Good for You!
We've all heard that old warning about "getting too much of a good thing." And generally, that holds true; anything in excess is usually a bad idea.
But it turns out, according to the scientists of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), that when it comes to certain antioxidants in strawberries, you can throw that old saying right out the window!
You probably know all about antioxidants by now; they're natural, healthful compounds found in richly colored fruits and veggies such as blueberries, blackberries and red cabbage. Some of the most helpful ones are called anthocyanins, and they're actually what give those red cherries and blueberries their gorgeous colors.
But antioxidants do so much more than make our food visually appealing. They are powerful enough to defuse substances called free radicals, which wreak havoc inside our bodies, including attacking the walls of our arteries. Free radicals have been blamed for playing a role in cancer, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, macular degeneration, and even the age-related mental slippage that makes us forget where we left our reading glasses or leaves us wondering why on earth we thought the frying pan should be stored in the freezer.
You can't entirely avoid free radicals, because they're produced naturally by your body when it's doing just about anything, from breathing to eating to sleeping. But you can do something about them by making sure you eat a diet that's loaded with antioxidants.
But, the ARS scientists wondered, would there be a point where your body would "max out" on how many antioxidants it could absorb from foods?
To find out, they assessed the human body's capacity for absorbing certain key antioxidants from strawberries. In their study, a dozen volunteers ate three different serving sizes of strawberries during three separate treatment periods. Each two-day treatment included either 3.5 ounces, 7 ounces or 14 ounces of blended strawberries, along with a full diet of carefully controlled foods. Each treatment period was separated on a one-week break.
The bottom line: The ARS scientists found that the human body is capable of assimilating more anthocyanin pigments as the intakes increase. The more you eat, the more you benefit!
This is useful news for nutrition scientists who want to evaluate the healthful properties of individual anthocyanins. And it's also going to be very useful to plant breeders as they work to develop fruit and vegetable varieties with the optimal anthocyanin content.
As mentioned above, your body cranks out free radicals with every breath you take and every move you make, including the effort that your body must go through to digest a meal — yes, even your favorite foods, whether that's coffee ice cream or stuffed manicotti or a sizzling sirloin. (What happens is called "oxidative stress.")
That's why, a few months back, I reported that the ARS scientists had offered some very practical advice: Try to eat something rich in antioxidants with every meal. That's not really so hard to do, because there are plenty of wonderful fruits that are bursting with antioxidants: Bing cherries, plums, grapes, kiwifruit, blueberries and yes, strawberries.
After I read that advice a few months back, I decided to try a little experiment of my own. I'd heard that frozen red seedless grapes make a great snack (just wash them, pull them off their stems, throw them in a sealable plastic bag and toss the bag in the freezer). Not only are the frozen grapes incredibly delicious, but it doesn't take very many of them to make a satisfying snack (and yes, I confess, I'm a snacker; an hour after dinner, I'm rooting around in the fridge for a "little something").
After hearing the advice about "antioxidants with every meal," I started making a point of eating about a dozen frozen grapes after dinner every evening. Not only has that kept me from going back for a big bowl of ice cream later in the evening, but very-late-night indigestion — my "lifelong companion" — hasn't reared its annoying head on any night when I've indulged in a few after-dinner antioxidants.
Now that's what I'd call putting science to practical use!
"Everybody's
Science" is written by Sandy Miller Hays, Director of Information for
the Agricultural Research Service, the chief scientific research agency
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hays is a native of Fort Smith,
Ark. From the late 1970s until early 1988, Hays was a reporter, editor
and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat (now the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette),
a Little Rock-based daily newspaper. She joined the ARS Information
Staff in 1988, and became Director of Information in April 1998.
We've all heard that old warning about "getting too much of a good thing." And generally, that holds true; anything in excess is usually a bad idea.
But it turns out, according to the scientists of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), that when it comes to certain antioxidants in strawberries, you can throw that old saying right out the window!
Chandler strawberries. (Photo by Ken Hammond)
But antioxidants do so much more than make our food visually appealing. They are powerful enough to defuse substances called free radicals, which wreak havoc inside our bodies, including attacking the walls of our arteries. Free radicals have been blamed for playing a role in cancer, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, macular degeneration, and even the age-related mental slippage that makes us forget where we left our reading glasses or leaves us wondering why on earth we thought the frying pan should be stored in the freezer.
You can't entirely avoid free radicals, because they're produced naturally by your body when it's doing just about anything, from breathing to eating to sleeping. But you can do something about them by making sure you eat a diet that's loaded with antioxidants.
But, the ARS scientists wondered, would there be a point where your body would "max out" on how many antioxidants it could absorb from foods?
To find out, they assessed the human body's capacity for absorbing certain key antioxidants from strawberries. In their study, a dozen volunteers ate three different serving sizes of strawberries during three separate treatment periods. Each two-day treatment included either 3.5 ounces, 7 ounces or 14 ounces of blended strawberries, along with a full diet of carefully controlled foods. Each treatment period was separated on a one-week break.
The bottom line: The ARS scientists found that the human body is capable of assimilating more anthocyanin pigments as the intakes increase. The more you eat, the more you benefit!
This is useful news for nutrition scientists who want to evaluate the healthful properties of individual anthocyanins. And it's also going to be very useful to plant breeders as they work to develop fruit and vegetable varieties with the optimal anthocyanin content.
As mentioned above, your body cranks out free radicals with every breath you take and every move you make, including the effort that your body must go through to digest a meal — yes, even your favorite foods, whether that's coffee ice cream or stuffed manicotti or a sizzling sirloin. (What happens is called "oxidative stress.")
That's why, a few months back, I reported that the ARS scientists had offered some very practical advice: Try to eat something rich in antioxidants with every meal. That's not really so hard to do, because there are plenty of wonderful fruits that are bursting with antioxidants: Bing cherries, plums, grapes, kiwifruit, blueberries and yes, strawberries.
After I read that advice a few months back, I decided to try a little experiment of my own. I'd heard that frozen red seedless grapes make a great snack (just wash them, pull them off their stems, throw them in a sealable plastic bag and toss the bag in the freezer). Not only are the frozen grapes incredibly delicious, but it doesn't take very many of them to make a satisfying snack (and yes, I confess, I'm a snacker; an hour after dinner, I'm rooting around in the fridge for a "little something").
After hearing the advice about "antioxidants with every meal," I started making a point of eating about a dozen frozen grapes after dinner every evening. Not only has that kept me from going back for a big bowl of ice cream later in the evening, but very-late-night indigestion — my "lifelong companion" — hasn't reared its annoying head on any night when I've indulged in a few after-dinner antioxidants.
Now that's what I'd call putting science to practical use!
The Agricultural Research Service is the chief in-house scientific
research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. You can read
more about ARS discoveries at http://www.ars.usda.gov/news/.
About the author
"Everybody's
Science" is written by Sandy Miller Hays, Director of Information for
the Agricultural Research Service, the chief scientific research agency
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hays is a native of Fort Smith,
Ark. From the late 1970s until early 1988, Hays was a reporter, editor
and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat (now the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette),
a Little Rock-based daily newspaper. She joined the ARS Information
Staff in 1988, and became Director of Information in April 1998.