Also known as “America’s Super Fruit”, cherries are very delicious and healthy fruits that come with many benefits and nutrients, being an important part of leading a long and healthy life. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, just one cup of cherries contains 90 calories as well as a nice amount of fiber, protein, and vitamins A and C. This means that having a cup of cherries a day can keep the doctor away, too. These are some of the benefits that adding this fruit to our daily diet will bring.
One of the best benefits of eating cherries is that they come with quite high levels of antioxidants, which has been linked to a reduced level of nitric oxide in several studies. Nitric oxide is a compound that has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and high levels of it can cause these conditions. However, cherries are packed of antioxidants, and because of their high ORAC value, eating them often can help us lower circulating factors that cause inflammation and lead to arthritis.
Cherries are a rich source of anthocyanin, an antioxidant that is found in natural colorants that give fruit their pigment. This antioxidant has been linked to increased insulin production in animal pancreatic cells. As a result, many scientists believe this could work on humans too, although this hypothesis hasn’t been tested yet. If these studies were carried out, though, they could find that cherries can help lower levels of blood sugar in people with diabetes.
If we tend to have difficulties when going to sleep, we might want to consider having tart cherry juice before bed. Several studies have found that tart cherry juice helps us increase total sleep time and sleep quality because of cherry’s sleep-inducing effects on human. These studies have shown a significant reduction in insomnia and sleep issues altogether on participants that drank 8 ounces of tart cherry juice in the morning and evening during a period of two weeks.
Last but not least, the fiber in cherries also brings many benefits, such as lowering the risk of colon cancer, as the American Institute for Cancer Research has found. When we consume the dietary fiber found in cherries, it helps us keep our weight under control, and excessive weight gain has been found to be a cancer risk factor. However, a study carried out by Michigan State University tested the effects of cherry on mice and human colon cancer cells. They discovered that cherry anthocyanins and cyaniding may actually reduce the risk of colon cancer.
