Strawberries Reduce Stomach Damage from Alcohol

BARCELONAAntioxidant-rich strawberries may have a protecting effect on stomachs damaged by alcohol, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS One. The findings may one day lead to improved methods to treat stomach ulcers.

European researchers investigated the protective properties of strawberry extracts on the stomach mucosa of rats from alcohol induced ulceration to determine whether strawberries possessed the necessary antioxidants that could protect the gastric mucosa lining of experimental rats from alcohol damage.

Rats were fed 40 milligrams per day per kilogram of bodyweight of a strawberry extract for 10 days before being fed an alcohol diet that is known to cause severe gastric damage to the stomach mucosa. After the rats were fed the alcohol diet, antioxidant enzyme levels and other biochemical measurements were made followed by analysis of the condition of the stomach lining of the treated rats.

The researchers found the strawberry extracts antioxidant enzyme activities increased significantly after the rats were fed the strawberry extract, and the rats' stomach linings were protected from significant ulcer damage due to alcohols normally damaging effects.

They concluded a diet rich in strawberries might exert a beneficial effect in the prevention of gastric diseases related to generation of reactive oxygen species.