A Sweet Berry For A Sour Belly
February 11, 2013 by Kellye Copas
A team of Italian, Serbian and Spanish researchers has confirmed that consumption of strawberries can provide a protective effect in the stomachs of mammals.
Laboratory rats given ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and then examined by the research team showed fewer ulcerations in the stomachs of those rats that had eaten strawberry extract (40 milligrams/day per kilo of weight) for 10 days before being given alcohol.
The conclusions of the study, published in PLoS ONE, proved that a diet rich in strawberries can have a beneficial effect when it comes to preventing gastric illnesses that are related to the generation of free radicals or other reactive oxygen species. The berry could very well slow down the formation of stomach ulcers in humans.
Gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach mucous membrane, is related to alcohol consumption but can also be caused by viral infections or by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (such as aspirin) or medication used to treat against the Helicobacter pylori bacteria.
Maurizio Battino, coordinator of the research group at the Marche Polytechnic University (UNIVPM, Italy) said: “In these cases, the consumption of strawberries during or after pathology could lessen stomach mucous membrane damage.”
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