HomeHealth articlesheart healthWhat Are the Health Benefits of Tart Cherries?

Health Benefits of Tart Cherries

Verified dataVerified data
0
Health Benefits of Tart Cherries

3 min read

Share

Tart cherries are bright red and sour. However, they have amazing health benefits. Read this article to know more in detail.

Medically reviewed by

Dr. Sneha Kannan

Published At March 29, 2019
Reviewed AtMarch 2, 2023

Introduction:

Many of you must have heard of tart cherries. These are also known as sour cherries as they taste so and are available in warm summer seasons. They are never eaten fresh, but are dried, frozen, and canned as juices. In spite of their sour taste, people tend to consume them due to their excellent health benefits, from exercise recovery to better sleep. It is a good source of potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, and phosphorus.

What Are the Health Benefits of Tart Cherries?

  • Improves Heart Health: A person may die due to cardiovascular disease if they have high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. There are studies that tart cherries are effective in demolishing these major culprits that cause fatal heart disease in an individual.

  • Prevent and Treat Gout: You may be wondering how tart cherries can help to prevent gout. But this particular magical fruit helps to reduce uric acid levels in the body, which helps prevent a painful condition like gout. In gout, uric acid crystals get deposited in the joints, leading to inflammation of the joints. Hence, do not forget to include tart cherries in your diet to reduce your uric acid levels.

  • Promotes Adequate Sleep: Many people face a common problem of lack of sleep nowadays due to their hectic work schedules or due to social pressure. The best solution is making a juice out of tart cherries, and consuming it regularly. This will help to increase the melatonin levels in a person's body, thus promoting sound sleep in a person by regulating the perfect sleep-wake cycle. Therefore, the tart cherry has to be considered as one of the food items before your bedtime. A tart cherry juice benefits you if drunk one hour before bed. If you feel the taste is not good, you can also consume it in the form of supplements.

  • Helps in Weight Loss: Just because tart cherries are found to aid in weight loss, it does not mean that workouts can be replaced by just drinking the tart cherry juice. However, research has shown that tart cherries are good at reducing abdominal fat as it has anti-inflammatory properties.

  • Nutritious: Tart cherries are loaded with the essential nutrients a human body needs. As we already know, they are the best source of iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. The potassium present in tart cherries is magical and can regulate blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke.

  • Improves the Brain Functions: If you have Alzheimer's, including this fruit would improve symptoms like forgetfulness and make the person more alert, sharp, and vigilant. Consuming tart cherries helps the nerve communication between the brain cells and boosts memory. Further studies reveal that tart cherries contain a powerful antioxidant called anthocyanin, which works positively on a person’s cognitive function (the process of understanding). The effect of these tart cherries on improving verbal fluency is yet another unbelievable fact.

  • Improves Vision: People with glaucoma also benefit from consuming tart cherries. Though these are known to prevent vision loss, there are only a few pieces of evidence available.

  • Prevents Diabetes: Tart cherries are low in glycemic index and filled with antioxidants like anthocyanin, which gives this fruit a bright red color. Being low in the glycemic index does not raise the blood sugar levels that quickly, thus preventing diabetes. However, the portion of cherries consumed should be limited to reap its benefits.

  • Prevents Cancer: As tart cherries are filled with antioxidants, they prevent cancer development. They are functional food necessary for the body, as are nutritious. In case a person is in the initial stage of cancer, they improve the prognosis of cancer. This is the reason why this fruit is of utmost importance.

  • Boosts Immunity: Anthocyanins are effective in improving cognitive function, and they improve the immune system as well. They have great antimicrobial properties that help the immune system fight against pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, etc.

  • Promotes Gut Health: We know that not all bacteria are bad, and there are good bacteria that benefit gut health. And it is a trend to take food with probiotics to enhance your gut health. Food containing polyphenols is good to eat as they act positively in the digestion process by stimulating the growth of good bacteria in the gut. One such amazing food item is tart cherries. And incorporating these sour cherries can help you maintain your gut health.

  • Promotes Healthy Skin Health: Tart fruit has many anti-aging compounds which delay aging like wrinkle formation and supports healthy skin health. Teenagers should specifically have tart fruit juice since they are very conscious about their skin and especially when they start developing acne at this age. Tart cherries also help to prevent acne. Thus, do not forget to consume this magical fruit with tremendous health benefits.

  • Very Beneficial for Athletes: Many electrolytes are lost in an athlete's body, and thus it is essential to replenish the body with the depleted stores. Tart cherries are filled with potassium which aids muscle regeneration and is necessary for athletes. Furthermore, athletes and individuals undergoing vigorous exercise are prone to acute inflammation and muscle damage. Therefore, they are in need of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) to reduce post-workout pain. However, tart cherries are the best replacements for NSAIDs.

Conclusion:

Tart cherries are not hard to find. Instead, they are available as extracts in powder form, which can be mixed and enjoyed in your own beverages. But you should be careful which kind of berries you purchase. A cherry juice with added sugars will outweigh the benefits of tart cherries. The best way to find the right one is to reach a health food store and get the cherry juice made using those sour ruby red tart cherries. Start drinking them now to reap their benefits.

Source Article IclonSourcesSource Article Arrow
Quadros Krystel Godfrey Lavina
Quadros Krystel Godfrey Lavina

Dietician

Tags:

heart health
Community Banner Mobile
By subscribing, I agree to iCliniq's Terms & Privacy Policy.

Source Article ArrowMost popular articles

Do you have a question on

heart health

Ask a Wellness Expert online

*guaranteed answer within 4 hours

Disclaimer: Wellness medicine is not aimed to replace the services of your treating physician or allopathy medicines. Our site's information is to those who are willing to take responsibility for their health, being fully aware that the content published herein would not qualify as a prescription or specific medical advice. If users use the information and stop prescribed medication without their physician's consent, they bear full responsibility for their actions, and iCliniq-Wellness bears no responsibility for the same. Information on Wellness medicine should not be misinterpreted as a cure for any illness, as our body is complex and everyone reacts differently.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. iCliniq privacy policy