In this unusually hot and summery month of July in London, my new best friend and drink of choice is concentrated cherry juice with chilled soda water. Not only is it deliciously refreshing and tasty, but according to a zillion trusted sources only a tablespoon of cherry concentrate a day can significantly ease gout, arthritis, muscle pain and insomnia, prevent stroke and heart attack, and ongoing studies suggest that it may even prevent cancer. I don’t have either arthritis or gout, and don’t do enough sport to warrant muscle pain, but I can say I am sleeping like a log.
Cures gout, joint pain, prevents heart attacks and strokes
According to glamorous website joint-pain.com, ‘cherries have been shown to lower levels of uric acid in the blood, which is one of the most common causes of gout pain. A study at the University of California Davis showed that consuming a serving of cherries daily significantly lowered the blood uric acid levels of women by as much as 15 percent. The secret to the benefits of cherry juice is a compound called anthocyanins, which are the pigments that give cherries their bright red color and are also believed to be the key to helping the body relieve inflammation. As an added bonus, these same anthocyanins may significantly reduce your risk for colon cancer, the third leading cancer in America. Doctors and scientists believe that the anthocyanins in the cherries is what caused the decrease in blood urates and what causes cherry juice gout relief. They also feel that consuming anthocyanins on a regular basis may help lower heart attack and stroke risk, and are even studying the benefits of cherry juice and how it may have direct applications to the treatment and prevention of cancer.
Melatonin in cherries helps you sleep like a baby
On the riveting medical news today website – Russel J. Reiter, Ph.D, a biomedical scientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center and one of the world’s leading authorities on melatonin, says while melatonin supplement pills have been heavily promoted as a sleep aid, foods such as cherries – available year-round as dried, frozen and juice – may be a better alternative for boosting the body’s own supply of melatonin. “When consumed regularly, tart cherries may help regulate the body’s natural sleep cycle and increase sleep efficiency, including decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep,” says Reiter. “And, because cherries are so rich in other antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, you get other important health benefits.”
Recover quicker from marathon training
If you are one of those super fit running freaks, not like me, you’ll also be pleased to know the research results of Dr Glyn Howatson, exercise physiologist and Laboratory Director in the School of Psychology and Sports Sciences’. He examined the properties of Montmorency cherries in a study that found that athletes who drank the juice recovered faster after the London marathon running than a placebo controlled group. Inflammation was also reduced in the cherry juice group, as was oxidative stress, a potentially damaging response that can be caused by strenuous physical activity, particularly long distance endurance exercise.
Even the rarely open-minded Daily Mail is on the case reporting that ‘drinking a glass of cherry juice a day offers the same health benefits as eating 23 portions of fruit and vegetables.’
I’m onto it and you should be too. There are several brands but right this minute the raw food hypocrite is drinking CherryActive concentrate. You can buy it here or at Wholefoods or Planet Organic.
The Raw Food Hypocrite 
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