My dad is one of the best ones around, and he has been an ongoing role model for integrity and compassion throughout my life. As his “little girl” he often spoiled me and always gave me the cherry on top of his ice cream or dessert. I love those memories. It makes me smile just thinking about them.
And now with the knowledge of almost 15 years of practicing alternative medicine and nutrition, I know he gave me even more with those sweet cherry treats. Cherries and more specifically Tart cherries, are super nutrient dense and healing for the body. They are very high in anti-oxidants, which are scavengers for cleaning up toxins and free radical damage caused by the various processes of our bodily cells. Tart cherries can be eaten or taken in a concentrated form as a tincture or juice. In concentrated form you can get a HUGE dose of goodness in a smaller amount and keep your body optimally protected from disease. This is the brand I recommend to all my clients and have received amazing feedback on it’s powerful effectiveness. It is pure tart cherry juice in a very potent formulation. Most brands add water and dilute it before it gets to your table. Unlike most brands this one does not come pre-diluted with lots of water, thereby giving you full potency of organic, non GMO tart cherry power.
Here are 5 well documented and research backed benefits of Tart Cherries:
1) Less Inflammation = Less Pain
It also equals less heart disease, less auto immune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus. Systemic inflammation often results from a poor diet over many years. Drinking tart cherry juice will heal the gut, and lower levels of inflammation in your body that leads to pain, illness and higher risk factors for chronic debilitating conditions. If you suffer from joint and/or muscle pain, cherry juice acts as a natural pain killer. In October of 2005, the FDA actually sent out a warning to farmers, requesting them to stop making substantiated claims, that cherries reduce pain and inflammation. Cherries are packed with anthocyanins, which have comparable effects to pain meds such as Ibuprofen. Only with cherries you don’t get the side effects and long term complications. Stick to the natural way 😉
2) Battle the bulge with cherry power:
The weight loss game seems never ending but it is proven that cherry juice can be a really great ally to reduce body fat and lower blood triglycerides and cholesterol levels. Obesity also causes inflammation in the body, and this too creates a vicious cycle for those wanting to lose excess weight. The inflammation can make exercising difficult because of joint and muscle pains. Also inflammation in the gut creates poorer assimilation of nutrients, and therefore may cause overeating and cravings for the missing nutrients. Tart cherry juice can help you lose weight because it will lower inflammation, heal the gut, lessen joint pain so you can exercise again with more joy and ease.
Check out this tart cherry juice for your health here.
3) Cherries Are Workout Recovery Champions:
Do you love to get a good workout? Or perhaps you play sports and love the challenge of the game. But I bet you could do without the post workout pain and fatigue right? Well Cherries also promote faster recovery times after hard workouts. They help your muscles repair the damage done by your workouts, and you get stronger in less time and with less pain. And because they are natural pain killers, they will lower your pain response. In a double-blind, randomized trial of runners participating in a 24 hour relay race, it was reported that the runners who drank 355 ml of cherry juice had substantially less pain than those on the placebo beverage. They drank the juice prior to the event, during it and right after the event.
The best time is right after a workout. This is when muscles are “hungry” and most receptive to nutrients coming their way. So drink it daily and make sure to drink it post workouts for added protection and enhanced recovery times.
4) Sweeter Snoozing
Sleeping more also helps with weight control and getting enough rest also means your body can recover from all the things you put it through. Tart Cherry juice helps you sleep more deeply and uninterrupted because it contains natural occurring melatonin. This amazing molecule is created by your pineal gland naturally every night. But if you are not sleeping well, and getting to bed at a decent hour you lose out on this natural ability. Taking in this nutrient dense food will supply you with a good dose of melatonin so you can get the rest you need and begin a natural rhythm of deeper and longer sleeps. It’s a win win all around.
5) Cherries Heal the Heart:
Statin drugs are used to lower cholesterol and blood triglycerides, thereby lowering the risk of heart disease like stroke and heart attacks. But these pharmaceutical medications come with a dangerous price tag of side effects and permanent damage to the body. Cherry juice as already stated, is a anti inflammatory and is proven in lowering the risk factors for heart disease.
Numerous studies on rats proved that cherry juice substantially lowered cholesterol levels, body fat, and specifically abdominal fat . In a 2011 a scientific study reported that mice given tart cherry juice had a 26% decrease in cholesterol and a 65% reduction in early death. And in humans similar findings resulted with cholesterol levels being lowered by 17% on average.
So eat up those cherries and drink up tart cherry juice every day. An ounce of prevention will be worth infinite pounds of great health in the long term.
Keep BEing Healthy, Happy and Free!
Piera B.
References: Life Extension Report ( lifeextension.com): Anti Inflammatory Properties of Cherries, June 2013.
