A Cherry a Day

The latest and greatest new fruit everyone seems to be talking about is Cherries- tiny little reddish pink balls of, apparently healthy, delicious goodness!

Problems sleeping? Can’t remember things as well? Or maybe experiencing some major jet lag? Recent research has showen cherries to be helpful from everything to easing stiff joints to reducing the risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.

Cherries contain a number of anti-oxidants which help eliminate free radicals in the body- those pesky, unstable molecules which cause damage to other (otherwise healthy)cells. This damage causes us to feel bad, gain weight, and age faster… Basically free radicals are no friend of mine!

There are two types of cherries, sweet and sour. The most popular type of sweet cherry is the Bing cherry, which is sold fresh in the grocery store. Tart or sour cherries are canned and used in pies, dried into fruit snacks and made into juice concentrate. Like most other fruits, cherries are fat-free, low in calories and sodium and high in certain minerals and vitamins such as
•    Vitamin A
•    Bioflavonoids
•    Ellagic acid
•    Perillyl
•    anthocyanins
•    Melatonin

Furthermore, cherries are a good-ol American grown fruit. The US is currently the 2nd largest producer and  exporter of cherries in the world!

So cheers to cherry good health!  And to quote the famous Emily Dickinson- “Merry, merry, take a cherry, mine are sounder, mine are rounder”.

View my favorite cherry recipes.

HEALTHY Chocolate?

Have you ever heard such a thing?  Well, surprising or not, cocoa is actually a fruit- and one of the healthiest out there! Cornell University food scientists discovered that cocoa has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times the antioxidants found in green tea.

Additional research has shown a link between cocoa and cardiovascular health, with reduced risk of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. In fact, raw cocoa has the highest antioxidant value of all the natural foods in the world!!!
Cocoa also appears to have anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties. And cocoa is a good source of the minerals magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, and manganese; plus some of the B Vitamins.

Furthermore, cocoa has a high content of the “beauty” mineral, sulfur. Sulfur helps build strong nails and hair, promotes healthy and beautiful skin, helps detoxify the liver, and supports healthy functioning of the pancreas.

So what are you witing for? Eat/drink up!