Cherries Prevention For Cancer

The common cherry tree, Prunus avium, is native to the temperate areas of eastern Europe and western Asia and is part of the Rose family. The cherry is one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits, along with its cousin, the apricot. Cultivation dates back to 300 B.C. and its lineage dates back even farther.

Cherries Historical Medicinal Usage
All cherries—sweet and sour—are a folk remedy for aches and pain. But recent medical research validates that sour cherries are superior to sweet varieties in their medicinal properties. This resonates with our common sense. Sweeter fruits are higher in carbohydrates and, therefore, lower in micronutrients with pharmaceutically healing properties.

Cherry Varieties

Cherries are of two varieties – sweet cherries and tart cherries. In fact, both varieties of cherries enclose anthocyanins and, hence, irrespective of the type of cherry you decide to consume, the health benefits from them will be the same. However, it has commonly been found that compared to sweet cherries, tart cherries are richer in anthocyanins and phenolics content. In addition, tart cherries are available more easily in concentrate and capsule forms at your neighbourhood pharmacies and health food stores. You may also order tart cherry concentrates and capsules online from the various online pharmacies and health food stores.

Health Benefits

Emerging evidence links cherries to many important health benefits – from helping to ease the pain of arthritis and gout, to reducing risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Cherries also contain melatonin, which has been found to help regulate the body’s natural sleep patterns, aid with jet lag, prevent memory loss and delay the aging process.

Cherries contain beta carotene, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, fiber, and potassium, along with a very high concentration of antioxidants. Tart cherries have more vitamin C and beta carotene with fewer calories, so they are recommended most often for the health benefits of cherries, though both provide nutritional benefit.

Cherries are a good source of potassium. Increasing evidence shows that a diet rich in potassium may help to control blood pressure and reduce the risk for hypertension and stroke.

Tart cherries are also one of the only natural food sources of the hormone melatonin, which is a potent antioxidant with immunomodulating properties. In addition, tart cherries contain phenolic compounds that protect against neurodegeneration. Tart cherries are also rich in vitamin C, and they provide potassium, magnesium, iron, folate, and fiber. Recent studies confirm that tart cherries reduce inflammation and pain and offer protection against neurodegenerative diseases.

A recent study from the University of Michigan reveals new evidence linking cherries to heart health benefits. The study found that a cherry-enriched diet lowered total weight, body fat (especially the important “belly” fat), inflammation and cholesterol-all risk factors associated with heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, being overweight or obese, in particular when the weight is concentrated in the middle, is a major risk factor for heart disease. As nearly two out of three Americans are overweight, emerging studies like this are important in examining the role diet may play in disease management and prevention.

Researchers have confirmed that tart red cherries (Prunus cerasus) offer benefits for patients with autoimmune neurodegenerative and connective tissue diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. Studies show that tart red cherries reduce pain and inflammation and also offer protection against cancer. These effects are caused by plant phytochemicals known as anthocyanins.

In a related study, researchers demonstrated that tart cherry anthocyanins may help prevent muscle pain related to intensive exercise. Young men who incorporated tart cherry juice into their daily diet experienced decreased symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage. In addition, cherries may offer protection against gout, a painful inflammatory condition caused by urate crystals infiltrating joint fluid.

Melatonin is which is present in cherries is a natural sleep aid. It is an antioxidant and will help to regulate your sleeping and waking patterns. It’s found in the human body but only in small quantities.

There have been other studies that have shown cherries help ease the pain of arthritis and gout, as well as reducing the risk of contracting a number of serious diseases including diabetes and cancer. Further studies have indicated that the abundance of anthocyanins in the flesh and skin of cherries help reduce oxidative stress, which is a major cause of autoimmune diseases.

Some research has even heralded the health benefits of cherries to include the ability to fight memory loss, lower cholesterol, help your sleep patterns and fight diabetes.
The bioflavonoid anthocyanins provide the fruit with attractive hues. Cherries also enclose highly potent antioxidants that help in inhibiting the natural aging process by preventing cell damage as well as maintaining the immune system in an ideal condition. Normally, the darker the color of the berry, the more nutritious substances, minerals, including exceptional minerals, and vitamins they enclose. If you consume sufficient amounts of cherries regularly, it will help you to ward off several problems and keep you healthy.

Cherries are a healthy snack. A serving size of 21 cherries has less than 100 calories.

Cherries Cure for Cancer

The compound found in cherries is perillyl alcohol (POH), which is very effective in reducing the occurrence of all types of cancer. Stopping the spread of cancerous cells by depriving them of the crucial proteins they require in order growing.

Sweet Cherries
Sweet cherries have several cancer-preventive components including fiber, vitamin C, carotenoids and anthocyanins. The role of sweet cherries in cancer prevention lies mostly in the anthocyanin content, especially in cyanidin. Sweet cherries are a good source of cyanidin, and cyanidin appears to have particular importance in terms of reducing cancer risk. In a study by Acquaviva et al, a significant increase in free radical scavenging was demonstrated with exposure to cyanidin (Acquaviva, 2003) and a separate study using human cancer cell lines demonstrated cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of mutated cells exposed to cherry anthocyanins (Lazze, 2004; Shih, 2005).
Further, research suggests that the growth arrest characteristics of cyanidin are likely, at least in part, to be a result of significant inhibitory effects of these cherry components on epidermal growth factor receptors (Meirers, 2001). Finally, there is compelling evidence from basic science that cyanidin may also promote cellular differentiation and thus reduce the risk for transformation of epithelial cells to cancer (Serafino, 2004).

Tart Cherries
Michigan State University (MSU) was the first to identify anthocyanins in tart cherries. Anthocyanins are plant pigments responsible for the bright red color of cherries. These pigments are known to have antioxidant activity that fights free radical damage. Dr. Mauraleedharan Nair and Dr. Leslie Bourguin, along with several graduate students, worked on experiments that are part of ongoing research on the components of tart cherries.
According to new studies at MSU that were published in Cancer Letters, tart cherries may reduce the risk of colon cancer because of the anthocyanins and cyanidin they contain. And according to Raymond Holm, M.D. at the University of Iowa, tart cherries contain perillyl alcohol (POH), a natural compound that is extremely powerful in reducing the incidence of all types of cancer. Perillyl alcohol “shuts down the growth of cancer cells by depriving them of the proteins they need to grow,” explains Dr. Hohl. “It works on every kind of cancer we’ve tested it against.”

Cherries Dosage

Adults (18 years and older)
There is no proven effective dose for cherry. Twelve fluid ounces of a tart cherry juice blend has been used twice daily for eight days.

Children (under 18 years old)
There is no proven safe and effective dose for cherry in children.

For use in reducing pain after intensive excercise, a dose of 12 ounces of cherry juice twice daily has been tested in the tiny study noted earlier.
A typical dosage recommendation for gout is a 1/2 pound of whole cherries daily.

Cherries Precaution

Cherry may alter the absorption of oral drugs, herbs, or supplements. Cherry may stimulate gastrointestinal function in patients following peptic ulcer surgery. Consuming cherry pits or other parts of the cherry plant may cause pain and gastrointestinal problems.

Cherry is not recommended in pregnant or breastfeeding women due to a lack of available scientific evidence.

Cherry Products

Cherries still taste great when, dried, frozen or put in jams and jellies. You can also enjoy the canned versions when you are ready for a tasty cherry dessert. If you like cherry juice, you can find it along with other cherry products at your neighborhood health food store and at times even in some of the major chain stores. Search cherry products in Google.

Cherries Research Links

Yamaguchi K and co-workers from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, found that wild cherry bark exhibited anti-proliferative activity in human colorectal cancer cells in a cell-culture study.
http://www.zhion.com/herb/Cherries.html

Tart cherry anthocyanins inhibit tumor development in Apc(Min) mice and reduce proliferation of human colon cancer cells.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12706854

Tart Cherries Boost Insulin Production
http://www.breakthroughhealth.net/tart-cherries-and-melatonin-research

Cherry Juice Mends Muscle Damage
http://www.herbs2000.com/h_menu/v_cherry.htm