Strawberry Compound Decreases Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is suspected to be an overexpression or lack of control of the body’s normal protective mechanisms, and the condition has been linked to a range of conditions linked to heart disease, osteoporosis, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s, type-2 diabetes, and arthritis.  Britt Burton-Freeman, from Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois, USA), and colleagues enrolled 24 obese men and women who were fed a high-carbohydrate, moderate-fat meal, which is known to produce inflammatory and insulin responses after eating, and given either a strawberry beverage or a placebo beverage. Among those who drank the strawberry beverage, the researchers observed a 25%  lower level of IL-6, a marker of inflammation, six hours after consumption, as compared with people receiving the placebo drink. In addition, levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), another key inflammatory marker, were 13% lower following consumption of the strawberry beverage, as compared to following consumption of the placebo beverage. Further analysis showed that blood levels of two strawberry compounds, pelargonidin sulfate and pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside, significantly increased following ingestion of the strawberry beverage at the same time as eating the test meal, as compared with placebo. Writing that” The strawberry beverage significantly attenuated the postprandial inflammatory response as measured by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and IL-6 induced by the [high-carbohydrate, moderate-fat meal],” and that “.it was also associated with a reduction in postprandial insulin response,” the team concludes that: “these data provide evidence for favourable effects of strawberry antioxidants on postprandial inflammation and insulin sensitivity.”