America’s Super Fruit has been shown to have even more health benefits.
Cherries have often been described as “America’s Super Fruit” since cherries are produced locally and previous research has shown numerous health benefits of cherries especially for people suffering from heart disease and diabetes.
Some exciting new research from the Oregon Health & Science University suggests that drinking cherry juice could ease the pain you experience after strenuous exercise. The study showed that people who drank tart cherry juice during training sessions for long distance running reported a lot less pain after exercise than those who did not drink cherry juice.
Sixty adults aged between 18 and 50 participated in the study. The participants who drank 10.5 ounces of cherry juice twice a day for a week prior to a long-distance race had significantly less muscle pain after the race than those who drank another fruit juice beverage.
Early findings by the researchers suggests that cherries act like medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which are used by athletes to alleviate post-exercise inflammation, but the researchers said more studies are needed.
Their anti-inflammatory power is attributed to antioxidant compounds contained in cherries called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins give cherries their distinctive bright red color.
Other research at Oregon State University found that:
“Cherry polyphenolics and anthocyanins undergo considerable degradation during processing. We have measured over 50% loss of anthocyanins in cherries during 6 months frozen storage at -10ºC. We intend to examine the effects of canning, freezing, and brining on polyphenolic composition and antioxidant activity.”
As with most plants containing anti-oxidants we suggest that the fresh article is always best. But if you can’t get fresh cherries then cherry juice appears to still be of benefit based on this research. Our plan is to change our “excited by life” exercise program and eat fresh cherries an hour or so before we do our daily exercise. We will monitor and let you know if we feel any different.
SOURCES
“The Possible Health Benefits of Anthocyanin Pigments and Polyphenolics“, Ronald E. Wrolstad, Ph.D.OSU Distinguished Professor of Food Science and Technology, Oregon State University
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/wsw-icj052709.php
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About Danny Sheehan
Danny lives in Hong Kong but is originally from Australia. He is Married to Maggie and together they have two children with whom they enjoy sharing and enjoying an exciting life with daily. Danny's passions are freedom, adventure and discovery, mainly in nature and science but also spiritually. He is a great believer in living in the NOW.
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