Strawberries .. the most effective treatment for colitis

 There is no doubt that diet is the most effective way to avoid colon infections, but a recent American study has shown that eating three quarters of a cup of strawberries daily helps reduce harmful inflammation in the colon, which affects the intestines.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, and they presented their results on Monday to the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, which will be held from 19 to 23 August in Boston.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are usually associated with severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue and weight loss, and the disease can cause weakness and sometimes lead to life-threatening complications.

To reach the results of the study, the team monitored 4 groups of mice, the first was free from diseases and consumed a regular diet, while the remaining three groups were infected with IBD. The researchers gave the mice whole strawberry powder, equivalent to about a cup but a quarter of the strawberries that humans can eat daily.

The researchers found that dietary consumption of strawberries of up to three-quarters of a cup of strawberries per day in humans significantly halted symptoms such as body weight loss and bloody diarrhea in mice with IBD, and reduced inflammatory responses in mice colonic tissues.

The team pointed out that the reduction in inflammation was not the only benefit of strawberries during this study, as colon infections usually negatively affect the composition of gut bacteria, increasing the formation of harmful gut bacteria, and reducing the proportion of beneficial gut bacteria. The researchers noted that strawberries overcame this disease, and led to an increase in the formation of beneficial gut bacteria, and reduced the proportions of harmful bacteria in the intestine, which led to the regularity of the metabolism process, and reduced inflammation of the colon.

The team indicated that the validity of the results of the study can be tested on IBD patients, by giving them three quarters of a cup of strawberries daily, to enhance the health of the digestive system.