Health and Nutrition

Cherries. Not Just Another Berry.
The New Antioxidant "Super Fruit"

Cherries are one of today's hottest "Super Fruits." A growing body of science reveals tart cherries, enjoyed as dried and frozen cherries and cherry juice, have among the highest levels of disease-fighting antioxidants compared to other fruits. They also contain other important nutrients such as beta carotene (19 times as much as blueberries or strawberries!) vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, iron, fiber and folate.

Emerging evidence links cherries to many important health benefits – from helping to ease the pain of arthritis and gout, to reducing risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Cherries also have been found to help regulate the body’s circadian rhythm, prevent memory loss and delay the aging process. 

A new study from the University of Michigan Integrative Medicine Program suggests that a cherry-enriched diet may help reduce inflammation, lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As science continues to reveal inflammation may be a marker for many chronic diseases, the researchers say emerging studies like this are important in examining the role diet may play in disease management and prevention.

In this animal study, both lean and at-risk animals had 50 percent lower levels of inflammation two important markers of inflammation and also experienced lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels on the cherry-enriched diet, two other key risk factors for heart disease.  The most at-risk animals also reduced their abdominal fat and total fat mass – particularly important given the link between excess abdominal fat and disease.

Click on Heart Health and Other Benefits for more information on the role cherries may play in reducing your risk for inflammation, heart disease and metabolic syndrome.

While there’s no clear guideline on how many cherries it takes to reap the benefits, experts suggest that 1-2 servings of cherries daily can help provide some of the health benefits identified in the research.