Tiny tart cherries prove to have big benefits for diabetics

Tart cherries. Yes, I said tart cherries. This subject matter has been popping up frequently over the last few weeks and I decided to go for it this morning and focus on that bright red, yummy tart cherry. It seems that these tiny little pieces of fruit have some real big health benefits for diabetes and heart disease.

Rats that received whole tart cherry powder mixed into a high-fat diet didn’t gain as much weight or build up as much body fat as rats that didn’t receive cherries. And their blood showed much lower levels of molecules that indicate the kind of inflammation that has been linked to heart disease and diabetes. In addition, they had significantly lower blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides than the other rats.

Where can you find tart cherries? They are frequently sold dried, frozen or in juices. Tart cherries are a bit different then the commonly sold bing cherries. Tart cherries have higher concentrations of antioxidant anthocyanins than those sweet cherries.

The bottom line is that the rats that were given the cherry powder and pieces of tart cherry has considerably less ‘belly fat’ which is so prevalant among heart disease, diabetes and other inflammatory process in humans bodies.

via SD