Strawberries have long been hailed for their health benefits. Low in sugar and bursting with vitamins, the American Diabetes Association already lists them as a top 10 superfood. Now a new study adds yet another berry good reason to load up on strawberries.

Research just published in February 2016 reveals that the anthocyanins in strawberries, the powerful antioxidants that make them beautifully red, also helps mitigate insulin resistance.
A risk factor for heart disease and type 2 diabetes is when the body’s cells don’t respond normally to the hormone insulin. Typically after a meal, the pancreas produces insulin to move glucose (blood sugar) into the cells. Insulin resistance is when the cells don’t respond, glucose builds up in the bloodstream and the pancreas then churns out extra insulin to get the job done. This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes.

In the study, researchers served strawberry shakes to obese adults with insulin resistance. Those who drank heavily concentrated strawberry shakes (with about 3 cups of fresh strawberries) did not need as much insulin to metabolize their meals as those drinking the least concentrated versions. While the exact process is unclear to researchers, it appears the strawberry anthocyanins may help the insulin do its job better on the cellular level and thus reduce build up and risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

“These results add to the collective evidence that consuming strawberries may help improve insulin action,” says study author Britt Burton-Freeman, Ph. D., MS, Director, Center for Nutrition Research, Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) at Illinois Institute of Technology.

More good news about strawberries: Clinical research suggests that eating a serving of eight medium strawberries a day may improve heart health, help manage diabetes, support brain health and reduce the risk of some cancers. Wow!