Cherries. A Nutrition Powerhouse

Cherries powerful package of antioxidants and phytonutrients delivers:

Anthocyanins – Unique antioxidants that are responsible for cherries’ deep red color…and for the fruit’s anti-inflammatory benefits. Researchers suggests cherries may work like common pain medications used by athletes to reduce post-exercise muscle soreness.

Melatonin – a potent antioxidant that may help improve the body’s natural sleep patterns. Health and wellness experts agree that how long and how well you sleep may impact overall quality of your training.

Other antioxidants – cherries contain at least 17 antioxidants, including powerful antioxidants egallic acid, p-coumaric acid, kaempferol and quercetin, an antioxidant that may help boost immunity…keeping your training schedule on track.

Essential nutrients – cherries are a good source of vitamin A (beta carotene) and also contain fibre. Sports dietician Leslie Bonci, M.P.H., R.D. LDN, CSSD created the Red Recovery Routine to help athletes manage and minimize their pain – no matter what your fitness level.

Go Red Instead to Manage Pain

Along with providing the fruit's bright red colour, the antioxidant compounds in tart cherries – called anthocyanins – have been specifically linked to high antioxidant capacity and reduced inflammation, at levels comparable to some well-known pain medications.3

Previous research on tart cherries and osteoarthritis conducted by researchers at Baylor Research Institute found that a daily dose of tart cherries (as cherry extract) helped reduce osteoarthritis pain by more than 20 percent for the majority of men and women.. And the same compounds linked to cherries' arthritis benefits have now shown promise for athletes and sports recovery to help relieve muscle and joint soreness.

According to Director of Sports Nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center for Sports Medicine, Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, CSSD, LDN, who has incorporated tart cherries into the training menu of both her professional athletes and active clients as a natural and easy way to manage pain that also tastes great, "Why not eat red when there's so much science to support the anti-inflammatory benefits of this Super Fruit? And for athletes whose palates prefer the tart-sweet flavour profile of tart cherries, it's the optimal ingredient."

Sources: 1. Sleigh, AE, Kuehl KS, Elliot DL . Efficacy of tart cherry juice to reduce inflammation among patients with osteoarthritis. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. May 30, 2012.
2. Kuehl KS, Perrier ET, Elliot DL, Chestnutt J. Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2010;7:17-22.
3. Seeram NP, Momin RA, Nair MG, Bourquin LD. Cyclooxygenase inhibitory and antioxidant cyanidin glycosides in cherries and berries. Phytomedicine 2001;8:362-369.
4. Cush JJ. Baylor Research Institute, pilot study on tart cherry and osteoarthritis of the knees, 2007.

Triathlon Recovery

With the Olympics now featuring the Triathlon as one of its events the time is right to focus on getting in shape for the up and coming Virgin Triathlon event at London Excel in September.

Whether you are just starting out or are an experienced “campaigner” everyone will agree that the way forward is to not only exercise correctly but what you put in your body helps it deal with the rigours and after effects of intense training and even competition. Tart Cherries, in whatever format you can get them in, are not only powerful antioxidants but more and more research is beginning to show that Cherries have amazing properties which are only now beginning to be understood. The triathlon is the kind of event where tart cherry juice can be beneficial and can help recovery from these strenuous events.

Beautiful Cherry-Almond Muffins

Cherries are rich in antioxidants that may help fight inflammation, and the fibre in these muffins can help you feel full for hours. Makes 12

 

• 340g whole wheat pastry flour
• 113g almondflour*'
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp: baking soda
• ¼ tsp:salt
• 2 large eggs
• 177ml reduced-fat sour cream
• 113g natural cane or regular sugar
• 78ml Cup canola or light olive oil
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 340g cups pitted and quartered fresh cherries

Preheat oven to 200°c. In a large bowl, mix together flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, 1ightly beat eggs, and then stir in sour cream, sugar, oil, and almond extract. Gently mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Fold in cherries. Divide batter among 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups. Bake for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool several minutes before unmolding.

* Almond flour, also called almond meal, is available at health-food stores and in the gluten-free section of larger grocery stores. Keep it in the refrigerator or freezer to maintain freshness.

Per Muffin: 183 calories, 5g protein, 12g fat (2g saturated), 16g carbohydrates, 71 mg sodium, 3g fibre

Searching for the next super fruit star

Will Cherrys be the next fruit to rise to the top?

In recent years, consumers have embraced superfruits, such as pomegranate, acai, blueberry and cranberry, for their antioxidant content. However, certain cherry varietals also rank alongside the more renowned super fruits in terms of antioxidant content. Although the fruit has long been favored as a pie filling and ice cream sundae topper, cherry is still establishing itself as a beverage ingredient, but suppliers say that’s ripe for a change.

Battling the effects of Gout and Arthritis

Drinking tart cherry juice can help prevent gout attacks, relieve muscle soreness after exercise, and possibly help with arthritis pain because of its natural anti-inflammatory properties.

Gout expert Naomi Schlesinger, M.D., says the juice seems to reduce the joint inflammation that gout causes. Schlesinger led a study that found patients who took a tablespoon of tart cherry juice concentrate twice a day for four months cut the frequency of their gout attacks in half.

More than a third remained gout attack-free. Other studies have shown that drinking tart cherry juice daily helps runners reduce muscle soreness and reduces inflammation in overweight patients.

Unlike its sweeter cousins, the Bing and black cherry, the tart cherry is bright red and higher in antioxidants.

Cherry Juice Hard to find

Although a number of packaged food and beverage categories will be able to benefit from the rise of the cherry as a superfruit, it is the fruit/vegetable juice category which holds the most promise. Fruit juice is widely perceived as being almost as “natural” as the fresh fruit, while having the added advantage of year-round availability. The cherry juice category is only just emerging, with many gaps waiting to be filled.

For instance, it is currently a challenge to find 100% cherry juice on retailer shelves. Cherry juice products, even those consisting of 100% fruit juice, tend to be blended products, ie consisting of a mixture of fruit juices. Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc launched its new Ocean Spray Cherry range in February 2012, with the tagline “Real Cherries. Real Good”. The four new offerings are juice drinks, combining cherry juice with other juices, such as cranberry and orange.

UK-based Cherrygood Ltd, whose range of cherry juices is available from most of the country's major supermarkets, and which makes much of the health and wellness benefits of cherry juice in its marketing, launched Cherrygood Premium Cherry in January 2012. The product is promoted as possessing “a higher antioxidant content than any other leading chilled juice”, devoid of additives, preservatives, sugar and 100% natural. However, its cherry juice content is just 40%, with the rest consisting of apple juice.

Even Voelkel, a German beverage company specialising in high-quality natural and organic juices, only offers cherry juice as a combination product of apple and cherry juice.

The issue hinges on both taste and price. Pure 100% cherry juice has quite a strong taste, which is not unpleasant, but it may not be appreciated by all consumers. It is also expensive to produce. The 100% cranberry juice category remains a niche for those same reasons. Pure cranberry juice is mainly purchased on medicinal grounds by women suffering from recurring urinary tract infections.

However, 100% or near-100% cherry juice has much greater potential than the cranberry equivalent. Compared to cranberry juice, which centres its high antioxidant value on urinary tract health, cherry juice's health and wellness remit is far broader, encompassing more mainstream health concerns like insomnia and pain management.

In the past, when cherry juice was mainly purchased because of its flavour, a satisfactory flavour profile could be achieved with a fairly low proportion of cherry juice (or none at all!), and consumers had no or few qualms about this. Now, however, with cherry's unstoppable emergence as a superfruit sporting a number of specific health benefits, a growing number of consumers will start to seek out products with high cherry juice content, and will be happy to contend with the more robust flavour.



Cherries still missing from the sports nutrition market

On the sports nutrition front, cherries and cherry products may have an application in speeding up post-exercise recovery and improving performance. The American College of Sports Medicine published an article in August 2011 in its journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise which suggested that cherry juice was able to reduce muscle damage caused by intensive strength exercise. The researchers stipulated that this effect was due to cherry juice's high antioxidant content attenuating the oxidative damage caused by this type of exercise.

At present, cherry ingredients are not commonly employed as functional ingredients by mainstream sports product manufacturers. For example, GlaxoSmithKline's Lucozade branded sports drinks, despite offering cherry flavour varieties, makes nothing of cherries' potential in the realm of post-exercise muscle recovery. Lucozade Sport Lite Cherry, launched in the UK in August 2011, only contains cherry flavouring, as does Lucozade Body Fuel Drink Cherry.

Cherry juice positioned as a functional product is being left to specialist producers. UK-based CherryActive, founded in 2005, for instance, offers CherryActive Concentrate made from Montmorency cherry juice, available bottled or in pouches. The product is primarily positioned at the sports nutrition market, although the company makes reference to joint health, sleep and other antioxidant-related health benefits. In addition to juice, CherryActive also offers freeze-dried powdered cherries in capsules and dried Montmorency cherries for snacking.

In the future, we should start to see more mainstream products in the sports drinks arena, such as, for example, sports drinks employing a significant proportion of cherry juice in order to appeal to people seeking sports drinks with a more natural positioning. Protein shakes with added cherry powder (from freeze-dried cherries) and snack bars with dried cherries and/or cherry powder are also likely to appeal to consumers interested in sports nutrition products.

Oregon Health & Science University presented today 30th MAY 2012 at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference (ACSM)

Tart Cherries May Help Millions Reduce Inflammation to Manage Pain, According to New Research

Tart cherries may help reduce chronic inflammation, especially for the millions of people suffering from debilitating joint pain and arthritis, according to new research from) in San Francisco, California.1 In fact, the researchers suggest tart cherries have the “highest anti-inflammatory content of any food” and can help people with osteoarthritis manage their disease.

In a study of twenty women ages 40 to 70 with inflammatory osteoarthritis, the researchers found that drinking tart cherry juice twice daily for three weeks led to significant reductions in important inflammation markers – especially for women who had the highest inflammation levels at the start of the study.

“With millions of Americans looking for ways to naturally manage pain, it’s promising that tart cherries can help, without the possible side effects often associated with arthritis medications,” said Kerry Kuehl, M.D, Dr.PH., M.S., Oregon Health & Science University, principal study investigator. “I’m intrigued by the potential for a real food to offer such a powerful anti-inflammatory benefit – especially for active adults.”

Often characterised as “wear and tear” arthritis, osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. Athletes are often at a greater risk for developing the condition, given their excessive joint use that can cause a breakdown in cartilage and lead to pain and injury, according to the Arthritis Foundation. The inflammation benefits could be particularly important for athletes, according to Kuehl’s previous research. In a past study he found that people who drank tart cherry juice while training for a long distance run reported significantly less pain after exercise than those who didn’t.2

Go Red Instead to Manage Pain

Along with providing the fruit’s bright red colour, the antioxidant compounds in tart cherries – called anthocyanins – have been specifically linked to high antioxidant capacity and reduced inflammation, at levels comparable to some well-known pain medications.3

Sources:

Sleigh, AE, Kuehl KS, Elliot DL . Efficacy of tart cherry juice to reduce inflammation among patients with osteoarthritis. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. May 30, 2012. 2. Kuehl KS, Perrier ET, Elliot DL, Chestnutt J. Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2010;7:17-22. Phytomedicine 2001;8:362-369.
3. Seeram NP, Momin RA, Nair MG, Bourquin LD. Cyclooxygenase inhibitory and antioxidant cyanidin glycosides in cherries and berries.

Understanding ORAC

Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a measure of antioxidant strength. ORAC measures how many oxygen radicals a specific food can absorb and deactivate. The more oxygen radicals a food can absorb, the higher its ORAC score.

An Antioxident Powerhouse

Tart cherries are packed with powerful antioxidants. In fact, they have among the highest levels of antioxidants of other super foods.2-5 Tart cherries ranked 14 in the top 50 foods for highest antioxidant content per serving size — surpassing well-known leaders such as red wine, prunes, dark chocolate and orange juice, according to one recent study.6

2-5  
2. Wu X, Beecher GR, Holden JM, Haytowitz DB, Gebhardt SE, Prior RL. Lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities of common foods in the United States.

3. Kirakosyan A, Seymour EM, Llanes DEU, Kaufman PB, Bolling SF. Chemical profile and antioxidant capacities of tart cherry products.  

4. Seymour EM, Ou B. Phytochemical and diverse antioxidant profile of whole tart cherries J Agric Food Chem 2004;52:4026-4037.Food Chem 2009;115:20-25.(Prunus cerasus). FASEB J 2011;25:773.14.(Prunus cerasus). J Agric Food Chem 1999;47:840-844. 

5. Wang H, Nair MG, Strasburg GM, Booren AM, Gray JI. Antioxidant polyphenols from tart cherries.

6.  Halvorsen BL, Carlsen MH, Phillips KM, Bohn SK, Holte K, Jacobs DR, Blomhoff R. Content of redox-active compounds (i.e., antioxidants) in foods consumed in the United States. Am J Clin Nutr 2006;84:95-135.

How Tart Cherries Stack Up

Antioxidants were the number one most sought after ingredient in functional beverages in 2010 by over half of Americans.

Tart cherries have as much, if not more, antioxidants than many other fruits.

Five easy ways to add Tart Cherries to your routine

Here's five easy way to add delicious Tart Cherries to your everyday routine.

Red Recovery

 The Red Recovery

Increasingly, sports nutritionists are using tart cherries as part of a recovery program to support athletic performance and recovery. Here’s a sample “red recovery” routine designed to minimize inflammation, boost hydration and fuel the body.

Thanks to everyone who visited us at the Virgin London Marathon

More and more people have asked us about Cherry Juice and its virtues. We had 600 leaflets printed by Northumbria University Life Sciences. They went literally within the first few hours. So if anyone wants to check out the research you can find a link here. If it’s a bit too scientific visit www.choosecherries.co.uk for information on tart cherries.

The Choose Cherries stand was inundated with sampling requests during the 3 day event at London Excel as over 22,000 people sampled our tart cherry juice and wanted to know more about the benefits of tart cherries. We’ve obviously known about the benefits of this fruit for years but it’s good to know that the appetite for more information is increasing. Of course recent research helps the cause as it were.

Help us to help you and have the chance to win some great prizes

Why not visit our new www.choosecherries.co.uk website for a chance to win some fantastic prizes. It's free to enter so what are you waiting for!

The website features some fantastic recipies for you to try, including:
Red Recharge Smoothie

Healthy Heart Pancakes and Cherry Sauce

Cherry Whole Grain Cereal Bar

While you are entering the competition you can 'help us to help you' by answer some simple questions. This will assist Dr. Glyn Howatson in his research into the awareness and benefits of Tart Cherries.

The Power of RED

The Health Benefits of Tart Cherries

Gout & Arthritus:

For decades arthritis and gout sufferers have regularly consumed tart cherry juice for relief of symptoms. As early as the 1950’s, the science began to support this long-held tradition, linking cherry consumption to less pain associated with gout attacks.

Cardiovascular & Heart Health:

Tart cherry consumption has been linked to a number of cardiovascular benefits — from overall anti-inflammation to reductions in cholesterol levels, to decreased risk for atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome — all important heart disease risk factors.

The anthocyanins in tart cherries may also lower blood lipid levels. In an animal study, rats who were fed tart cherry-enriched diets for 90 days demonstrated significantly lower plasma triglyceride and total cholesterol, fasting glucose and insulin, and a plasma marker of oxidative damage.They also had slightly higher high-density lipoproteins (HDL – the "good" cholesterol) and significantly elevated blood antioxidant capacity.

Exercise Recovery & Pain Relief:

The same RED compounds linked to cherries’ arthritis and cardiovascular benefits have now shown promise for athletes and sports recovery to help relieve muscle and joint soreness. Tart cherries could help athletes reduce muscle damage to recover faster from a tough workout, according to a growing body of research

Emerging Benefits:

Researchers continue to uncover new and novel benefits of tart cherries. Some preliminary research has linked tart cherry juice to improvements in sleep and sleep patterns.

In one pilot study, a team of University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and VA Center of Canandaigua researchers found that drinking tart cherry juice daily helped reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep. The 15 older adults saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep, on average, when drinking cherry juice daily, compared to when they were drinking the juice drink.57 A second study found that healthy adults experienced improved sleep time and a 5-6 percent increase in overall sleep efficiency after drinking two servings of tart cherry juice for a week, compared to drinking a fruit cocktail. The volunteers also reported less daytime napping time while drinking the tart cherry juice.

For further details and to read the full Red Report, please click here

Antioxidants and beyond…

As already alluded to, cherries are high in antioxidants. This goes particularly for tart cherries (also often referred to as “sour” cherries). Contrary to what one might expect, tart cherries have the same natural sugar content as sweet cherries but contain more sour and bitter tasting phytochemicals – the very substances which afford them their antioxidant prowess.

In recent years, several pieces of research have emerged which indicate that cherries may hold promise for three further – and potentially very popular – health and wellness applications. They may provide relief from pain and inflammation, act as a sleep aid and become a rising star in the area of sports nutrition.

You can read the full article here

Cherries - More than just antioxidants

Well it looks like the word on Cherries is finally starting to catch on.

Whilst many people have advocated the benefits of this particular fruit for a while it seems that more and more experts are now also looking at Cherries in a whole new - and it has to be said very positive light.

Market research group Euromonitor published a report last week which really starts to not only extol the virtues of this fruit but reveals some of the potent health benefits of cherries. While not currently common, analysts predict that it's only a matter of time before consumers begin to see cherries in more products as companies begin to pick up on the health benefits of the fruit.

You can read the full article here