Do you find yourself reaching for more pain relievers than you feel good about. Do you worry about the side effects? There is a body of published scientific evidence out there that for my money indicates you should reach for TART Cherries FIRST. WHY?
Let's take a look:
In October of 2005, the FDA put out a warning to cherry growers insisting they they cease making substantiated health claims that specific chemicals in cherries could reduce pain and inflammation. The move by the FDA is not surprising in light of the fact that the standard treatment for muscle pain and inflammation has been (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). We are talking about 111 million prescriptions and approximately 60% of over the counter pain reliever sales in the USA alone. Money talks, nobody walks.
Of course those pain relievers can have some pretty deadly side effects including gastric bleeding, heart attack, and kidney failure. The compounds found in cherries modulate numerous pathways to protect against other conditions associated with INFLAMMATION including cancer, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and even Alzheimer's disease.
Tart cherries:
Were ranked 14 among the top 50 foods for highest antioxidant content per serving (Better than red wine and dark chocolate)
Bioactive compounds in tart cherries beneficially inhibit certain enzymes and boost others
Tart cherries have shown significant improvement in joint pain during a study on osteoarthritis of the knees (2007 study at Baylor Research Institute) / Unlike acetaminophen the tart cherries do not cause possible kidney and liver damage) In addition acetaminophen apparently does NOT decrease inflammation.
Tart cherry juice in a double-blind study performed on runners participating in a 24 hour relay race. The runners drank EITHER two 355 milliter beverages containing tart cherry juice or a placebo daily for one week prior to AND during the race. BOTH groups reported pain after the race. The group given the tart cherry juice reported substantially less pain increase after the race. Other studies were done on runners to determine there was accelerated recovery with the tart cherry juice group. Still further studies were done on isolated arm exercises. There again was considerably less muscle strength in the group drinking tart cherry juice.Still another test involved 10 males doing two sets of an intensive unilateral leg exercise. The tart cherry juice group had faster recovery times.
There are several other studies mentioned in this months issue of "Life Extension Magazine" which also mention chronic inflammation of 0besity, cardiovascular disease prevention and anti-cancer mechanisms, optimizing metabolic support, nuerodegenerative disease defense and others.
How do TART Cherries target so many disease origins?
They inhibit cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 enzymes that help make inflammatory prostaglandins
They suppress nuclear factor-kappaB activation
They switch off pivotal genes involved in cancer and inflammation and switch ON apoptosis which is the programmed death of potentially pre-cancerous cells
They prevent lipoprotein peroxidation that leads to endothelial damage which cause white blood cells to cling to blood vessel walls
They target cholesterol and triglycerides
They aid in controlling blood glucose levels and interfere with glucose synthesis and release
They boost detoxifying enzymes and the natural body antioxidants glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase
They lower blood levels of URIC ACID
They exert an analgesic activity and inhibit oxidative stress
Do you think I understand all of that or even any of it? All of it......(Absolutely NOT, some of it ...yes)
The only thing I really need to remember is that INFLAMMATION is not good, TART cherries are good.
Stay away form sugar added cherry juice and all the preservatives etc. TRY and buy TART cherries in season and juice them or better yet VITA Mix them and obtain the juice and all the pulp etc. Look for other sources to obtain the benefits of TART Cherries.
One source would be Tart Cherry Supplements which you can purchased from a number of sources. For my money, I am going to start adding these to my diet. I figure GOD made tart cherries, laboratories made prescription drugs. Personally I do NOT like drug side effects.
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/tart-cherry?SourceCode=INTL081&mkwid=sKkHznC61&pcrid=31605230887&gclid=CMCpsOGxt7cCFcZAMgod1UsApA
Dan
Here is another link about Tart Cherries:
http://supplement-geek.com/tart-cherry-juice-tart-cherries-review/
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