Eating strawberries may reduce cholesterol levels, a new study indicates.

Spanish and Italian researchers added 500g of strawberries to the daily diets of 23 healthy people for one month. They took blood samples from the participants both before and after the study.

The study found that by the end of the month, the participants' levels of ‘bad' cholesterol and triglycerides had fallen significantly.

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is considered ‘bad' cholesterol because high levels of it can build up in the wall of the arteries, making them narrower. This can lead to heart disease.

Triglycerides are a type of blood fat, which can also increase the risk of heart disease.

The study found that after eating the strawberries for a month, the participants' levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides had fallen significantly. Levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which is considered ‘good' cholesterol, remained unchanged.

The consumption of strawberries also appeared to improve other blood parameters, for example, platelet function improved. Platelets are a component of blood made in the bone marrow cells that are essential to enable the blood to clot properly.

All the changes seen in the blood returned to their original values 15 days after strawberry consumption ceased.

"This is the first time a study has been published that supports the protective role of the bioactive compounds in strawberries in tackling recognised markers and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases," the researchers said.

They admitted that they do not know which compounds of the fruit appear to be behind these beneficial effects, ‘but all the signs and epidemiological studies point towards anthocyanins, the vegetable pigments that afford them their red colour'.

Details of this study are published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

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