HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHERRIES

Cherries are a favorite summer fruit in the United States, where about 370 million pounds are grown each year. Cherries are one of those fruits that take a labour of love to consume, as you have to remove the pits before you can enjoy them. Cherries, which are members of the same fruit family as peaches, plums, apricots and almonds, are often regarded as a garnish for cocktails.

But cherries have a healthy side too, one that may actually offer therapeutic benefits to your body, as cherries are rich in antioxidants and many other health promoting compounds. They are beautiful and delicious; but there’s much more to enjoy in cherries than just their amazing taste. Cherries are also used to make juice concentrates that may offer some unique effects on health. Some of the most notable health benefits of cherries include:

Support Healthy Sleep – Cherries contain natural melatonin, which is a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger that helps “cool down” excess inflammation and associated oxidative stress; it also plays a vital role in sleep and bodily regeneration. Based on daily environmental signals of light and darkness, your pineal gland has evolved to produce and secret melatonin to help you sleep. Consuming tart cherry juice not only helps increase your melatonin levels, but may also improve time in bed, total sleep time and sleep efficiency.

Cancer Preventive Compounds –Sweet cherries contain fibre, Vitamin C, carotenoids, and anthocyanins, each of which may help play a role in cancer prevention. The potential role of sweet cherries in cancer prevention lies mostly in the anthocyanin content, especially cyanides. Sweet cherries are a good source of cyanides which appear to act as antioxidants and in this role may reduce cancer risk.

Help Ward Of Alzheimer’s – The Alzheimer’s association include cherries as one of the memory boosting foods because they are rich in antioxidants.

Antioxidant Protection – Cherries contain powerful antioxidants like anthocyanin and cyanide. One study found the antioxidant activity of these substances isolated from tart cherries was superior to that of vitamin E and comparable to commercially available antioxidant products. Sweet cherries also contain a small amount of quercetin, which is among the most potent in terms of antioxidant activity and a wide range of other health promoting properties.

Reduces Risk Of Stroke – Tart cherries provide cardiovascular benefits. The anthocyanin, which are the pigments giving a tart cherries its red colour, may activate PPAR (Peroxisome Proliferators Activating Receptors) which regulates genes involved in fat and glucose metabolism and thus, reduce risk factors for high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.

Protection From Diabetes – Sweet cherries have a lower glycemic index of 22, lower than apricots, grapes, peaches, blueberries or plums. This makes them a better choice of a fruit snack compared with many other fruits, especially for diabetes.

Good For The Heart –Cherries are very high in potassium, which helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure and reduces the risk of hypertension. The phytosterols in cherries help reduce bad cholesterol levels.

Slow The Aging Of Skin – Tart cherries have the highest antioxidant level of any fruits. Antioxidants help the body fight the free radicals that make us look old. Drinking one glass of tart cherries juice daily slows down the aging process. Cherry juice is also recommended as an alternative treatment for other skin conditions.

Reduce Post-Exercise Muscle Pain – Athletes who consumed tart cherry juice prior to long distance running experienced less pain than those who did not. It’s thought that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of tart cherries may have a protective effect to reduce muscle damage and pain during strenuous exercise.

Helps With Osteoarthritis Relief – When tart cherries juice are consume twice a day for three weeks, it helps reduce the pain and discomfort of swollen joints.

 Ruth Yakubu