Eating Strawberries With Peanut Butter Has One Major Health Benefit

A ripe, juicy strawberry can be a refreshing treat on a hot summer day, especially when it's on top of some moist sponge cake. Frozen strawberries can also make a great base for a healthy breakfast smoothie, giving you a strong boost of vitamin C to start your day. In fact, a cup of sliced strawberries provides 98 milligrams of vitamin C. That's more than your full day's supply of vitamin C.

You probably already know the antioxidant power of vitamin C to protect your body against free radicals. Vitamin C has another benefit — it helps regenerate vitamin E. Vitamin E is also an antioxidant, and these two work synergistically in your body to fight damage to your tissues. Although strawberries don't have vitamin E, peanut butter provides 13% of your daily vitamin E. Eating strawberries with a little peanut butter not only combines that divine blend of sweet and salty, but the combination of vitamins C and E can also be helpful for your eyesight.

Even if you've had perfect vision all your life, your eyes and vision tend to decline with age. One of those age-related eye issues is cataracts. Cataracts occur when proteins in your eyes break down and cloud your vision. Oxidative stress plays a role in cataracts, which is where vitamin C can help. According to a 2020 article in Nutrients, vitamin C protects your eyes from UV light, similar to sunscreen. Getting vitamin C from foods such as strawberries is enough to help protect your eyes to reduce your risk of cataracts.

Vitamin E is also powerful in protecting your eyes from cataracts, according to a 2015 meta-analysis in Public Health Nutrition. Getting your daily supply of vitamin E through your diet reduces your risk of age-related cataracts by 27%. Don't think you can fill in your vitamin E gaps through supplements, however. Supplementing with vitamin E alone doesn't cut your risk of cataracts. Strawberries and peanut butter together will put you at 17% of your vitamin E for the day.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two nutrients that also provide a barrier for your eyes from UV rays. Teaming these two nutrients with vitamins C and E can better protect you from macular degeneration and cataracts. You can thank the strawberries for the 43 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanthin.

The peanut butter provides you with most of the omega-3 fatty acids, but the strawberry-peanut butter combo will give you 8% of your omega-3s for the day. The benefits of omega-3 fatty acids include warding off age-related macular degeneration and preventing dry eyes. This key nutrient can also reduce pressure in your eyes which can cause glaucoma.

Zinc is another nutrient that can improve the health of your eyes. Zinc works with vitamin A to produce melanin in your eyes to protect them from sunlight. The National Eye Institute suggests taking 80 milligrams of zinc and 2 milligrams of copper to help protect against macular degeneration. While you could get that amount from supplements, adding peanut butter and strawberries together provides 1 milligram of zinc and 26 micrograms of copper.