Are cherries an anti inflammatory ?

[Guest guest]

Hi Group:

Hi Group:

Came across this current article at: www.healthscout.com at their arthritis

link

Who knows, it might help some of us.

Harry

By s

HealthScout Reporter

TUESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthScout) -- If you think life is a bowl of cherries,

well, it just might be if you have arthritis. Eating just 20 a day can reduce

inflammatory pain, researchers at Michigan State University say.

Cherries also contain powerful antioxidants, says Muraleedharan Nair, a

professor of horticulture at the school in East Lansing, and may be some

protection against heart disease.

The government, however, is waiting for harder results. " So far, there has

been no petition filed on the medical use of cherries for pain relief, " says

Emil Corwin, a spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration in

Washington, D.C. " Since this is a medical claim, we will need to wait for

more research. "

While this research was done on tart (sour cherries), you may get the same

benefits from the more palatable sweet ones, Nair says. " We just don't know

how many of those you have to eat to get the same results. "

This report appears in the February issue of the Journal of Natural Products,

published by the American Chemical Society.

Northern Michigan produces about 300 million pounds of tart cherries a year,

and the growers report less arthritic pain, fewer heart attacks and fewer

health problems overall, says Nair. " But this is only anecdotal, so we

decided to look at cherries in the lab. "

In chemical tests, Nair and his colleagues found that cherries can be just as

useful for pain as aspirin, ibuprofen, and other anti-inflammatory drugs.

The human body makes prostaglandins to lessen the pain of inflammation, and

cox-1 and cox-2 enzymes trigger their production. Cherries are high in these

triggering enzymes, Nair says.

This fruit also contains anthocyanins, which serve as antioxidants and

control the production of free radicals, which are linked to heart disease.

The anthocyanins, says Nair, are the same substance that gives cherries their

appealing color.

According to MSU researchers, the antioxidants in cherries are more powerful

than vitamins E or C. Just one serving -- or 20 cherries -- will provide 12

to 25 milligrams of active antioxidant compounds. And the Michigan team is

now designing a food supplement that will supply a daily dose.

" A growing body of evidence indicates that cardiovascular disease, arthritis,

various cancers, and Alzheimer's disease are associated, at least in part,

with the damaging effects of uncontrolled free-radical production, " they say.

What To Do

" This study hasn't been conducted on humans, so don't throw your medicine

away or ignore your doctor's advice, " says Liz Ward, a registered dietitian

and spokesperson for The American Dietetic Association. " Still, this study is

intriguing. There's a wide array of benefits that comes from eating fruits

and vegetables, and we are just beginning to document them. In the meantime,

we recommend at least five servings of these foods a day. "

Be careful, though, many people don't tolerate cherries well, and eating them

can lead to skin breakouts and other reactions.

If you want to add cherries to your diet, start with 20 fresh cherries or

drink a glass of cherry juice each day, Nair says. " Dried cherries can be a

nice alternative, though you'll have to eat about three or four times more of

them. "

What about cherry pie? Bad news there. Some of the benefits are lost with the

cooking, Nair adds.

For information on the treatment of gout and arthritis, contact The Arthritis

Foundation.

Go to The American Academy for Nutritional Research for data on the benefits

of antioxidants.