California Strawberries - The Red Edge for Better Health

The California strawberry industry has experienced an impressive year. In spite of challenges with rain and unexpectedly hot weather presented during the summer, bolume skyrocketed, making this season the highest production year we've seen. The demand for California strawberries has also increased. A recent survey conducted in the US revealed that strawberries are one of the top three favourite fruits of consumers. Children rank strawberries at their number one favourite fruit and retailers say strawberries are the most profitable. The traditional reasons for this popularity are evident - taste, appearance and convenience. Another side to strawberries is the Red Edge. The strawberry's edge is evident in the healthy, nutritional benefits it provides.

Breaking news about strawberries

We've known for years that a serving of strawberries provides consumers with 160% of their daily recommended allowance of vitamin C. They also provide the body with a boost of folate, a B vitamin that helps break down homocysteine, an amino acid found in the blood that may be a risk factor for coronary heart diesease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. A single serving (8 medium strawberries) provides the body with 8 % of its daily recommended need of folate. One serving is also a good cource of fibre with 4 grams per serving and 270mg of potassium. And research has just shown strawberries may reduce blood pressure!

What does the New Strawberry Nutrition Research tell us?
Research scientists conducted studies this year to investigate some questions we had about strawberries specifically, and this is what they found:
- Compared to non-eaters, strawberry eaters tend to have lower blood pressure, higher blood folate levels, lower body weight, higher potassium, higher Vitamin C and dietary fibre intake lower levels of homocysteine.
- Strawberries are the "good for your heart" berry. They reduce systolic blood pressure, increase folate, which ahs health benefits and increases antioxidants in the blood that may play a role in reducing ixidation of LDL "bad" cholesterol.
- The soluble fibre in strawberries is regonised for its cholesterol lowering properties.

What does this mean for strawberry lovers?

This reasearch shows that consumers have an easy and delicious way to do something good for their health - one delicious serving a day of strawberries helps maintain a healthy heart and protects the body from cancer. California strawberries are the Red Edge for a healthier diet life. For more information about California strawberries, please contact the California Strawberry Commission at (831) 724 1301 or infocalstrawberry.com. You can visit our website at www.calstrawberry.com

Autumn 2003