It\u2019s cherry season again! They\u2019re fresh, plentiful, beautiful, and delicious, but, you may be wondering\u2014are cherries actually that good for you? The answer is yes, 100 times yes!\u00a0Cherries\u00a0are not only one of the healthiest fruits, they also rank as one of the most health protective foods overall. One cup, or about 21 cherries, contains less than 100 calories and 15% of your daily\u00a0vitamin C\u00a0needs. But here are seven more reasons why this stone fruit is a nutritional all-star, and easy ways to eat more cherries year-round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cherries are a potent source of\u00a0antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. These cellular body guards slow down aging and ward off chronic illnesses\u2014including\u00a0heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer\u2019s, diabetes, and\u00a0obesity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t trigger spikes and crashes in your blood sugar and insulin levels. This makes them both protective against\u00a0diabetes, and important for managing the condition if you already have it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tart cherries in particular are one of the few food sources of melatonin, a hormone that helps control your sleep-wake cycles. One study in men and women with insomnia found that compared to a placebo, eight ounces of tart cherry juice in the morning and again one to two hours before bed\u00a0increased sleep time\u00a0by an hour and 24 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several studies have suggested that cherry consumption\u00a0is beneficial for osteoarthritis sufferers. Regularly incorporating cherries or 100% cherry juice into your meal or snack routine may help lessen your joint pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over eight million adults in the U.S. suffer from gout. This inflammatory arthritis is triggered when a waste product called uric acid crystallizes within the joints, causing excruciating pain and swelling. In one study, gout patients who consumed cherries for just two days (both the fresh fruit, as well as cherry extract and juice) showed a 35% lower risk of gout attacks\u00a0compared to those who did not eat cherries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research has shown that drinking tart cherry juice can help\u00a0lower total cholesterol, including the \u201cbad\u201d type, known as LDL. That\u2019s key because every 1% reduction in cholesterol lowers the risk of heart disease by 2%. And a high LDL is particularly worrisome in relation to heart attack risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other words, cherries can make that post-HIIT\u00a0workout soreness\u00a0less intense. They also protect against the cellular wear and tear from exercise, and help support muscle recovery. For this reason tart cherry juice is popular with professional and competitive athletes. But it can help anyone who\u2019s regularly active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There’s nothing like a bowl of fresh cherries when they’re in season. But that’s not the only way to embrace their nutritional perks. Look for frozen cherries, freeze-dried powders, 100% tart cherry juice, and preservative-free dried cherries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whip frozen cherries or powder into smoothies, or add it to overnight oats. Stir chopped dried cherries into nut butter or melted dark chocolate, or sprinkle onto\u00a0salads\u00a0and cooked veggies. Add tart cherry juice to sparkling water. Or drink it straight up if you’re struggling with sleep, or want exercise recovery benefits. Making cherries and cherry products a staple part of your diet is a small shift that may snowball into big-time health benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s cherry season again! They\u2019re fresh, plentiful, beautiful, and delicious, but, you may be wondering\u2014are cherries actually that good for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,231,19],"tags":[155,276,23],"class_list":["post-9613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-benefits","category-fruits","category-nutrition","tag-benefits","tag-cherries","tag-health"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"na","enabled_languages":["en","es","de","fr","ru","hi","ar","tr","it","pt","na"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"es":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"de":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"fr":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"hi":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ar":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"tr":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"it":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"pt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"na":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"featured_img":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cerezas_53336629-1024x683-1.jpg","categories_details":[{"id":202,"name":"Benefits","count":166,"parent":0},{"id":231,"name":"Fruits","count":59,"parent":0},{"id":19,"name":"Nutrition","count":205,"parent":0}],"tags_details":[{"id":155,"name":"Benefits","count":10,"parent":0},{"id":276,"name":"cherries","count":1,"parent":0},{"id":23,"name":"Health","count":32,"parent":0}],"comment_count":0,"author_name":"Staff","author_img":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b61c00ed0c8f33f6eb91a1083f6992aea9a5a38e5f4fce841eb349184fdff21b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","post_views":6569,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9613"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17102,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9613\/revisions\/17102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitolympia.com\/na\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}