Study finds strawberries may lower blood sugar in prediabetes

PLUS FIVE DAY FORECAST. ALL RIGHT JONATHAN THANK YOU. WELL, SCIENTISTS AT THE OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION RELEASING A NEW STUDY ON WAYS TO LOWER BLOOD SUGAR. BLOOD SUGAR, STRAWBERRIES COULD ACTUALLY BE THE ANSWER TO TELL US MORE, LET’S WELCOME IN DOCTOR HAL SCHOFIELD. DOCTOR SCHOFIELD, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. MY PLEASURE. ALL RIGHT. LET’S START WITH THIS FIRST QUESTION. YOU KNOW, AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY. BUT IT’S LOOKING LIKE STRAWBERRIES CAN GET ADDED TO THAT LIST. ABSOLUTELY. WHAT MADE YOU ALL LOOK AT STRAWBERRIES? WELL, MY COLLABORATOR IN THIS PROJECT, ARPITA BASU, WHO USED TO BE AT OKLAHOMA STATE AND IS NOW AT UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS, SHE’S A PHD NUTRITIONIST AND WE WERE REALLY INTERESTED IN IN HOW BERRY FRUITS ARE GOOD FOR YOU AND GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH. WALK ME THROUGH THE PROCESS, THIS STUDY. AND THEN WHAT DID YOU ALL FIND AT THE END? WELL, WE TOOK 25 PEOPLE WHO HAD WHAT’S CALLED PREDIABETES, SO THEIR BLOOD SUGARS WERE HIGH, HIGHER THAN NORMAL, BUT NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO BE CATEGORIZED AS AS DIABETES. BUT THOSE PEOPLE HAVE A VERY HIGH RATE OF DIABETES IN THE IN THE NEAR FUTURE, YOU KNOW. AND SO THEN EVERYONE GOT EITHER A POWDERED STRAWBERRY DRINK. AND THEN THERE WAS TWO WEEKS OFF WASH OUT PERIOD, AND THEN YOU GOT A PLACEBO. DRINK. OKAY. OR POWDERED. YOU PUT IT IN WATER. IT’S A FREEZE DRIED STRAWBERRIES. SO EVERYBODY EITHER TOOK EVERYBODY TOOK THE PLACEBO AND THE AND THE STRAWBERRIES. AND THEN WE COMPARED THE RESULTS BETWEEN THE BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT TIMES. AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN. WELL PEOPLE’S GLUCOSE DID GO DOWN AND THEY WENT DOWN INTO, INTO THE NORMAL RANGE DOWN. AND WE ALSO STUDIED WHAT ARE CALLED ANTIOXIDANTS THAT PROTECT US FROM THESE FROM FREE RADICAL DAMAGE, WHICH IS A KIND OF CHEMICAL THAT THE BODY MAKES ALL THE TIME, BUT THEY’LL DAMAGE PROTEINS AND, AND AND LIPIDS AND, AND CARBOHYDRATES. EVERYTHING IN THE BODY AND THAT KIND OF FREE RADICAL DAMAGE, OXIDATIVE DAMAGE IS ASSOCIATED WITH HEART DISEASE QUITE STRONGLY. SO THOSE THOSE MARKERS WENT DOWN AND THAT LOOKED BETTER. ALSO. SO POSITIVE RESULTS HERE FROM THIS STUDY. SO MY NEXT QUESTION WOULD YOU HAVE STUDIED THESE STRAWBERRIES. NOW YOU’VE YOU’VE YOU’VE DONE THE EXPERIMENTS ON, YOU KNOW, THESE SUBJECTS HERE. DOES THIS NOW MEAN THAT STRAWBERRIES COULD ACTUALLY HELP PREVENT TYPE TWO DIABETES IF STRAWBERRIES ARE EATEN REGULARLY. WELL IT’S AND IT’S PROBABLY NOT JUST STRAWBERRIES, BUT ALL THESE BERRY FRUITS THAT WE’VE STUDIED OTHER BERRY FRUITS AND WE’RE STUDYING STRAWBERRIES AGAIN AND ARTHRITIS RECENTLY. BUT WE’VE ALSO PUBLISHED ABOUT BLUEBERRIES AND OTHER BERRY FRUITS. SO I THINK THAT ADVICE THAT COMES FROM PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES LIKE THE CDC SAYING YOU SHOULD EAT FIVE SERVINGS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES A DAY. THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE SHOULD DO. AND YOU SHOULD JUST MAKE SURE THAT THERE’S PLENTY OF FRUIT IN THERE. OKAY, SO YOU’RE SAYING THAT BEYOND STRAWBERRIES, THIS IS A GOOD DEAL. IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET BERRIES INTO YOUR DIET REGULARLY. REGULARLY. RIGHT, EXACTLY. OKAY. FOR PEOPLE WATCHING AT HOME, HOW MANY STRAWBERRIES A DAY MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE HERE THAT OUR STUDY WAS, WHAT, TWO AND A HALF SERVINGS OF STRAWBERRIES A DAY? SO IT WOULD BE IF YOU EATING THOSE FIVE SERVINGS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WOULD HAVE BEEN HALF OF THAT. SO SO THAT’S A COUPLE OF CUPS OF STRAWBERRIES A DAY. COUPLE OF CUPS OF STRAWBERRIES A DAY. THAT’S A LOT. BUT IT DEFINITELY HELPS YOU IN THE LONG RUN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE PRE-DIABETIC. LOOKING AT TYPE TWO DIABETES HERE. SO NOW THAT THE STUDY IS OVER, WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU ALL? WELL, WE ARE STUDYING. WE’RE CONTINUING TO STUDY STRAWBERRIES AND WE’RE RECRUITING RIGHT NOW FOR PEOPLE WITH ARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE. AND WE’RE STUDYING STRAWBERRIES IN THAT SITUATION. SO THAT’LL BE A LONG TERM STUDY OF YOU’LL EITHER GET A PLACEBO OR THE STRAWBERRY. AND AND WE’LL MEASURE OUTCOMES OF KNEE ARTHRITIS. ALL RIGHT. WELL PRETTY INTERESTING. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING ON DOCTOR SCHOFIELD. WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING ON AND TALKING ABOUT THIS STUDY. HOW STRAWBERRIES IMPACTED BLOOD SUGAR TYPE TWO DIABETES HERE COULD BE THE CAUSE TO HELP PEOPLE HERE IN THE LONG RUN. DEFINITELY THE BEST THING TO DO IS EAT WELL, EAT WELL. ABSOLUTELY. ALL RIGHT WE’