Whether you like them sweet or tart, these deep red fruits pack a healthful punch. Cherries are low in calories and chock full of fibre, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and other good-for-you ingredients.
You’ll get vitamins C, A, and K. Each long-stemmed fruit delivers potassium, magnesium, and calcium too. They also bring antioxidants, like beta-carotene and the essential nutrient choline.
The Impressive Health Benefits Of Cherries
Cherries are one of our beloved fruits and for a good reason. Not only are they delicious, but they also contain vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds that have powerful health effects.
Here are some of the impressive health benefits of cherries.
1. Rich In Nutrients
Cherries are small stone fruits of different colours and flavours. There are two main categories: cherry and cherry, respectively Prunus cerasus L. and Prunus avium L.
Their colours can range from yellow to deep blackish red. All varieties are highly nutritious and rich in fibre, vitamins, and minerals.
One cup (154 grams) of sweet, raw, and pitted cherries provides:
Calories: 97
Protein: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 25 g
Fibre: 3 grams
Vitamin C: 18%
Daily Value (DV)
Potassium: 10% of the RDI
Copper: 5% of the RDI
Manganese: 5% of the DV
These nutrients, especially fibre, vitamin C, and potassium, have many health benefits.
Vitamin C is essential for maintaining the immune system and healthy skin, while potassium is needed for muscle contraction, nerve function, blood pressure regulation, and many other important body procedures.
Cherries are also a decent source of fibre, which helps maintain a healthy digestive system by feeding good gut bacteria and promoting regular digestion. In addition, they contain B vitamins, manganese, magnesium, copper, and vitamin K.
2. Cherries Are Rich In Antioxidants And Anti-Inflammatory Compounds.
The high concentration of plant compounds in cherries may be responsible for many of the health benefits of this fruit. Although the amount and type can vary from cultivar, all cherries are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.
This high content of antioxidants can help fight oxidative stress, a condition associated with many chronic diseases and premature ageing. These stone fruits also contain carotenoid pigments such as beta-carotene and vitamin C, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
3. Can Speed Up Recovery From Exercise.
Research shows that cherries’ anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds can help relieve muscle pain, damage, and inflammation caused by exercise.
Cherries are more effective than sweet varieties, although both can help athletes.
Black cherry juice and concentrate have accelerated muscle recovery, reduced exercise-induced muscle pain, and prevented strength in elite athletes such as cyclists and marathon runners.
4. It Can Benefit Heart Health.
Increasing your intake of nutrient-rich fruits like cherries is a delicious way to protect your heart.
Cherries are particularly useful in this regard, as they are rich in nutrients and compounds are known to promote heart health, including the antioxidants potassium and polyphenols.
It is needed to maintain a regular heartbeat and helps eliminate excess sodium from the body by regulating blood pressure. It is why a higher potassium intake has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke.
5. It Can Improve The Symptoms Of Arthritis And Gout.
Thanks to its powerful anti-inflammatory properties, it can reduce the symptoms of arthritis and gout, a type of arthritis caused by the buildup of uric acid that can lead to severe swelling, inflammation, and joint pain.
Additionally, they can lower uric acid levels in the body, making them especially useful for people with gout.
6. Can Improve Sleep Quality.
Eating sour cherries or sour cherry juice can improve sleep quality.
These sleep improvements may be related to the high concentration of plant compounds in fruits. Additionally, it contains melatonin, a substance that supports regulate the sleep-wake cycle.
Easily Add Cherries To Your Diet
Cherries are versatile and incredibly delicious. Both sweet and sour varieties go well with many foods. Additionally, by-products like dried cherries, cherry powder, and cherry juice are an exciting addition to many recipes.
Here Are Some Ways To Include Cherries In Your Diet:
- Enjoy them fresh as a sweet snack.
- Combine dried cherries with dark chocolate chips, unsweetened coconut, and salted almonds for a delicious homemade mix.
- Make a cherry compote from the frozen cake or cherries and pour it into the yoghurt, oatmeal, or chia pudding.
- Add the pitted cherries, cut in half, to the fruit salad.
- Add dried cherries to baked goods for natural sweetness.
- And also, Add some black cherry juice to the sparkling water and add a wedge of lemon for a fun, non-alcoholic cocktail.
- Add fresh or boiled cherries to ice cream, tarts, crumbs, and other desserts.
- Make a homemade BBQ cherry sauce for meat or poultry dishes.
- Blend the cherry sauce with diced cherries and fresh herbs such as basil and serve with savoury dishes.
- Add frozen cherries to your favourite smoothie.
The possibilities for using it in cooking are endless, so feel free to experiment.
Cherries – Cyanide; They Can Kill You If You Eat Enough
Don’t be afraid to swallow cherry pits accidentally – they are rarely poisonous when eaten whole – but whatever you do, don’t eat cracked pits. Certain stone fruits such as cherries, apricots, plums, and peaches contain cyanogenic compounds in addition to being very bitter and impossible to chew: science says that “your body can convert cyanide.”
After a fast Google search, we found that hydrogen cyanide is fatal at a concentration of about 1.52 milligrams per kilogram, which means it takes just over 0.1 grams (a penny weighs about a gram) of the toxin to flush out. A man is weighing 150 pounds. A single cherry produces about 0.17 grams of deadly cyanide per gram of seeds, so depending on the grain size, swallowing one or two fresh crushed kernels can be fatal.
Conclusion
Cherries are very nutritious and healthy. Not only do they contain several potent plant compounds that can help reduce inflammation, but eating them can improve sleep, improve heart health, and speed up recovery from exercise.
In addition, both sweet and sour and sweet dishes are delicious and can be used in different recipes.
But don’t overeat.
Also Read: Lychee – Nutrition Facts, Health Benefits, Adverse Effects, One of the Natural-born killers
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