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CherriesPick A Peck of Prevention
Cherries ~ Natures Super Foods
Pick Some Prevention Healing Power...
Can Help:
Relieve gout
Prevent a variety of cancers
Reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke
With their hard little pits and rich, shirt-staining colors, cherries take a bit more work to eat than many fruits.
But research suggests that these little super fruits, which contain a compound called perillyl alcohol, are worth the bother-and then some.
Perillyl alcohol is about the best thing we've ever seen for curing mammary cancer in laboratory animals.
In fact, it shows so much promise that it's being tried in cancer patients at the University of Wisconsin.
Perillyl alcohol belongs to a group of compounds called monoterpenes.
Limonene, found in the peel of citrus fruits, is another member of this family.
These compounds have been shown in studies to block the formation of a variety of cancers, including those of the breasts, lungs, stomach, liver, and skin.
Expectations for perillyl alcohol are high, in part, because it's 5 to 10 times more potent than limonene, which itself has been proven to be very effective.
It's not yet known how much perillyl alcohol there is in cherries.
Even in small amounts, however, the compound probably has some beneficial effects.
So these super fruits, when eaten as part of a well-rounded diet, can play a small but important role in helping the body ward off cancer.
In The Kitchen Fresh cherries are at their ever-loving, mouth-watering best from May through July.
To get the sweetest taste from the harvest, here are some tips you may want to try.
Check the stems.
When buying, make sure that the stems are green.
Darkcolored stems are a tip-off that they've have been sitting in the bin too long.
Buy in small quantities.
These dynamos are highly perishable.
Even when properly stored in the refrigerator, they'll only keep for a few days.
So plan on buying only what you're going to eat right away.
Store them dry.
Washing cherries ahead of time can cause them to spoil in the refrigerator.
So it's best to store them dry, then wash them as needed.
It's important, however, to wash them thoroughly.
These super fruits are often coated with a mixture of insecticides, antifungal oils, and moisture seals that producers use to keep them fresh.
Use up the extras.
When you're tired of munching on them, you may want to try a little juice.
Simply wash, stem, pit, and crush em.
Heat them in a saucepan, then press the mixture through a strainer.
Refrigerate several hours, then pour off the clear juice and add sugar to taste.
Vitamin C and More
There's more to cherries than exotic new compounds.
They also contain a variety of healing compounds.
For example, a half-cup of the sour variety has 5 milligrams of vitamin C, about 8 percent of the Daily Value (DV).
They also provide vitamins A and E.
The sweet variety also contain these nutrients, but not as much of vitamins A and E as their mouth-puckering kin.
The vitamin E in these super fruits are of particular interest, since one study of postmenopausal women found that those who consumed the most vitamin E had the least risk of heart disease.
And there was an interesting twist.
The women who got their vitamin E naturally, solely from food, had less risk than women who were also taking vitamin E supplements.
The problem with vitamin E is that it's difficult to get the DV of 30 international units from food alone.
In fact, the only foods with a lot of vitamin E are high-fat cooking oils and nuts, which you don't want a lot of.
Cherries are one of the better food sources for vitamin E.
Finally, these super fruits contain a compound called quercetin.
Like vitamin C and other antioxidants, quercetin helps block the damage caused by free radicals, unstable oxygen molecules in the body.
Studies show that quercetin and similar acting compounds may significantly reduce the risk of stroke and also cancer.
The Pleasure Pit
The maraschino cherry is perhaps the only fruit that spends most of its life in a jar.
Used to add a jot of color to fruit cocktails and a swirl of sweetness to Shirley Temples, this variety doesn't have much in common with their on-the-tree kin.
Made by steeping pitted cherries in a flavored sugar syrup, maraschinos have never gotten much respect, not only because of their sticky-sweet taste but also because their fire engine-red color originally came from harmful dyes.
Even though safer dyes are now being used, maraschinos, which were originally flavored with maraschino liqueur, aren't exactly a healthful food.
They're essentially devoid of nutrients and fiber, and they're high in calories, with 60 calories in a l ounce serving, or about 10 calories per.
Of course, it's unlikely that you'd ever eat more than one or two maraschinos at a time, so they really won't do you any harm.
Go ahead and enjoy them.
Just be sure to lick the red from your lips when you're done.
Relief for Gout
Folklore is full of stories about people who relieved the agonizing pain of gout by eating cherries or drinking the juice daily.
Marilyn and I have found a great site that delves into the topic of gout and healing recipes quite extensively and we recommend you check it out at; While the Arthritis Foundation says that there's no evidence to suggest this really can ease the ache of gout, many gout sufferers swear by them.
A survey by Prevention magazine found that 67 percent of readers who tried this remedy for gout had good results.
We advises people with gout to quit eating red meats and organ meats and also to drink two to three glasses of cherry juice a day.
We recommend using pure black-cherry juice diluted with an equal amount of water.
Those who have followed this diet faithfully have all gotten results, some within 48 to 72 hours, and some within a week, depending on the severity.
Getting the Most
Eat them raw.
Because cooking destroys some of the vitamin C and other nutrients in cherries, it's best to eat them raw to reap their full nutritional bounty.
Prepare them for baking.
While it's easy to eat sweet cherries raw, that's really not an option for the sour kinds.
Still, they're high enough in a variety of nutrients that they'll keep some of their value even after baking.
Cerise Topping
Ingredients;
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3-1/2 cups Bing cherries, stemmed and pitted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
Preparation;
Place the cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
Whisk in the apple juice to dissolve the cornstarch.
Whisk in the honey and vanilla.
Add the cherries, cinnamon, and cardamom (if using).
Cook over mediumlow heat, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and turns transparent.
Remove from the heat.
Serve warm.
Makes about 4 cups
Cook's Notes: Serve over pancakes, waffles, or nonfat frozen yogurt.
The sauce can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 3 days.
Reheat gently in the microwave or in a saucepan before serving.
PER l/2 CUP: calories 77 total fat 0.7 g. saturated fat 0.2 g. cholesterol 0 mg. sodium 1 mg. dietary fiber 1.1 g.
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