It’s cherry season once more! Cherries are fresh, plentiful, attractive, and sweet, but are they really that beneficial for you? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes Cherries are not only one of the healthiest fruits, but also one of the healthiest meals on the planet. One cup of cherries, or around 21 cherries, has fewer than 100 calories and provides 15% of your daily vitamin C requirements. Here are seven additional reasons why cherries are a nutritious powerhouse, as well as simple strategies to consume more cherries all year.
Cherries are full of antioxidants
Cherries are high in antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory chemicals. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and obesity are all chronic disorders that these cellular body guardians help to prevent.
They protect against diabetes
The anti-inflammatory effect of cherries helps keep your body healthy; but what’s more, cherries rank lower than many fruits on the glycemic index. That means they don’t trigger spikes and crashes in your blood sugar and insulin levels. This makes them both protective against diabetes, and important for managing the condition if you already have it.
They promote healthy sleep
Tart cherries are one of the few foods that contain melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your sleep-wake cycles. In one trial of men and women with insomnia, eight ounces of tart cherry juice in the morning and again one to two hours before bed improved sleep time by an hour and 24 minutes when compared to a placebo.
They can provide arthritis relief
Several studies have shown that eating cherries might help people with osteoarthritis. Incorporating cherries or cherry juice into your meal or snack routine on a regular basis may assist to alleviate joint discomfort.
They lower the risk of gout attacks
Gout affects around eight million persons in the United States. When a waste product called uric acid crystallizes within the joints, it causes agonizing pain and swelling, producing inflammatory arthritis. Gout patients who ate cherries for just two days (both the fresh fruit and cherry extract and juice) had a 35% decreased risk of gout episodes than those who did not.
