12/27/2018 / By Ellaine Castillo
They say that great things come in small packages and that’s exactly the case for one of the most famous superfoods in the world: cherries. Each cherry is packed with nutrients that contribute to the many health benefits that it has.
There are many varieties of cherries that grow in nature. Among these, the most commonly sold on the market are sweet cherries (Prunus avium) and sour cherries (Prunus cerasus), which are produced from the crossbreeding between the former and a wild cherry species called the dwarf cherry (Prunus fruticosa). As their names imply, the sweet cherry is rich in sugars but low in acid content while the opposite is true for the sour cherry. Regardless of your preference, you can still enjoy a lot of health benefits from eating either of the two.
Cherries are low-calorie and nutrient-dense fruits. They contain compounds like beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, folate, iron, and fiber that contribute to their many health benefits. Moreover, they are also rich in polyphenols and flavonoids, such as anthocyanins, hydroxycinnamic acid, and quercetin. These components produce synergistic antioxidant effects with vitamin C and carotenoids to improve overall health. Other compounds found in cherries include tryptophan, serotonin, and melatonin.
In traditional Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, cherries were commonly used to get rid of excess body acids and promote blood flow throughout the body. Moreover, they were also used as natural remedies for pain and inflammation associated with gout, arthritis, and rheumatism. In recent years, researchers have conducted countless studies that looked at the scientific basis behind the different therapeutic applications of cherries. Some of the health benefits that they found supporting evidence for include the following:
For more articles about the health benefits of superfoods, visit Superfoods.news.
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