What Health Benefits Do Cherries Provide?
Inflammation is (or should be) a serious concern. It is the cornerstone of cellular aging and the root of chronic disease, which now affects more than 100 million people in the U.S. alone. But new research shows that eating many of your favorite foods, including cherries, may help quell inflammation and forestall the ravages of aging.
A recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition evaluated the effect of cherries on inflammation. Eighteen healthy men and women supplemented their diets with bing cherries (280 grams/day, or just less than two cups of pitted cherries) for 28 days. Blood samples were drawn and analyzed before and during the cherry noshing, as well as 28 days afterward.
After 28 days, the subjects’ plasma concentrations of CRP, a primary marker of inflammation, decreased by 25 percent. Then, after the subjects abstained from cherries for 28 days, their circulating concentrations of CRP increased by approximately 10 percent.
Choose cherries for a sweet treat with real health benefits. My favorite way to enjoy them is in my Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie. Just blend one cup of organic milk, one scoop of Jay Robb’s Chocolate Whey (all-natural, pasture-grazed, grass-fed whey protein isolate made from cows not treated with the synthetic bovine growth hormone rBGH), and one cup of frozen organic cherries. In minutes, you’ll have an antioxidant-rich dessert for breakfast that will keep you full till lunch and keep inflammation at bay.
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