Health Benefits of Cherry Juice

Fresh or dried tart cherries are my most favorite fruit and I try to eat them year-round. I love cherries since my childhood, most of which was spent in my grandma’s summer house in Liguria. Cherry trees were all around the house, and in summer I liked climbing up and picking up those dark red fruit with refreshing sore flesh filled with juice. Tart cherries, fresh or dried, and tart cherry juice are very valuable additions to everyone’s healthy diet as these products have numerous therapeutic effects and health benefits.

It is believed that red fruit and veggies, such as red grapes, plums, pomegranate, red date and others, have efficiency to enrich our blood. In addition to this, tart cherries and tart cherry juice are claimed to assist in lowering cholesterol level in blood and improving blood flow, as well as prevent varicose veins and guarantee a good heart health. In addition, regular consumption of red tart cherry juice has positive effects on the joints: it helps to relieve joint pains and muscle soreness.

Red pigment in tart cherries is called anthocyanins, which is a powerful antioxidant able to provide you with the full variety of health benefits related to antioxidants. Besides, anthocyannis also has excellent anti-inflammatory properties (some studies showed that anti-inflammatory properties of tart cherry extracts are 10 times stronger than the ones of aspirin!), as well as it can assist in slowing down body fat formation, this way becoming an important element of any nutrition plan for effective weight management. These finding were presented at the Experimental Biology 2008 Conference by the specialists at the Cherry Marketing Institute.

Health benefits of cherry juice also include reducing risks of having diabetes, cataracts, Alzheimer’s disease and age related mental problems. Experts say that eating about 20 dried or fresh cherries a day, or drinking 150 ml of fresh cherry juice is enough to harvest the most of health benefits of this natural remedy. “In fact the latest research shows that eating 20 cherries daily could cut your risk of heart attack by 30%,” says M. Nair, Ph D, food science and human nutrition researcher.

When talking about health benefits of cherry juice, it is impossible not to mention tart cherry juice concentrate as an effective natural remedy for a variety of aliment and health problems. Cherry juice concentrate is prepared by warming up and pressing fresh tart cherries. This product is a source of such important elements and minerals as proteins, sugar, Vitamin A and beta-carotene, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, sodium and others. For several decades health care practitioners have been recommending drinking tart cherry juice concentrate in small and moderate doses as a part of treatment for gout or other forms of arthritis inflammation.