Howard Sesso, ScD and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health reported their findings in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Using dietary intake records of approximately 27,000 of the women who participated in the decade-long Women's Health Study, Sesso looked at levels of strawberry consumption and several risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The findings revealed that women who ate the most strawberries -- two or more servings per week -- compared to those who reported eating none in the past month, were 14% less likely to have elevated C-reactive protein levels.

C-reactive protein or CRP is a blood biomarker that signals the presence of inflammation in the body. Elevated levels of CRP have been shown in multiple studies to be a potentially good predictor of risk for both heart disease and stroke, as it is generally a signal of atherosclerosis. As a result, The Centers for Disease Control and the American Heart Association have established guidelines suggesting that blood levels of CRP higher than 3mg/L may be important in the risk stratification and prevention of cardiovascular disease.