vitamin C than citrus fruits. They are also a good source of vitamin K, manganese, potassium, pantothenic acid, thiamine and iodine.
Strawberries provide us with 12 per cent of our recommended daily allowance of dietary fibre which helps your body absorb nutrients, inhibits the production of cholesterol in your liver, and helps stabilise your blood glucose
levels.
A powerhouse of antioxidants which protect the cells in your body from damage caused by free radicals, this berry also protects you from heart disease, stroke, atherosclerosis, inflammation and boosts your immunity levels.
Strawberries have been found to play a role in the prevention of cancer. They contain ellagic acid which may be able to stop the growth of cancer cells in tissues of the breast, skin, colon, prostate and pancreas. Including strawberries in your daily diet may help relieve the symptoms of arthritis as well as gout.
Strawberries are virtually fat free and are ideal diet food. They have a low glycemic index of about 40. Studies suggest that one cup of strawberries contains only 0.6 gms of fat.
The writer is a Mumbai-based nutritionist