Can a serving of fruit protect your stomach from alcohol damage?

Speaking of misleading headlines, you don’t have to look too hard to find hyped up and over-simplified headlines applied to topics other than drugs.

A new study shows that strawberry intake protects the mucous membrane that lines the stomach, helping to prevent ulcers and other damage caused by alcohol consumption.

Well, that’s what dozens of headlines from all kinds of media outlets would have you believe.

In fact, researchers used strawberry extracts, not strawberries. And they weren’t tested on human subjects, they were used in rats.

So all the headlines about the miracle protective properties of strawberries are a tad premature — especially the one that suggests you drink a strawberry daiquiri before you go out drinking. (Uh…what?)

The researchers tested strawberries because of their high levels of antioxidants and polyphenols. (apparently unaware that blueberries have much higher antioxidant levels and are loaded with polyphenols, but I digress).

In any case, the researchers concluded that alcohol creates free radicals that are neutralized by natural antioxidants.

That sounds logical to me. And it works for rats, apparently. So — who knows? — it might work for human as well. But I still have to question whether a strawberry daiquiri is the best delivery method…

Cheers!

Sources:
“Strawberry Polyphenols Attenuate Ethanol-Induced Gastric Lesions in Rats by Activation of Antioxidant Enzymes and Attenuation of MDA Increase” PloS One, Vol. 6, No. 10, October 2011, plosone.org

“Strawberries protect the stomach from alcohol” MedicalXpress.com, 10/25/11, medicalxpress.com