We’ve got a crush on strawberries! These naturally sweet treats can easily sub for dessert and pack a healthy punch into every juicy bite. Their scrumptious scent comes from more than 350 different molecules, which mix to create an aroma of caramel and cut grass, plus buttery and fruity fragrances.
Here are a few other reasons why we want to wander strawberry fields forever:
1. A Rose by Any Other Name
Botanically speaking, strawberries aren’t berries! They are part of the rose family and come from a single flower with multiple ovaries, which classifies them as an aggregate fruit. (Berries come from one flower with one ovary.) Ready to have your rind blown? Bananas are berries. Dude.
2. Powerful Roots
Ancient Romans believed that wild strawberries could help with everything from kidney stones to melancholy. Later, these ruby-red treats showed up in recipes made especially for royalty. They were traditionally also served to French newlyweds in a sour-cream breakfast soup that was thought to have aphrodisiacal powers.
3. What the Hay!
Many people believe strawberries get their name because they’re bedded on straw. But according to Merriam-Webster, “The Old English word for the berry was strēawberige, and the exact origin of the name is not known. The most likely explanation is that the seedlike achenes that cover the strawberry were thought to resemble straw.”
4. Scope This Out
Munch on strawbs for a natural mouthwash. Made mostly made of water, along with a healthy serving of fiber, strawberries work to cleanse away plaque and surface stains from your pearly whites. (They are not a long-term tooth-whitening miracle cure, though, despite many online claims.)
5. Sweet, Not Sappy
All the fiber in strawberries means that even though they can be candy-sweet, they won’t spike your blood sugar or set off tooth decay like a syrupy Sunkist Soda. Their relatively low glycemic index score of 40 makes them safe even for most diabetics.
6. It’s an Emergen-C!
One cup of strawberry halves contains 99% of your daily value of vitamin C, giving them an edge over oranges in vitamin C levels, ounce for ounce. Plus, they’re lower in calories (unless they’re dipped in dark chocolate, which is also a good idea). All that vitamin C fends off gum disease, the usual suspect behind bad breath and receding gums. It also boosts the production of collagen — a structural protein that helps your gums hold fast to your teeth.
7. All Things Bright and Beautiful
The brilliant red color of strawberries comes from a plant compound called pelargonidin, which has anti-inflammatory properties. Strawbs are also chock full of other healthful antioxidants such as procyanidins, ellagic acid, and ellagitannins, which according to EatingWell, can “reduce stain-attracting bacteria and inflammation in your mouth.”
8. Superfruit to the rescue!
These summertime snacks also burst with other vitamins and minerals such as manganese, folate, and potassium, which are important for tissue growth, cell function, and regulating blood pressure. Strawberries may even help prevent cancer, lower blood pressure, and keep your (sweet) heart healthy.
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Scoot your boot, heart-shaped box of chocolates! Our Kissably Clean Set is even sweeter — and better for your teeth!
