ATE JUNE to mid-July is a short window of time when delicious fresh cherries are readily available. Ruby-red and tangy-sweet, cherries are one of the world's most luscious and sensual fruits.
Cherries are packed with nutrients and have been shown to help gout. Preliminary research suggests they also may help ease pain and aid sleep.
Cherry trees have been treasured and protected throughout the ages by the Greeks, Romans and ancient Chinese. Settlers brought cherry trees to North America in the 1600s.
The story goes that Broadway in New York City bends at 10th Street because a cherry tree stood on the corner. It was considered more important to preserve the tree than to build a straight road. Given that importance, perhaps the myth about George Washington chopping down his father's cherry tree was more shocking back in his day.
Cherries pack nutrientsCelebrated for being delicious, cherries also are a good choice nutritionally.
There are two types of cherries--the sweet, dark-colored variety and the sour or tart ruby-red type.
Sweet varieties, such as Bing cherries, have only 104 calories per cup, and contain 3 grams of fiber. Sweet cherries are tasty on their own, in fruit salads, or as a topping for pancakes, yogurt or ice cream.
Tart cherries, also known as sour cherries, commonly are used in pies and desserts. Tart cherries have even fewer calories than sweet cherries, 74 calories per cup. They have slightly less fiber, 2 grams, and are richer in vitamin A precursors, about 1,350 International Units, meeting about one-third of your daily needs. [See recipes at the end of this column using tart cherries.]
Modern maraschino cherries are actually sweet cherries bleached white and then dyed red. It's not clear what health benefits, if any, they might have after being bleached, since many of the benefits come from the cherries natural red pigments.
Cherries soothe gout painA small study showed eating about 1.5 cups of cherries daily eased gout pain.
Gout is a type of arthritis caused when uric acid in the blood forms tiny, sharp-edged crystals that irritate joints. USDA scientists showed that breakfasting on 48 sweet Bing cherries (about 2 cups) caused women to urinate away gout-causing uric acid.
Eating cherries also reduced levels of inflammatory chemicals such as C-reactive protein and nitric oxide, the researchers reported. C-reactive protein is considered to be a better indication of heart-disease risk than cholesterol levels.
Eating Bing cherries spiked people's blood levels of vitamin C, which is surprising because the Bing cherries didn't contain vitamin C, according to the researchers. However, Bing cherries are rich in a chemical cousin of vitamin C, dehydroascorbic acid, which research suggests that the body can convert to traditional vitamin C.
Cherries may help pain, sleepMore research remains to be done to see if cherries can help with other types of pain or insomnia. So far, the research is intriguing but incomplete.
For example, the pigments in tart cherries, called anthocyanins, appear to reduce pain and inflammation in rats, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We need to see studies in humans, though.
One of those pigments, protocatechuic acid, has antioxidant properties similar to commercial preservatives and vitamin E, according to scientists at Michigan State University.
Spaniards who ate more cherries were slightly less likely to develop colon cancer, according to published research.
Cherries may one day be used to help people sleep. Tart "Montmorency" cherries contain melatonin, a natural hormone that aids sleep. Researchers at MIT found that 0.3 milligrams of melatonin, the amount in cup of tart cherries, is enough to help people sleep better. However, they tested melatonin supplements, not cherries. Research needs to be done using cherries.
To add cherries to your diet, try my mouthwatering pie and cheesecake recipes. They're crustless, which saves time and calories without affecting taste. Both are low in fat, and the cheesecake is moderate in carbohydrates.