We all know Strawberries to be that delicious snack that tastes amazing on its being so versatile that we can create a quick fruit salad, cake, or pie.
But, what got me thinking? Are strawberries technically a fruit or a vegetable?
The main point that makes it confusing is that common vegetables that most people would call a vegetable are in fact a fruit.
In everyday language, most people use the word fruit for sweet fruits or vegetables.
And use the word vegetable to mean non-sweet fruits or vegetables.
Therefore, fruits such as pumpkin, cucumber, and tomato are typically called vegetables.
In this article, I will explain some interesting facts about strawberries, whether it’s healthy to eat strawberries everyday, what some of the side effects of eating too many strawberries are, and whether strawberries are good for your digestive system.
What Is an Interesting Fact About Strawberries?
Strawberries are so small and compact that you can plant them all over the garden.
But, what is an interesting fact about strawberries?
The seeds of strawberries are actually on the skin.
There are small dimples in the skin that are very close together and house a small green seed.
As birds eat the strawberries they fling them everywhere, and also eat them and poop them out.
Other types of fruits typically have seeds right in the center of the fruit. Interestingly, strawberry plants are runners.
Runners are plants that give off vine-like shoots that create additional strawberry plants at regular intervals along the vine.
Therefore, in my opinion the seeds may be better suited to the outside because there isn’t as much pressure for the seed to grow into a plant/tree.
Whereas, when the seed is kept in the fruit it provides a package of ready-made compost that will nourish the seed once it lands on the ground and begins to rot.
Strawberry bushes grow very low to the ground, and can almost be used as ground cover.
In warmer climates, they can survive the winter.
However, in colder climates that develop frost, they can die in the winter and therefore are replanted.
When it comes close to the fruiting season, typically the runners are pruned so that the energy of the plant goes into producing the fruit.
Which is thought to make the fruit bigger and more delicious.
What Happens if You Eat Strawberries Everyday?
Strawberry plants can quickly get out of hand, and you may find you have more strawberries than you know what to do with.
But, what happens if you eat strawberries everyday?
As a general rule, eating strawberries everyday won’t have much of an effect on your overall health.
Strawberries are high in nutrients and fiber which are good for your body.
However, in small quantities, the effect of strawberries will be crowded out by the other foods you eat.
For example, on a normal day, it’s recommended for an adult male or female to eat around 2000 calories.
For males, it’s a bit more at about 2500 because on average males have more muscle mass which uses up more energy.
This is about equal to 2 kg of food, regardless of what type of food it is.
A cup of strawberries is around 200g. Which represents 10% of your recommended calorie intake.
Therefore, if you eat a normal amount of strawberries a day, say around 1 to 2 cups, then the rest of the calories you need will dilute any effects caused by the strawberries themselves.
But, a half cup of strawberries does represent about 10% of the recommended amount of fiber you should eat in a day.
So, strawberries are a great way to get the fiber you need. Not to mention, they taste very delicious.
What Are the Side Effects of Eating Too Many Strawberries?
Sometimes, you might get on a bit of a roll and eat a tonne of strawberries.
Especially, if you’re out-picking them yourself. But, is it bad to eat a lot of strawberries?
Overall, the side effects of eating too many strawberries is that it can cause some health issues if you continue doing it everyday for an extended period of time.
After you eat a particularly large amount of strawberries you may have an upset stomach.
It’s typically because you ate too much. If you also rarely eat fruit then you may experience some stomach discomfort.
Strawberries in and of themselves are highly beneficial nutrients but they only contain a narrow band of nutrients.
And to get all the nutrients your body needs it’s best to consume a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
Gorging on fruit, though, appears to be a common trait among many animals.
Bears for example eat a huge amount of pears all at once if they come upon a tree that is laden with fruit.
Will Strawberries Help You Poop?
I’ve been looking at incorporating more food into my diet that is good for digestion.
So, I was curious about whether strawberries will help you poop?
Here’s what I found:
Strawberries will help you poop as they have a high fiber and water content.
Constipation is due to eating too many dry foods and not enough water.
This thickens your stool and causes it to get stuck.
As a result, the feces behind it can’t get through, and you will develop stomach pain.
Drinking lots of water, and eating foods high in fiber such as strawberries, apples, and celery can liquify your stool and make it smooth and soft.
The unhealthy stool is characterized by being hard with lumps, or can also be made up of small hard lumps.
Generally, you should expel as much of the stool as you can. But, if you keep straining and it is not coming out then you should get up, and come back to the bathroom when you have another urge.
In the meantime, if you drink a few glasses of water, and eat some fresh fruits and vegetables, the stool that forms behind it will be soft and runny and really help the hard stuck stool to be lubricated and soften.
What months are strawberries in season?
Certain fruits will become right all of a sudden, and you only have a window of a week or two before they all start to rot and become inedible.
But how about strawberries, when do they ripen?
Strawberries are typically harvested in the summer.
They are planted in late winter early autumn and grow into a small shrubs.
After that they produce flowers, and then fruit which takes about 4 to 6 months to fully grow and ripen.
Strawberries will also produce year after year, and take over if left on their own. In cooler climates, strawberries can be killed or die back due to frost.
Frost freezes the leaves and stems and turns them slightly transparent.
Any parts of the plant that are frozen will die. You may have noticed that if you put fruits and vegetables in the freezer when they defrost they turn soft and mushy and also change color.
For example, if a vegetable is light green, it will turn dark green.
It will also wilt and go soft similar to how leaf vegetables appear after being steamed.
On a side note, it can be a good idea to freeze fruit. I wrote about how to freeze fruit, such as strawberries in a separate article.
Read it here; can you freeze fruit.
Are strawberries hard to grow?
I’ve seen strawberry fields before – I think that’s a song or something.
But, no seriously, are strawberries difficult to grow?
Strawberries are fairly easy to grow.
Strawberries are very delicate and small, so you need to make sure they don’t get trampled.
But, other than that, they grow quite easily from seed or from runners.
And can be grown in pots or in the soil.
Each climate is unique and therefore, certain varieties of strawberries can tend to do better than others.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to experiment with a few different varieties to see which ones grow the best and produce the most fruit.
Growing the best strawberries
As you may know, a common practice in growing fruits, vegetables, and other plants is to take cuttings or seeds from particular plants that are growing better than the others.
It’s believed that the genetics of the seed change to be better suited to the specific climate, and soil.
Therefore, once you find a good strawberry variety, you should identify the best producing and best tasting strawberry plant.
Then, take runners and seeds off that plant.
You can also replace worse-performing strawberries with better-performing ones.
It’s believed that planting a range of different fruits and vegetables together leads to a greater diversity of insects, and better overall health of the garden.
A common way to grow strawberries is as ground cover between raised beds, bigger fruit trees, and in small spaces that you may have.
Because each plant is quite small you don’t need a lot of space.
But, you still generally need to pull weeds from in between the runners and from around the base of the plant.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.