Health Benefits of Black Cherry

Photo Credit:Byzantine Flowers

'Recently I came across some 100% pure black cherry juice here in cherry capital in Northern Michigan, and I am hooked! It’s been one month drinking at least 1 – 2 quarts a week and I feel the difference in my sleep which has improved vastly.

As I researched the health benefits… I see that black cherry juice has melatonin, a hormone that helps your body to rest and sleep. In addition, anthocyanins is also found in black cherries and in other rich pigmented berries…'

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Cherry Smoothies To Combat Arthritis

'Cherries have long been used to sooth chronically inflamed joints. In my experience, cherries aren't consistently effective in helping cases of degenerative arthritis, but when used in conjunction with a dairy-free diet, I find that they can significantly reduce joint pain caused by metabolic-type arthritides like rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and psoriatic arthropathy. 

Cherries are one of nature's best sources of a group of health-enhancing pigments called anthocyanins. Specifically, cherries are abundant in anthocyanocides, which provide powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the body. Anthocyanocides are particularly effective in keeping blood uric acid in check, which is why cherries are a viable remedy for people who tend to experience gout.' 


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Sleep Chemical Melatonin Linked to Weight Loss, Heart Disease Prevention

PhotoCredit:Health.com

'University of Granada researchers have proven that melatonin -a natural hormone produced by the body- helps in controlling weight gain -even without reducing the intake of food-, improves blood lipid profile -as it reduces triglicerids-, increases HDL cholesterol and reduces LDL cholesterol.

Melatonin is found in small quantities in some fruits and vegetables as mustard, Goji berries, almonds, sunflower seeds, cardamom, fennel, coriander and cherries. Thus, the intake of this kind of food might help in controlling weight gain and preventing heart diseases associated to obesity and dyslipidemia.'

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Unplug! Too Much Light at Night May Lead to Depression

Photo Credit:http://www.housetohome.co.uk

'A study done with hamsters at Ohio State University Medical Center has found that chronic exposure to dim light at night can cause signs of depression after just a few weeks.¹ The study also showed changes in the hamsters’ hippocampus similar to brain changes seen in depressed people.  They pointed out that rates of depression have risen along with exposure to artificial light at night:

“Exposure to artificial light at night (LAN) has surged in prevalence during the past 50 years, coinciding with rising rates of depression.”

The link could be due to the production of the hormone melatonin, which is interrupted when you’re exposed to light at night. There are many studies that suggest melatonin levels (and by proxy light exposures) control mood-related symptoms, such as those associated with depression -- especially winter depression (aka, seasonal affective disorder, or SAD).'

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Tart Cherries Have The Highest Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Any Food - Comparable To Well-Known Pain Medications

'Tart cherries have powerful anti-inflammatory benefits. According to new research from Oregon Health & Science University presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference (ACSM) in San Francisco, tart cherries have the "highest anti-inflammatory content of any food" and can help people with arthritis manage their disease long-term without pain medications.


Michigan researchers had previously shown that a cherry-enriched diet not only reduced overall body inflammation, but also reduced inflammation at key sites (belly fat, heart) known to affect heart disease risk in the obese.'

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Top 10 Health Benefits of Cherries

Photo Credit:http://www.cjolsoncherries.com

'Once known only for its pie persona, cherries have recently emerged as one of the hottest Super Fruits available in the market. Today, there are plenty of research studies that have uncovered the many health benefits of cherries and they have been proven to be the powerhouse of antioxidants.

Recent scientific studies have confirmed that the nutritional contents of cherries are very beneficial for maintaining good health.'

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Sweet Dreams: How to Sleep Better, Lose Weight, and Live Longer

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'YOU CAN LOSE WEIGHT without changing what you eat or doing one minute of exercise! It’s a bold claim. And don’t get me wrong: Nutrition and exercise are important! But there’s another key to weight loss — and most people don’t even know about it. It’s sleep.


In fact, besides eating whole foods and moving your body, getting enough sleep is the most important thing you can do for your health. On the flip side, sleep deprivation makes you fat — AND leads to depression, pain, heart disease, diabetes, and much more.


That’s why in today’s blog I want to talk about the impact sleep has on your health and give you 19 tips you can use to get a good night’s rest and enjoy all the health benefits sleep has to offer. Let’s start by talking about a rather serious sleep condition called sleep apnea.'

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Researchers Discover Powerful Link Between Circadian Rhythms and Metabolism

'The discovery of a major gear in the biological clock that tells the body when to sleep and metabolize food is leading to a new understanding on metabolic disorders, including diabetes. 

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, led by Ronald M. Evans, a professor in Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory, showed that two cellular switches found on the nucleus of mouse cells, known as REV-ERB alpha and REV-ERB beta, are essential for maintaining normal sleeping and eating cycles and for metabolism of nutrients from food.

The findings, reported March 29 in Nature, describe a powerful link between circadian rhythms and metabolism and suggest a new avenue for understanding disorders of both systems, including jet lag, sleep disorders, obesity and diabetes.'

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Bedtime Blues: What to do when you can't sleep

 
By Carrie Angus, M.D.

'It's 3 a.m. You're scheduled to give a big presentation at eleven, only eight hours away. You desperately need to sleep so you will be rested and alert when your big moment comes, but here you are staring wide eyed at the bedroom ceiling. Your mind is agitated and your body won't relax. The harder you work at getting to sleep, the wider awake you are. You've already tried counting sheep, watching the late show, and making yourself a snack-all to no avail. In desperation you reach for a sleeping pill.

This is a common scenario in the United States, where approximately one third of all adults suffer from some type of sleep disorder. Insomnia, the most common type by far, is clinically defined as the inability to fall asleep after lying in bed for thirty minutes or the inability to sustain sleep for more than a few hours without waking. Practically speaking, however, insomnia can be defined as unrestful sleep.'


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Melatonin: A Plethora of Health Benefits

 

'The most popular benefit of melatonin is its usefulness in the treatment of primary sleep disorders. The National Institutes of Health reports it as likely to be effective in treating sleep problems among children with autism and mental retardation.
But over the years, scientists are uncovering more interesting benefits
of this hormone. For example, almost two decades ago it was reported as
a protector against glucocorticoid damage, and also as an enhancer of immune function. The following are just few of the benefits being uncovered among others below:'



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Synchronized Circadian Rhythms: Nature’s Cancer Fighter

'We have evolved in synchronicity with our rhythmic environment, anticipating and adapting to our surroundings for optimization of our internal and external resources.
 
Our bodies follow innate biological clocks governing cellular, metabolic and developmental processes which fluctuate minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, following 24-hour cycles, 2-day cycles, weekly cycles, monthly lunar cycles, seasonal cycles annual cycles, 7,8,12, and 60 year cycles, life cycles, and more.' 


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Why Sleeping in Darkness is Important to Your Health

 

'Researchers found that sleeping for several hours in nighttime darkness promotes a healthy blood level of a hormone called melatonin, which can significantly suppress the growth and proliferation of breast tumours.

They also found that sleeping while exposed to light at night causes a dramatic drop in blood melatonin levels, setting the stage for growth and proliferation of breast cancer cells.

This study provides evidence that may partly explain why breast cancer is five times more common in industrialized nations compared to less developed countries. It may also explain why visually challenged people have lower rates of cancer than people who have no problems with vision.'


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Cherries Could be the Key to Curing Insomnia

'The medical studies into cherries have shown significant proof that cherries could be the key to curing insomnia. Cherries are usually only thought of as a pie filling or the topper for an ice cream sundae, but they offer so much more for insomnia sufferers. There is a very beneficial link between cherries and insomnia. A certain hormone in cherries, called melatonin, is the suspected reason why they are so good for treating insomnia.'


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