Cherry and its health benefits
Let’s discuss the cherry and its health benefits.
Cherry: An Overview
Cherries are succulent citrus fruits that contain a hard seed. It is sour and sweet in taste. The scientific name of cherry is Prunus Avium. Generally, cherries are red, maroon-black and some cherries are also of light yellow color. The size of the cherry is about 1 inch in diameter in size.
Cherry is considered a good fruit for health because it is rich in vitamin C, as well as fiber and other nutrients are also found in good amounts. Antioxidants are high in cherry fruit, which is considered better for health.
It improves brain efficiency and has many benefits for eyesight. Cherry is beneficial for immunity system, constipation, skin disease, insomnia disease, cancer disease, heart disease, arthritis pain, diabetes.
Climatic condition and Cultivation
The cold climatic condition is good for Cherry cultivation. Cherries grow very fast in this type of climate. The maximum production takes place in Europe, Asia, America, and Turkey, while in India it is grown in the northeastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and Uttrakhand.
Which cherries are healthier?
Tart cherries are a healthy whole fruit that is high in fiber, potassium, beta carotene, and antioxidants. One-quarter cup of dried cherries has 15% of the RDA for fiber. Cherries also contain potassium in min quantity, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamins A, C, B6, E, and folic acid. Tart cherries have virtually no fat and no sodium.
Cherries are full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals
Cherries are packed with melatonin, which helps regulate your body clock. The combination of melatonin and anthocyanins are believed to aid with a healthier sleep routine
Per day you may eat 30-50 tarts of cherries. You may have better sleep and this effect is sensed within the day itself once you have in your diet.
New York City-based nutritionist Alisa Rumsey, RD. “Cherries are a versatile fruit that offers great flavor and a lot of health benefits—especially Montmorency tart cherries, which are the most common variety of tart cherries in the U.S.
Nutritional facts of Cherry (100 gram)
Calories – 63
Total Fat – 0.3 gm
Saturated Fat – 0.1 gm
Cholesterol – 0 mg
Sodium – 3 mg
Potassium – 173 mg
Total Carbohydrates – 16 gm
Dietary Fiber – 2.1 gm
Sugar – 8 gm
Protein – 1.06 gm
Vitamin C – 16%
Calcium – 13 mg
Iron – 1%
Vitamin D – 0%
Vitamin – B6 – 0%
Magnesium – 2%
Cobalamine – 0%
Apart from these cherry also contains phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, copper, and thiamine.
Major Health Benefits of Cherries
Till now we all know that Vitamin C is found in abundance in Orange, Mosambi (Sweet Lime), and Amla and the amount of fiber and iron is available in apples. But do you know about Cherry? Umm…probably no? No issue…But, we tell you that how beneficial cherries are for health and how many amounts of vitamins, proteins, minerals, and antioxidants they contain?
It helps to keep your heart healthy
We have often heard that cholesterol is a silent killer. If the amount of cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides in our body exceeds the level, then the risk of heart disease increases. Due to this, there is also a risk of heart attack and stroke. The polyphenol (antioxidants) in cherry not only cures inflammation, but it also makes our hearts healthy. It helps remove hard metals from the body and lowers cholesterol and triglyceride level. The magnesium helps in maintaining blood pressure and strengthens the bones.
Cherries make you sleep well
You will be happy to know that “Melatonin” is found in cherries which help you to get sound sleep. Melatonin is a type of hormone that is secreted by the brain, which regulates our Circadian Rhythm. With proper secretion, we get good sleep. The Circadian Rhythm is a normal process of sleeping and waking up. If we start eating about one small bowl (15-20) of cherries every day in our diet we may have sound sleep. We all know that proper sound sleep happens only to those who make some lifestyle changes, eating patterns, and go for physical exercise on a regular basis, but we may also focus on eating Cherries to promote our sleeping patterns.
Cherries Keep Your Gut Health Healthy
Some research has also witnessed that the polyphenol and dietary fiber present in cherries help in maintaining our gut health. We all know that fibrous fruits are good for the gut and strengthen our digestive system. Cherries are also rich in Vitamin C which keeps our metabolic process fine and flushes out the toxic substances from the body.
Cherry help removes the age-related problems
In addition to vitamin C, magnesium, and calcium, phenolic compounds and anthocyanins are also present in cherries (tart cherries), which strengthen the bones of aging people. Consuming tart cherries gives relief in diseases like joint pain or osteoarthritis and the risk of breaking bones is also getting reduced. These antioxidants are available in good quantity in tart cherries, so people of old age should use them regularly in their diet.
Very easy to add up to your daily diet
Cherry fruit is very delicious and nutritious and is very important for your health. Sour and sweet cherries are not only good from the point of view of health, apart from this; we can also use them in other forms such as cherry powder, cherry juice, and dried cherries in our diet.
Here we will see how cherries can be used in different ways.
- We can take fresh cherries as a snack which can prove to be good for health and can keep out unhealthy foods during this time.
- Dried cherries can also be used in your baked food and they also prove to be good for health.
- We can use fresh and cooked cherries in our food like ice creams, crumbles, pies, and desserts, etc.
- You can also use tart and sweet cherries according to your taste in a fruit salad.
- You can add fresh cherries to your pudding, oats, and yogurt, which double their taste and are better for health.
Side effects
In general, “there are not many side effects or health risks of eating cherries. If anyone consumes cherry excessively then some gastrointestinal and bloating issues may develop. Some people may face skin allergy otherwise there are noting major side effects.
But, in any case, if you feel discomfort, it’s important to check with a physician or your registered dietitian if you believe there are any of such foods causing you pain or any kind of GI discomfort you should contact your health expert.