Walk into the grocery store or visit your local farmers’ market and you’re bound to see one fruit front and center right now: cherries! Summer is peak cherry season and the best time to enjoy this delicious fruit. Besides being a sweet summer treat, cherries are loaded with nutritional benefits. In fact, if you eat them every day, you can expect both your short-term and long-term health to benefit.
Curious as to what changes you can expect to experience? Here, registered dietitians reveal seven.
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What Are the Health Benefits of Cherries?
Just what makes cherries such a nutritious snack? Rebecca Russell, MS, RD, IFNCP, ATC, a functional medicine registered dietitian at The Social Nutritionist , says that one major reason is that cherries are loaded with antioxidants, including vitamins A and C. “They also contain a powerful polyphenol called anthocyanin which is what gives cherries their bright red color and helps fight inflammation in the body,” she explains.
Russell adds that cherries are also a good source of potassium , which is important for heart health . “They are also a good source of fiber which helps digestive health and the gut microbiome,” she shares, listing yet another health benefit of cherries.
For those who want to keep their blood sugar levels steady, cherries are a good snack choice. “Cherries have a low glycemic load and glycemic index score, which makes them a great fruit choice for people who are concerned about their blood sugar numbers,” explains Stephanie Dunne, RDN , an integrative dietitian nutritionist and founder of Nutrition QED .
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What Happens if You Eat Cherries Every Day?
With all these nutritional benefits, you may want to start eating cherries every day. If you do, there are several ways your short-term and long-term health will be affected.
1. You may sleep better
Dunne says that tart cherries contain two compounds linked to helping with falling asleep as well as staying asleep: melatonin and tryptophan. “Consuming tart cherry juice before bed has been proven in research to help most people get a more restful night's sleep,” she explains.
Russell points to the same research, highlighting that drinking tart cherry juice before bed helped people stay asleep longer. So if you often wake up in the middle of the night, enjoying a cup of tart cherry juice in the evening may help.
2. You could recover from working out faster
Cherries are a great food to integrate into a pre-workout snack or meal. “ Some research shows that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of cherries may help reduce muscle pain and inflammation after exercising,” Russell says.
According to Dunne, the best way to get the recovery benefits of cherries is to eat them before working out instead of after. “Research has shown that consuming fresh, powdered or juiced tart cherries in the days before heavy exercise, such as weight lifting and endurance running, can speed recovery after the exercise is complete,” Dunne says. “This is an important distinction as many professional and amateur athletes give a lot of thought as to when certain nutrients should be consumed in relation to their exercise schedule.”
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3. You could get sick less often
As Russell pointed out earlier, one of the antioxidants in cherries is vitamin C. Both dietitians say that this vitamin plays a crucial role in immune health, so eating cherries every day could lead to a stronger immune system. That means you could get sick less often and recover quickly when you do get sick. Dunne recommends snacking on cherries when you feel a cold coming on to give your immune system a needed boost.
4. Your digestion may improve
Since cherries contain fiber, eating them for a snack in place of a lower-fiber option could lead to better digestion and less constipation. Russell says that the cherries’ fiber isn’t their only gut-supporting nutrient—anthocyanin, a polyphenol found in cherries, helps boost beneficial gut bacteria.
5. You’ll have better cardiovascular health
If one of your health goals is lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease, add cherries to your heart-healthy shopping list. Dunne and Russell both say the antioxidants in cherries make them a heart-healthy food choice.
“They are also an excellent source of potassium, which is beneficial for people who are trying to control their blood pressure. The balance between sodium and potassium in the body is one of the things that keeps our blood pressure low,” Dunne says, giving another way cherries benefit heart health.
6. Your brain will benefit
If you continue eating cherries every day long-term, it’s not just your heart that will benefit—your brain will too.
“Cherries are also full of polyphenol antioxidants such as anthocyanins that can reduce inflammation in the body and protect our cells from damage,” Dunne says.
This includes the brain. Scientific research performed on mice shows that anthocyanins significantly reduce inflammation in the brain, improving memory and helping lower the risk of dementia.
7. Your risk for chronic diseases will be lower
Both experts emphasize that the antioxidants and other nutrients in cherries benefit the entire body and—when eating regularly long-term—reduce the risk of chronic diseases that inflammation can cause. “Eating polyphenol foods, like cherries, are a great preventative strategy for heart disease, diabetes, mental illnesses and certain cancers. This is due to their powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties,” Russell explains.
It’s easy to find cherries now because they’re in season, but when summer ends, both dietitians say buying frozen cherries is a great way to keep your cherry-eating going. “Frozen cherries are just as nutritious as fresh cherries. Frozen cherries are often picked at peak ripeness and then flash frozen which helps to retain their nutrients and antioxidants. Especially during the off-season, frozen cherries are a great option,” Russell says.
With this in mind, cherries make a great snack both now and all year long. Three cheers for cherries!
Next up, here's what happened to one Parade editor when she ate a banana every day for a week.
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