Cherries and Their Health Benefits

Some people buy cherries on every trip to the grocery store. They buy them because they are convenient to just pick up and eat. Some people like them because they are sweet, and some people like them because they are also tart.

What people tend to overlook is that those deep red fruits are packed with many health benefits. Cherries are very low in calories and full of fiber, minerals, vitamins A, C, K, and other nutrients that are good for your overall health. The long-stemmed fruit provides calcium, choline, magnesium, potassium as well as antioxidants, such as beta-carotene. Cherries are 82 percent water, 16 percent carbohydrates, 1 percent protein, and no significant amount of fat.

1. Cherries Help Ease Arthritis Pain

Many people suffer from debilitating pain in their joints that prevents them from walking and climbing stairs with ease. By eating more cherries is an effective way to help alleviate pain associated with arthritis. That's because cherries contain anti-inflammatory properties. Tart cherries are known to drastically reduce inflammation in the joints that lead to the pain a lot of people experience. Try adding more cherries to your diet or drink natural cherry juice if you have arthritis.

2. Cherries Help with Diabetes

People who have diabetes have noticed lower blood sugar after eating cherries or drinking tart cherry juice every day for 6 weeks. Cherries have a very low glycemic index. Therefore, so they do not cause high increases and low decreases in blood glucose and insulin levels.

3. Cherries Help Lower High Blood Pressure

Cherries are packed with potassium. In fact, just a single cup of cherries provides about 9 percent of the daily recommended intake of potassium. Potassium is a vital mineral that helps to lower high blood pressure levels and hypertension.

Studies have shown that after eating cherries, some people had lower blood pressure within three hours of eating them. So, if you suffer from high blood pressure or hypertension, start eating cherries to bring your blood pressure levels down. Whether you eat cherries, drink cherry juice, consume cherry extract, or take cherry supplements, you might see a substantial improvement in your blood pressure.

4. Cherries Help with Attacks of Gout

Cherries might prevent attacks of gout, an arthritic condition that affects the joints, particularly the joints in the big toes. A recent study of 633 people with gout showed that consuming cherries or taking cherry extract made sudden bouts of severe pain less likely. The extract worked well when paired with allopurinol, a drug often used to lower uric acid and protect against gout attacks.

In one study, it was found that eating 20 cherries a day could significantly reduce gout flare-ups. Therefore, if you suffer from gout, eating cherries on a regular basis could help you avoid experiencing painful gout attacks.

5. Cherries Help Improve Vision

Cherries can help to prevent damage caused by free radicals that can do damage to both the external and internal structures of your eyes. The fruit can help prevent dryness and macular degeneration.

6. Cherries As a Sleeping Aid

Cherries are a good source of melatonin, a hormone that helps people get a good night's sleep. Try eating either 25 sweet or about 100 tart cherries a day for more and better sleep. The easier way to get that many cherries in your body is to drink concentrated cherry juice.

7. Cherries Lower Anxiety and Stress

While eating cherries isn't the most effective way to put you in a better mood, some studies show that sweet cherries will make you feel better. They have a hormone that acts as an antidepressant that helps lower anxiety and stress.

8. Cherries Boost Brain Health

A study found that drinking cherry juice every day for 12 weeks improved brain health, thinking, and memory in older people with mild or moderate dementia. That's because of the anthocyanins that give cherries their red color. After consuming seven ounces of cherry juice on a regular basis, subjects in a study showed great brain improvement.

9. Cherry Juice Help Marathon Runners

Even though cherries are healthy, researchers agree that you should eat them on a regular basis for positive results. Most studies show that a person has to consume 45 to 270 cherries a day in order to to get the maximum health benefits. It is very unlikely that anyone would eat that many cherries in one day. Therefore, tart cherry juice can be a supplement to eating cherries. Marathon runners have less pain and recover soon if they drink cherry juice before a race.

10. Cherries Aid With Weight Loss

This might be the best reason of all to get people to eat more cherries. Cherries are high on the list of fruits to eat for weight loss. That's because cherries can help to reduce the levels of fat in your blood, which can have a direct impact on the amount of fat stored in your body.

The Journal of Medical Foods published a study that revealed cherries can aid in weight loss because they are low in calories and high in dietary fiber. Tart cherries were found to have the most significant impact on weight loss.

Do you eat cherries on a regular basis? If not, perhaps you will start to do so after reading about the many health benefits of the small long-stemmed deep red fruit.