Plenty of Americans consume strawberries as a way to get their daily dose of vitamin C, while others choose vitamin supplements for the same reason. Besides being loading with nutrients, these sweet fruits contain compounds that may act as antioxidants in the blood stream, researchers recently said.
A study published in the journal Food Chemistry found that people who consumed 500 grams of strawberries every day for up to a month experienced reductions in oxidative damage of the blood cells.
What is it about strawberries that accomplished this apparent change? Scientists suspect that the key may lie in polyphenols, a group of organic compounds that give berries their red, blue or purple coloring. These flavonoids are natural antioxidants, and as such they may be able to slow the progress of cellular aging if consumed regularly, the team concluded.
Of course, the fruit also contains plenty of healthy vitamins and minerals. One-half a cup of sliced strawberries delivers 80 percent of an adults recommended daily value of vitamin C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).