Once known in tropical countries as one of the most popular flavors for ice creams and jams, but almost never eaten fresh, strawberries have become more easily available and are consumed in many forms nowadays, including in alcoholic drinks.

But there is more than color, flavor and taste to this sour-sweet red fruit. It acts as a diuretic, cools the body and supports treatment for various ailments including tuberculosis, rheumatism, gout and high blood pressure because it contains ellagic acid (anti-carcinogenic properties), malic acid (carbohydrate and oxygen-sparing effects), citric acid, vitamins A, B1, B2, and C as well as iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Strawberries also contain pectin, which helps decrease cholesterol in the blood and reduce the number of calories absorbed by the body. So there you have it. Strawberries can prevent you from getting fat. According to Japanese researchers, strawberries can even prevent formation of the carcinogenic chemical nitrosamine. The strawberry is an antioxidant, and can reduce the risk of contracting a degenerative eye disease.

To get some of the healthy benefits of strawberries, here are some recipes and remedies.

- Strawberry juice: 100g of fresh strawberries, one teaspoon of syrup and one teaspoon of lemon concentrate. First, fill a glass half full with warm water and add a little salt. Wash and put the strawberries in a blender and juice them. Then add the warm water, syrup and lemon, and stir. Pour the beverage in a glass and decorate with a strawberry on the top.

- Strawberry and rock sugar: Wash and blend 100g of fresh strawberries. Pour 100ml of water into a blender. Filter the juice and pour into a glass. Add 30g of beaten rock sugar. Stir and swallow to fortify the lungs.

- Strawberry and pomelo beverage: Put 200g strawberries, 100g pomelos, 100g sugar and 500ml water in a pot and cook for three minutes over a high flame. The beverage, which should be drunk cool, stimulates the appetite and cures indigestion.

- Banana, strawberry and orange beverage: Put one banana, 100g strawberry and 50ml orange juice in a blender, and carry on.

- Strawberry dessert: Put five strawberries in a bowl, add yoghurt and enjoy after breakfast.

- Strawberry wine: Wash and blend one kilogram of strawberries. Boil 400ml water with one kilogram of sugar until the liquid becomes syrupy, and leave to cool. Mash the strawberries, put them in a glass along with the syrup, and mix well. Then filter the liquid through a clean cloth to get its essence, and put in a bowl with one liter of white alcohol. Now you have the beverage, which should be kept in a bottle with a tight lid. It nourishes the body and treats bodily depression arising from chronic disease, malnutrition and anemia.

- Strawberry, kiwi fruit (Chinese gooseberry) and pineapple cocktail: Wash and blend eight strawberries and one sliced kiwi fruit together. Then pour a half glass of water in a blender, add half a pineapple sliced, and make pineapple juice. Pour this in the strawberry and kiwi fruit mix and stir together. Though the cocktail doesn’t influence your skin directly, it beautifies the skin after being absorbed by the body, and so helps to combat acne, according to scientists.