10 Health Benefits of Cherries

Whether you like them sweet or tart, these deep red fruits Cherries pack a healthful punch.

This vibrant red fruit is a great blend of sweet flavors with a tingle of sourness and adds the perfect pop of color to your desserts. Cherries can be eaten raw or can also be used in a variety of recipes such as cakes, tarts, pies, and cheesecakes. They are a wonderful topping for a bowl of yogurt or your breakfast cereal. But not many know that this delicious fruit has numerous qualities that are good for your health.

Dubbed as one of the healthiest superfoods, cherries have “the highest medicinal value because they are rich in antioxidants, are a good anti-inflammatory, and are useful in the prevention and treatment of gout. They are also one of the very few fruits to contain melatonin, which can help treat insomnia.

Cherries blossom in shadows of dormant volcanoes and grace the green groves of rivers and lakes. The cherry is the perfect berry. It is sweet and tart with firm, juicy flesh, and a hard pit. It’s a small wonder that cherries are associated with good fortune.  That’s why festivals celebrate the cherry wherever the super fruit is grown. Cherries are also nature’s medicine: relieving pain, improving eyesight, and slowing premature aging.

With all of their nutrients, cherries are good for you. It’s no wonder they have a reputation for all kinds of health benefits. But most studies that aim to support those claims are pretty small.

Here are the Top 10 Health Benefits of Cherries:

1. Help Fight Cancer Cells Cherries

Cherries are rich in a flavonoid called Quercitrin which, according to researchers, is among the most powerful naturally occurring anticancer agents. Cherries also contain ellagic acid, a natural phenol antioxidant found in fruits and veggies and prevalent in cherries. Some researchers say that ellagic acid has anti-carcinogenic properties and may be a great way of preventing cancer. Perillyl alcohol (POH)–is another element found in cherries that is extremely powerful in reducing the occurrence of all types of cancer. It deprives cancer cells of the proteins they need to grow and spread.

Also Read: 10 Foods With More Vitamin C Than Oranges

These are natural chemicals that can help your body deal with day-to-day damage to your cells. The havoc may come from normal metabolism, inflammation, exercise, smoking, pollution, or radiation. Some studies show that both sweet and tart cherries help reduce this damage.

2. Help with Arthritis and Gout

Arthritis is inflammation that affects joints and causes pain and limits mobility. Sadly, this condition is growing increasingly prevalent as we spend more time at our computers and expose our joints to more stress. But cherries contain two powerful compounds, anthocyanins and bioflavonoids, that hinder the spread of enzymes Cyclo-oxygenase-1 and -2, slowing the spread of arthritis in the body.

Many studies show that cherries help inhibit oxidative stress and decrease inflammation by suppressing inflammatory proteins, which can help reduce symptoms related to arthritis.

Plus, they can decrease uric acid levels in your body, making them especially beneficial for those with gout.

3. Anti-aging

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, cherries have even more anti-aging oxidants than do almonds, another superfood. Cherries are rich in melatonin, which slows down the aging process.

Cherries are rich in antioxidants and as we know antioxidants fight the free radicals which make the skin look dull. This makes your skin feel younger and healthier. Cherries can help in removing dark spots from your skin that can appear due to sun damage. Just puree some cherries and mix them with a pinch of turmeric and a teaspoon of honey. Apply this paste for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off. It lessens dark spots and improves your skin tone.

4. Relives Insomnia

Cherries contain a hormone called melatonin which facilitates good, peaceful sleep. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain. It is known to regulate your sleep and wake cycles and control the internal body clock.

Melatonin also helps you fall asleep and stay that way throughout the day. It regulates your circadian rhythm which meters your internal clock so that your sleep is better regulated. Staying well-rested helps muscle growth and recovery, and lowers cortisol (stress) that can lead to heart disease and weight gain.

5. Can boost exercise recovery

Research shows that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds in cherries may help relieve exercise-induced muscle pain, damage, and inflammation.

Tart cherries and their juice seem to be more effective than sweet varieties, though both may aid athletes. Tart cherry juice and concentrate have been found to accelerate muscle recovery, decrease exercise-induced muscle pain, and prevent strength loss in elite athletes, such as cyclists and marathon runners.

Additionally, some evidence suggests that cherry products may enhance exercise performance.

6. Good for Heart Health

Tart cherries lower high cholesterol and triglycerides, which do everything from improving your weight to strengthening your arterial health.  This also reduces your risk for stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. The antioxidants present in cherries called anthocyanins help in reducing bad cholesterol levels, regulating blood pressure, and fighting free radicals that may cause inflammation. This reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. (

7. Facilitates Weight Loss

If you are planning to shed some weight, don’t forget to add cherries to your diet. Cherries are low in calories which means that around a cup of cherries would be less than 100 calories (according to the USDA). They are rich in vitamins that strengthen your metabolism and have a moderate water content that flushes out the toxins from your body.

The antioxidants are also proven to slim down your waistline. Though tart cherry juice and dried cherries are often recommended, be sure to choose whole food cherries when you can, since dried and juice forms are always higher in sugar. Go for the whole, natural fruit the way nature created it whenever possible!

Also Read: Shanna Moakler’s Relationship Might Be In Trouble After Her Big Brother Exit

8. Lower Blood Sugar Levels

Cherries are high in sugar but very low on the glycemic index. They’ve been shown to improve blood sugar for those with diabetes and can be paired with nuts, seeds, and whole grains to further soften the glycemic spike associated with eating sugar.

9. Possible Brain booster

The anthocyanins that give cherries their red color have been tied to better brain health, thinking, and memory. One study found that drinking cherry juice every day for 12 weeks improved verbal fluency and memory in older people with mild or moderate dementia. That doesn’t make it cure, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to try it.

Also Read: How To Improve Your Business Traffic Using Google My Business

10. Great for Eye Health

Cherries are brimming with vitamin A, a vitamin containing the beta carotene you need for good vision and healthy eyes. Retinol is another part of vitamin A that helps keep your skin healthy. In addition to tasting better than strawberries and blueberries, cherries contain way more sugar than either of those fruits. So why not eat them more?

The bottom line

Cherries are highly nutritious and offer a host of health benefits.

Not only do they contain an array of powerful plant compounds that can help reduce inflammation, but eating them may improve sleep, boost heart health, and speed recovery after exercise.

What’s more, both sweet and tart varieties are delicious and can be used in diverse recipes.