By Jordana Bieze Foster
The old adage about an apple a day keeping the doctor away may need to be expanded to include other fruits, in light of new findings that a high level of daily strawberry consumption can relieve pain and reduce markers of disease progression in obese adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
The study, conducted at Oklahoma State University in Oklahoma City, included 17 obese adults (mean body mass index of 39.1 kg/m2) and radiographic evidence of mild to moderate knee OA.
All participants consumed two beverages per day made from one of two nutritional powders reconstituted in water. One 12-week trial period involved a powder containing 50 g of reconstituted freeze-dried strawberries per serving, and the other 12-week trial period involved a control powder. The order of the two beverage types was randomized.
Compared with the control powder, the strawberry-based powder was associated with significantly greater reductions in pain as well as serum biomarkers for inflammation and cartilage degradation. The findings were published in an August special issue of Nutrients.
Source:
Schell J, Scofield RH, Barrett JR, et al. Strawberries improve pain and inflammation in obese adults with radiographic evidence of knee osteoarthritis. Nutrients 2017;9(9):949.
