This Miracle Summer Superfruit Is the Sweetest Way to Reduce Inflammation and More

Sweet Northwest cherries are a delicious summer staple, but did you know these little crimson orbs pack a powerful nutritional punch that hits harder than most other fruits? From June through August, over 2,100 cherry growers across the Pacific Northwest will harvest nearly 500 million pounds of sweet cherries, meaning ample opportunities for all of us to take advantage of their amazing health benefits. Sweet, compact, and fun to eat, everyone knows cherries are a fun and easy summertime snack, but their disease-fighting and immune-boosting qualities are often overlooked. Here are seven ways sweet cherries will improve your health this summer. Sweet cherries may prevent cancer and inflammation We know that free radicals in the body can wreak havoc, but did you know that sweet cherries contain free-radical scavengers that may stop cancer cells from receiving the protein they need to multiply? Not only that, but research has shown that several types of cancer are inhibited by the anthocyanins found in sweet cherries. They are even listed by the American Institute for Cancer Research as a food that fights cancer. These same antioxidants help reduce inflammation. “Sweet cherries reduce inflammation because they’re absolutely loaded with antioxidants,” says nutritionist Keith Ayoob . Sweet cherries prevent gout When the body cannot rid itself of uric acid, or produces too much, gout is the result. A very painful form of arthritis, this common condition affects over eight million Americans. Sweet Northwest cherries are a powerful prevention tool in the fight against gout due to their anti-inflammatory properties. “Sweet cherries have been shown to reduce the levels of uric acid in the bloodstream, which can help to reduce the incidence of gout,” said Lisa Richards, nutritionist and creator of The Candida Diet . “One study showed that eating sweet cherries caused a drop […]

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