The health benefits of cherries

The beautiful month of May is blooming all around us, yet rather than gathering nuts, we’re looking at all the succulent fruit bursting into juicy life full of great health benefits. One fruit in particular caught our eye this week, and that’s cherries.

Sweet, juicy and delicious – the humble cherry may not have the best reputation in terms of health benefits, with many believing it is higher in calories than other fruit, but we couldn’t be more wrong. Cherries have less calories than bananas and grapes, and offer many other health benefits besides.

Each juicy fruit is full of vitamins, just one portion of 125g contains 20 to 30% of your daily recommended amount of vitamin C, 25% of recommended carotene and 15% of your recommended vitamin B9, also known as folic acid. This little red berry is also famed for its diuretic powers thanks to its high levels of water and potassium.

One last benefit to mention: properties to help you sleep. Some varieties of cherries, notably Morello cherries, have an influence on melatonin levels. A study1 proved that when participants consumed cherry juice every morning and evening over 7 days, their melatonin levels increased and they slept for 25 minutes longer each night on average. Let’s go gathering cherries this May!

1) Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. Glyn Howat, Phillip G. Bell, Jamie Tallent, Benita Middleton, Malachy P. McHugh, Jason Ellis. European Journal of Nutrition December 2012, Volume 51, Issue 8, pp 909–916