TART CHERRY JUICE HEALTH BENEFITS

A PERSONAL ANECDOTE

For roughly the last 20 years, my blood pressure/pulse readings have been irregular. Not bad, not always good. At times, my pulse would be higher than usual. So might be my systolic number. The diastolic was generally the same.

When I took a blood pressure pill, the numbers became good and healthy. Sometimes the numbers were okay before then, but not as often as I would like.

My practice has been to work out every morning before breakfast and to carefully record my weight, blood pressure, workout reps, cardio minutes and calories consumed per each meal.

About a week ago, I decided to check my blood pressure before I did any exercise, took the pill or began my workout. I was surprised and pleased. My numbers were 118/74/55. Each morning thereafter, I got the same good readings. Some slight variations, but good numbers.

Something was going on. Something different. My workouts had not changed appreciably. My calorie intake was about the same. My weight stayed somewhere within 180-183.

I really couldn’t grasp any behavior differences. Maybe I should “reverse engineer” my recent habits. I had begun to drink tart cherry juice. This coincided with my improved blood pressure. Still, I wasn’t convinced that this accounted for the big difference. I didn’t even fully know what tart cherry juice was supposed to do.

My interest in tart cherry juice had come from my prior posts on Alica Schmidt and Steph Curry.

Alica favors a drink – Cheribundi – for better sleep and muscle recovery after workouts. Steph had preferred tart cherry extract capsules for fitness in general.

My blood presssure has continued to be good and I decided to do some research on the benefits of tart cherry juice. What I found has convinced me that this was the difference in my blood pressure numbers.

The remainder of this relatively brief post will put forth the total health benefits of tart cherry juice and how Amazon comes into play.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS

With help from Healthline, I found that tart cherry juice is made from the fruit of the prunus cerasus tree, native to southwest Asia and Europe. Tart cherries are bright red in color; sweet cherries are dark. Tart cherries are consumed dried, frozen or juiced. Here are the main benefits:

Nutrients. An 8 ounce serving of tart cherry juice gives us:

• Calories – 149
• Carbs – 35 grams
• Protein – 1 gram
• Fat – 1.5 gram
• Copper – 12% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Potassium – 9% of the DV
• Manganese – 7% of the DV
• Magnesium – 7% of the DV
• Iron – 6% of the DV
• Vitamin A- 6% of the DV

Muscle strength and relief of soreness. Tests on long distance runners have shown much less pain for those who took tart cherry juice vs. a placebo. Similar tests showed greater preservation of muscle strength.

Better sleep. Tart cherries contain both melatonin and tryptophan. Both can reduce insomnia.

Reduction of gout symptoms. Drinking tart cherry juice “seems to” reduce blood levels of uric acid. More studies are pending.

Brain health. Tart cherry juice contains large amounts of antioxidants. which may have protective effects on brain cells.

Strengthening of immune system. Tart cherry juice is rich in the vitamins, minerals and plant compounds that are proven to boost our immune systems. The high antioxidant content is helpful in preventing infections.

Protection against cancer. Antioxidants in tart cherries “may” prevent cancer growth.

Reduction of pain. Tart cherry juice “may” reduce peripheral neuropathy, a type of pain caused by nerve damage.

Reduction of blood pressure. Tart cherries “may” reduce blood pressure. The juice certainly did just that for me.

Help in weight loss. Tart cherry powder reduced weight, belly fat and blood cholesterol in tests on animals. We need studies on humans.

AMAZON

I am both a customer and associate of Amazon, happy in both roles. As a customer, I enjoy the seemingly unlimited array of choices available to me, as well as the good service and fair prices.

As an associate, I am able to use links to Amazon products in conjunction with my posts to show relevance. I may be able to earn from activity on the links. This is affiliate marketing. For more on this, see my upper menu – BECOME AN AFFILIATE MARKETER – for full information on this business opoortunity.

Each link will show pictures, full information, prices and suggestions for similar or complementary other choices. Here are a few:

Cheribundi tart cherry juice – I have ordered these bottles several times, beginning when I noticed that Alica Schmidt used them. She trains hard and appreciates the benefits. These are delicious!

Tart cherry extract capsules – Steph Curry likes the capsules. He is an incredible athlete!

Another tart cherry option

Tart cherry gummies – I have also used these with good results

FINAL THOUGHTS

I get the impression that the health benefits of tart cherry juice are somewhat new to the general public. Many of the listed benefits speak of tests on animals, not humans. Also, I see where a health benefit “may” be realized. I understand conservative reporting on health matters, so that makes sense to me. But I believe that tart cherry juice will continue to build on its reputation as a very healthy drink. Even those with glaucoma have found eyesight improvement with tart cherry juice, but more tests are needed.

As with all new foods or drinks, we are wise to confer with our health experts on the affects of tart cherries with our medications, if any.

We generally know that two 8 ounce glasses of tart cherry juice are recommended (though I have consumed more than that with no problems).

Maybe my experience was only anecdotal, but tart cherry juice has worked for me with significant impact.

Please leave me any comments or questions in the “Comments” section below.

Let’s stay healthy!