Keep It Tart

As in the sour cherry. Word on the street and in Runner's World magazine is that this fruit is loaded with nutrients and even has analgesic or pain reducing properties. This is something you want in your diet, but as with other functional foods, we are encouraged to eat them not in addition to everything else but in place of something perhaps less healthy. For example, a twinkie. If you are of the oh say, less than one percent of the population who actually gets all their nutrients in an abundance of whole foods and has the calorie equation worked out perfectly for your lifestyle, then just switch off one good food for another on a rotating basis. I might actually eat more cherries than pineapple, kiwi and banana due to the fructose involved, but that is my personal preference.

Mind you, the sour cherry is a great addition as a sour cherry, not as a cherry pie, and not even as cherry juice as that decreases fiber content and concentrates the sugar.

So what exactly is the nutritional detail for the sour cherry? I went to my favorite database to find out. The USDA Nutrient Database let me down. They did not have the information for this or any fresh cherry. To be clear, I am referring to fresh sour or tart cherries, not the more popular sweet or Bing cherry. This tart cherry is hard to find, but it is the right time of year. Try local farmer's markets or Whole Foods Grocery. The tart cherry has the greater antioxidant and nutrient properties. And to reiterate, I am not suggesting drinking juice. It is easy to double the calories and loose sugar content when you juice something. The fruit sugar needs to be with the skin of the fruit to retain the slower release of glucose.

Here is one link to a webpage that offers very minimal nutrient information on the sour cherry. It does not break down the individual antioxidant properties but a cup of these sour cherries would do a body good!