Posted on 04/21/2007 9:05:25 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
WASHINGTON: A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food, US and Thai researchers said on Thursday.
Adding ethanol the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found.
Any coloured fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
Dr Korakot Chanjirakul and colleagues at Kasetsart University in Thailand and scientists at the US department of agriculture stumbled upon their finding unexpectedly.
They were exploring ways to help keep strawberries fresh during storage. Treating the berries with alcohol increased in antioxidant capacity and free radical scavenging activity, they found.
Any coloured fruit or vegetable is rich in antioxidants, which are chemicals that can cancel out the cell-damaging effects of compounds called free radicals.
Berries, for instance, contain compounds known as polyphenols and anthocyanins. People who eat more of these fruits and vegetables have a documented lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases.
The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects.
However, if you are one of those people who enjoy the occasional fruity tipple, it's one more reason for bottoms up.
Good
Yea but unless you are in the tropics you look fruity drinking them.
Beautiful! I’m not a drunk, I’m a health nut.
Interesting. I wonder if the mechanism is that the addition of the alcohol increases the solubility of the polyphenols, or extracts more of them from the skin of the fruit than would normally be the case with just water/fruit juice??
I guess something like that happens. The article mentions some role of ethanol towards it.
This actually does make sense because the alcohol probably helps absorbtion of the fruit juices into the body.
Thanks! I’ll have a frozen strawberry margarita, please, and I don’t care if I look like a girl drinking one. Bourbon is fine for cold winter nights when I’ve come in from hunting, and wine is great with dinner, but for fun, girl drinks are the way to go.
Dats fablouth
Youtube has a lot of Kids in the Hall skits but I can’t find that one.
So my Armenian colleague at work is creating health foods with her white-chocolate dipped Driscoll strawberries filled with Grand Marnier? Wahoo!!
How many real strawberries do you think goes into a strawberry margarita in most bars?
http://grouper.com/video/MediaDetails.aspx?id=1051481
QUICK, while it’s still up! All the other places have deleted it (youtube).
"Suck 'em down."
We need more info as for the optimal ratio. Is it two strawberries per bottle of vodka or is it a bottle of vodka per two strawberries? besides, remember theresa kerry with her raisins?
Next week they will have a study claiming the opposite and balming it on global warming.
Hey, I’m a girl, I get to drink girl drinks without anyone questioning my sexuality.
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