Tart cherries, which are sometimes called sour, red cherries, or pie cherries are best known as the key ingredient in desserts.

According to ongoing research, Montmorency tart cherries are a rich source of antioxidants, which can help fight cancer and heart disease.

In addition, there are beneficial compounds in Montmorency tart cherries that help relieve the pain of arthritis and gout.

Other fruits and vegetable do not have the pain relief of tart cherries.

While the research on the exact mechanisms that give the pain relief is ongoing, many consumers are discovering that tart cherry juice can stave off pain. Recent research suggests drinking a glass of tart cherry juice might help defuse arthritis pain.

Researchers from Michigan State University found anthocyanins, the same chemicals that give tart cherries their color, may have more powerful anti-inflammatory effects than aspirin.

Here are a few of the Tart Cherry studies that have been conducted so far:

A small randomized controlled trial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine examined the effectiveness of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage. Fourteen male college students drank 12 fl oz of a cherry juice blend or a placebo, twice per day for eight consecutive days. Strength loss was significantly lower in people taking the cherry juice (4%) compared with the placebo (22%). Pain was also significantly lower in people taking the cherry juice.

Jill M. Tall, Ph.D., research fellow at Johns Hopkins, was the lead researcher of a study that tested the effectiveness of orally administrated anthocyanins from tart cherries on inflammation-induced pain in rats. The results of the study suggested that tart cherry anthocyanins may have a beneficial role in reducing inflammatory pain.

One small study published in the Journal of Nutrition supported the anti-gout effectiveness of cherries. They assessed the effects of Bing cherry (a sweet cherry) consumption on healthy women and found that cherry consumption decreased blood urate levels, and there was a marginal decrease in inflammatory markers c-reactive protein and nitric oxide.

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