Many people think that strawberries are just a delicious fruit that they can eat for breakfast, throw it in their smoothie or even dump it in the blender and use it for margaritas. Well, that’s all fine but there are many nutritional and health benefits to adding strawberries to your daily diet. Here are some reasons why.
Strawberries are only 49 calories per 1 cup serving (144 grams). Did you know that strawberries are a great source of vitamin C? One cup of strawberries (144 grams) will give you 90 mg of vitamin C. Compared to 1 large orange (184 grams), an orange has 98 mg of vitamin C. So per capita you get slightly more vitamin C in strawberries than you would a large orange.
It also is only 7 grams of sugar per 1 cup. This is very important to know as we want to keep our sugars in single digits. So one serving of strawberries represents 1 cup and at only 7 grams that keeps us right where we want out sugar level to be at.
Strawberries will also provide you with 237 mg of potassium. Just something to compare it to, one large banana (136 grams) will give you 487mg of potassium and 17 grams of sugars and 121 calories. So 1 large banana (which is 8 grams smaller of serving size, will have about twice as much potassium, about 2 and a half times as much sugars, and 2 and a half times the number of calories.
Strawberries are also loaded with polyphenols which is a type of antioxidant and which also helps improve digestion and weight management issues and reverse inflammation. It also reduces the risk of heart disease, gout, and arthritis. Its also sodium-free, fat-free and cholesterol-free.
Now strawberries are a great source of soluble fiber (3 grams per 1 cup serving). Why is this important? Because this helps aid in weight loss. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and then as it travels through your intestines (GI tract) it absorbs and picks up the undigested waste building up within and then helps it push it out of your system, thus preventing bloating and constipation. It’s like having a natural colon cleanse.
So basically strawberries should be a staple of your everyday diet. Right there with blueberries. Eat them with your oatmeal, yogurt, smoothie, or just by themselves. They taste great and they have numerous health benefits. Just get them in daily!
