Before we tell you just how good cherries are – a general principal that we teach to our clients at Ninth Wave, is that most fruit and vegetables are pretty good for us!
We don’t support the hype of superfoods and we don’t subscribe to the view that fruit will make us fat. Those extremes are headline grabbers and rarely have any relevance to our clients. In most cases, the majority of us could do with eating a lot more vegetables and probably a bit more fruit too.
Not only that – but frozen fruit and vegetables maintain large amount of the micro nutrients – potentially more than the fresh options. In frozen form, they are convenient, they last well, and they are significantly cheaper – so no excuses for not having a pack in the freezer.
Fresh or frozen, black, red, or white, large or small – cherries are one of the best ..
It is nice to know that one of the most delicious and luxurious of fruits is also really good for us too. Here is why cherries are just brilliant:
1. Cherries help you sleep well as they contain melatonin. Our brain requires melatonin to regulate sleep, prevent memory loss and delay the ageing process, according to experts from British Northumbria University. Researchers found that people who drank cherry juice boosted their melatonin levels significantly.
2. The fruit helps muscles recover faster. Cherries reduce muscle pain after rigorous physical activity because they contain anti-inflammatory properties (curcumin and fish oil supplements have similar effects.) Research conducted by the Oregon Health and Science University in the US found that athletes who consumed cherry juice before long-distance runs felt less pain in their muscles after the race compared to those who drank juice from another fruit.
3. If you happen to suffer from gout, cherries are your fruit! Their juice reduces the levels of blood uric-acid. The anthocyanins found in cherries reduce inflammation and alleviate joint pain, which also makes them beneficial for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. Tart cherry juice has been used successfully to treat attacks of gout, significantly reducing severity and the duration of discomfort.
4. Like most fruits, they are rich in vitamins, but unlike many others they are low in calories, low in fructose, and have a low G.I.! A cup of cherries contains 10.8 milligrams of vitamin C, as well as vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin K and beta carotene. All of them are very important for the formation of collagen in the blood, blood vessels, muscles and bones. And talk about low in calories: a cherry contains only four calories so you can gobble up a bag of them without feeling guilty!