Strawberries Boost Red Blood Cells

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BlankStrawberries Boost Red Blood Cells

22 Jun 2011

A group of volunteers ate half a kilo of strawberries every day for two weeks to

demonstrate that eating this fruit improves the antioxidant capacity of blood.

The study, carried out by Italian and Spanish researchers, showed that

strawberries boost red blood cells' response to oxidative stress, an imbalance

that is associated with various diseases.

Scientists have previously tried to confirm the antioxidant capacity of

strawberries using in vitro laboratory experiments. Now, a team of researchers

from the Marche Polytechnic University (UNIVPM, in Italy) and the University of

Granada (UGR, in Spain) have demonstrated this effect in vivo, in a study on

human volunteers published in the journal Food Chemistry.

Each day, the scientists fed 12 healthy volunteers 500 grams of strawberries (of

the 'Sveva' variety) over the course of the day. They took blood samples from

them after four, eight, 12 and 16 days, and also a month later. The results show

that regular consumption of this fruit can improve the antioxidant capacity of

blood plasma and also the resistance of red blood cells to oxidative haemolysis

(fragmentation).

" We have shown that some varieties of strawberries make erythrocytes more

resistant to oxidative stress. This could be of great significance if you take

into account that this phenomenon can lead to serious diseases " , Maurizio

Battino, lead author of the study and a researcher at the UNIVPM, tells SINC.

The team is now analysing the variations caused by eating smaller quantities of

strawberries (average consumption tends to be a 150g or 200g bowl per day). " The

important thing is that strawberries should form a part of people's healthy and

balanced diet, as one of their five daily portions of fruit and vegetables " ,

Battino points out.

Sources: Plataforma SINC, AlphaGalileo Foundation.

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