MORINGA - A Cancer-Killing Food You Can Eat Every Day - MUST READ

There’s one plant that really does live up to the superfood label, and I’m pretty sure you don’t know about it.

By Lee Euler / December 9, 2018

The word superfood is bandied about for such a large number of products these days, I think many of us tune it out. “Oh, another superfood. What’s on TV tonight?”

It’s become just more marketing hype.

So forgive me if I fall back on the term today, because there’s one plant that really does live up to the superfood label, and I’m pretty sure you don’t know about it. It’s packed with good nutrition and contains compounds with powerful healing and anti-cancer properties. . .

It’s called moringa. And it can help protect you against hundreds of diseases.

Also known as horseradish tree, drumstick tree, benzolive tree and ben oil tree, moringa is native to the Himalayan foothills (northern India, Pakistan and Nepal) and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries.

Moringa is a genus with 13 different species, but the best known is Moringa oleifera. This is the variety most commonly used as food and medicine, and also the one most studied.

Its use can be traced back 4000 years, and according to India’s traditional Ayurvedic medicine, moringa can prevent 300 diseases.¹

Traditional use includes improving alertness, maintaining healthy skin, healing skin infections, enhancing energy, relieving pain, aiding digestion, combating anxiety and stress, and treating wounds, warts, asthma, dental decay, fever, diarrhea, gout, high blood pressure, diabetes, inflammation, tumors and sore throats.²

Traditional medicine uses all parts of the plant, for different purposes, but it’s the leaves that are used most often in nutritional supplements.

When you pop a moringa supplement, you get a dose of all essential amino acids – the ones we have to get from our food because our bodies don’t make them.

Moringa also boasts an abundance of vitamins, with especially high concentrations of vitamins A and C, and a wide range of minerals, trace elements and assorted plant chemicals most of us never heard of – but which are probably the most important reason for consuming moringa, because we can get the minerals, amino acids and vitamins elsewhere.

For these reasons, some authorities call moringa the most nutrient-rich of all plants.³

I don’t know about that – I’m not even sure such a claim can be proven – but there is no doubt that moringa is a treasure house of good nutrition.

Potent antioxidant and broad-spectrum healer

Moringa also contains a large number of compounds with strong antioxidant activity. Writing in the Journal of Medicinal Food in 2010, researchers stated:

“The high antioxidant/radical scavenging effects observed for different parts of M. oleifera appear to provide justification for their widespread therapeutic use in traditional medicine in different continents. The possibility that this high antioxidant/radical scavenging capacity may impact on the cancer chemopreventive potential of the plant must be considered.”⁴

As well as being a powerful antioxidant, other mechanisms of action are described by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.⁵ Normally not a friend of alternatives, this mainstream medical institute lists the following benefits derived from laboratory studies. The plant:

• lowers high blood fats and cholesterol
• counters atherosclerosis and helps prevent heart disease
• protects the liver and kidneys
• reduces elevated blood sugar and improves glucose tolerance
• is anti-inflammatory via several different mechanisms
• is antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic
• blocks pain
• suppresses an overactive immune response
• has antisickling activity (lowers the risk of sickle cell anemia, an inherited disease among some people of African descent)
• prevents bladder and urinary tract stone formation
• offers protection from stomach ulcers and alleviates symptoms of ulcerative colitis
• balances hormones
• shows protective effects against Alzheimer’s disease
• promotes wound healing
• acts against cancer

With this vast array of health benefits, it’s easy to see why moringa is dubbed the “miracle tree”.

Moringa contains a rare, unique and diverse combination of plant compounds. About 110 have been identified from the whole genus.² Of these, 88 are from the oleifera species alone. It’s truly impressive; if you’re a scientifically literate person, I urge you to read the footnote.

An anticancer cocktail

Many of these compounds possess anti-cancer activity. The following are just a handful of examples found in the leaves.

Quercetin: Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found this flavonoid inhibited the growth of some types of malignant cells “and also displays unique anticancer properties.”⁶

Kaempferol: A comprehensive review published in Phytotherapy Research in November described this flavonoid as having “a significant role in reducing cancer” through a range of mechanisms including apoptosis (inducing cell suicide), and downregulating various signaling and protein expression pathways. Kaempferol is by no means common, so moringa is a good place to get a dose.⁷

Genistein: Wayne State University scientists describe this isoflavone, normally found in soy products, as a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis (blood vessels formed by cancer cells to promote their growth) and metastasis, with “multi-targeted biological and molecular effects in cancer cells.”⁸ If you prefer to avoid soy, moringa is a good place to get genistein.

Myricetin: This flavonoid was described by Chinese scientists writing in Oncology Letters as being “significantly effective in the treatment of various types of cancers, including prostate cancer, hepatocellular [liver] carcinoma, gastric cancer and human squamous cell carcinoma.”⁹ I never heard of it prior to preparing this article, so moringa is your ticket.

Ellagic acid: Scientists from the University of Rome have just published a review of this polyphenolic compound in Nutrients. They describe its anticancer effects in culture and rodent models against colorectal, breast, prostate, lung, melanoma, bladder, liver, ovarian, oral, brain and bone cancer. It works through multiple mechanisms to stop the growth and spread of tumors.¹⁰ We’ve noted before that ellagic acid is available in raspberries, but eating them every day is probably beyond most of us. Consider moringa.

Moringa cancer studies

Between 2008 and 2017, ten studies have looked at the anti-cancer effects of Moringa oleifera extracts mainly derived from the leaf, but also the bark and seeds, on human cancer cell lines. This is not as good as tests on live animals or humans, but it’s indicative, and many of us take certain supplements on the basis of such in vitro or test tube studies.

Moringa was effective at inhibiting the growth of cancers of the lung, liver, pancreas, breast, colorectum, prostate and blood.²

Of the many active compounds found in Moringa oleifera, some of the most important are the isothiocyanates. They’re being actively researched for their many biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antimicrobial effects as well as anticancer.

Described as a “potent anticancer compound,” isothiocyanates extracted from oleifera leaf extract were shown to induce apoptosis in a number of different cancer cells. This could “open new frontiers in cancer therapeutics.”¹¹

As well as isothiocyanates, Moringa oleifera was found to inhibit cancer cell proliferation mainly due to a phenolic compound called eugenol, and a rare naturally-occurring sugar called D-allose.¹²

Eugenol targets E2F1, a protein that is overexpressed in many cancers, and another protein, survivin, that stimulates cancer growth. D-allose was found to have “a significant inhibitory effect on cancer cell proliferation.”¹

Chemotherapy works better with moringa

I’m always conscious that many readers choose conventional treatments – for a whole list of reasons – but they are on the lookout for natural remedies they can do at the same time as chemotherapy. When there’s research to substantiate it, I try to mention it. Just be aware that many oncologists will still oppose the use of ANY supplements.

A research group from India investigated whether Moringa oleifera leaf extract could offer protection against the toxic effects of chemotherapy.

Administered prior to the drug in mice, they reported improvements in male gonad function after the procedure. They concluded that the extract “may have potential benefit in reducing the loss of male gonadal function following chemotherapy.”¹⁴

Another study looked at whether the plant could offer protection from bladder damage, which is known to be caused by the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide (CP). The researchers found that “Moringa leaves play an important role in ameliorating and protecting the bladder from CP toxicity.”¹⁵

When Moringa oleifera leaf extract was combined with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin and tested on an immortal human cell line used in research called HeLa, the combination produced a better outcome than the drug alone.

Reviewing all these findings, a research group wrote, “The application of currently used anticancer drugs combined with M. oleifera could be a novel therapeutic strategy for cancers.”¹¹

How to take Moringa

Moringa can be found in many forms.

The oil from the seeds in used in skin creams, lotions and soap. Whole seeds can be purchased, and dried leaves are used to produce moringa tea. There are even some energy bars that incorporate the leaf powder.

Moringa powder has been described as having a pleasant, earthy, spinachy flavor. It can be sprinkled on salads, soups or blended into a smoothie.

Not everyone is enamored with the taste, however, so some people prefer to take it in capsules. The usual dose is 500 to 1000 milligrams a day.

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490473
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5820334
3. ibid
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20521992
5. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/moringa-oleifera
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18187018
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30402931
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18492603
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5452908
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30441769
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872761
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5697473
13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16142305
14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25904411
15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25595312

https://www.cancerdefeated.com/a-cancer-killing-food-you-can-eat-every-day/

Even in The Face of Impossible Odds – Proof You Can Beat Cancer

Jane McLelland was supposed to die in 12 weeks. At least that’s what the statistics say when cervical cancer has spread to a woman’s lungs.

By Lee Euler / March 3, 2019

But this 35-year-old UK physiotherapist, wasn’t ready to give up on life when she got the bad news in 1999. She had too much to live for. She refused to accept her prognosis. Instead, she threw herself into research and came up with a plan.

It worked. Here’s what she did. . . and what might help you, too. . .

Jane decided she would starve the tumor with anti-cancer nutrients and herbs, and cut off its supply lines until it shrank and died. At the same time, she would keep her healthy cells and organs well nourished.

It was a daunting task, but all seemed to be going well until she was hit by a new, massive blow. In 2003 she was diagnosed with therapy-related leukemia, a little known late-stage side effect of the chemotherapy that she had unwisely decided to undergo years before when she was first diagnosed. This “side effect” is almost always fatal.

Her situation seemed hopeless. But in 2004 the results of the protocol she started five years earlier were in. The cancer was gone. Jane remains cancer free to this day.

Poor experience with physicians

Jane’s problems actually began way back in 1989 when some mildly abnormal cells were found. After treatment she was told repeatedly during the following five years that there were no more abnormalities.

But she was diagnosed with cancer in 1994 just the same. Her gynecologist turned out to be totally incompetent, a fact that became obvious a few years later when there was a national recall of over a thousand of his patients.

She also had a bad time with her surgeon. She hadn’t borne children but she still had hopes of raising a family in the future. Yet her request to freeze some of her eggs before chemotherapy and radiation was brushed aside.

Her experience with her oncologist was no better. She found him to be “brusque, dismissive and scornful” of other options she suggested. In general, she found the oncologists she met to be arrogant and dogmatic, unwilling to consider anything but their “gold standard” treatments — and certain they know what’s best for you.

Five years after she first learned she had cancer, and after all these negative experiences with conventional cancer treatment, she was told her disease had progressed to stage 4 – the “death sentence” I described at the beginning of this article. That’s when she realized she would have to become her own expert if she was to have any chance of survival.

Taking the first steps to regain health

She started by making changes to her diet, even though the medics said this was useless.

She learned that cancer feeds on glucose, so it made sense to her to opt for a healthy low carbohydrate diet where foods that would spike blood sugar and insulin-like growth factors were eliminated. She also kept saturated fats to a minimum, avoided foods that could trigger inflammation, and reduced her overall calorie intake.

Then she changed her oncologist. This was essential. Jane found someone who would be a collaborator, not a dictator.

Because certain enzymes and other factors are linked to inflammation and fuel cancer growth, it made sense to take something that would inhibit them, like low-dose aspirin. She put this to her thoracic surgeon (who operated to remove a third of her lung), but he thought not. There wasn’t enough evidence to support its use, and it could be risky, he suggested.

She ignored his advice and took it anyway as well as other anti-inflammatories — ginger, curcumin and omega 3 fish oils.

Jane also made regular visits to an integrative doctor who specialized in cancer.

Stepping up natural treatments

He prescribed folate, because methotrexate, the chemotherapy drug she’d taken when first diagnosed, would have depleted it. Folate is an important building block of DNA.

He also recommended B vitamins to detoxify excess “bad” estrogen (estradiol), which stimulates tumor growth, and niacin to starve cancer by reducing fat.

She also drank green tea, green juices, and a juice made from apple, carrot, celery and beetroot.

Her choice of anti-cancer supplements included mahonia aquifolium extract, EGCG from green tea, gymnema sylvestre, hydroxycitrate, pycnogenol, silibinin (milk thistle), ellagic acid (from strawberries), resveratrol (from red grapes), glucosamine sulphate, nattokinase, and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).

The supplement program aimed to accomplish several things.

First, it targeted and blocked different tumor pathways and growth factors. Second, it reduced the likelihood of cancer cells getting stuck in blood vessel walls where they could establish themselves and grow new tumors. Third, it would make chemotherapy more effective.

To boost the immune system, she took other supplements. Medicinal mushrooms, including maitake-D fraction extract, beta-glucans, MGN3 (a rice bran extract), DHEA and melatonin. She was also advised to eat all the day’s food within a narrow time frame so as to mimic fasting and help raise immunity.

Reluctantly agrees to chemotherapy

All Jane’s instincts told her high-dose chemotherapy was entirely wrong, yet despite grave misgivings she agreed to it.

Even though her oncologist accepted it was a crude and blunt tool that caused a lot of collateral damage, she had nothing else to offer this patient.

But after several months, Jane was not prepared to put up with its debilitating effects any longer and managed to persuade her oncologist to lower the dose over the next four months.

Nine months later, well past the date when she was “supposed” to be dead, she was alive and sported blood markers that indicated no detectable cancer in her body. But she knew it was very likely the cancer would come back, so she maintained the protocol and added to it.

Time for IVC and UBI

Jane now visited a different integrative doctor in order to receive intravenous vitamin C (IVC) and Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation (UBI).

The latter involves taking a syringe full of the patient’s blood, exposing it to ultraviolet C light, then reintroducing it into the body. This technique stimulates a powerful immune response, kills pathogens and improves the abnormal micro-environment around cancer cells.

At the same time, Jane added shark liver oil to her regimen as well as genistein, quercetin, chromium picolinate and vitamin K3. She also focused on establishing a good balance of bacteria in the gut as this is so important for a healthy immune response.

She had some bad news when test results from her first integrative doctor found a large number of parasites called Blastocystis hominis in the gut. Treatment involved intensive therapy over several months with a lot more supplements and dietary changes.

Chemotherapy-induced leukemia

All seemed well for the next four years, but in 2003 she was suffering with fatigue and night sweats. Tests run by a third integrative doctor she consulted suggested she now had acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

This was almost certainly a direct result of chemotherapy and radiation treatments which damage the bone marrow. Therapy-related blood cancers have an extremely poor prognosis.

The treatment prescribed for AML was yet more chemotherapy, which she considered madness, so she decided to step up her arsenal of helpers instead.

Diet, supplements and other natural therapies kept her cervical cancer at bay, but for AML, additional big hitters were required.

It was time to investigate drugs. . .but not the ones oncologists hand out.

Beneficial pharmaceuticals

Many approved drugs used for a variety of purposes also have anti-cancer activity. They are not approved for cancer, but any doctor can prescribe “off-label” drugs if they are so minded.

The first promising pharmaceutical she came across was the blood clot inhibitor, dipyridamole. According to the medical literature, this has powerful immune-protective and anti-cancer properties.

The next was lovastatin. As well as lowering cholesterol, it was found to cause pronounced apoptosis in her type of leukemia. She discovered that a combination of lovastatin with the anti-inflammatory drug etodolac multiplied the anti-cancer effect five-fold.

Each drug was low in toxicity and starved the cancer of major metabolic drivers in different ways.

Months later her blood markers were back in the normal range and she has been cancer free for almost 15 years.

A combination of approaches is needed

Jane’s recovery is truly remarkable considering she was diagnosed with cancer in the last century. She had to act as her own guinea pig to come up with a constellation of therapies to target cancer from all angles.

Jane has continued to research better approaches to treating cancer and now advises other cancer patients.

She believes today’s entire focus on genes in conventional research is wrong. It certainly has a place, but it should be combined with treating the altered metabolism that’s common to all cancers.

She writes, “In the mad dash to get rid of a tumor, the patient is over-treated with high levels of either chemotherapy, radiotherapy or targeted therapies. This approach is doomed to fail — it only makes the patient more resistant to future treatment.

“Focusing on the DNA does not affect the cancer ‘stem cell’. Cancer returns harder and more aggressively than before. The cancer mutates and eventually becomes resistant to these ‘targeted’ treatments.

“Treating the cancer metabolism on the other hand, alongside targeted approaches, will reach the stem cell and offer the real opportunity for a cure.”

Our last issue discussed an herbal extract that has so many applications, you could call it a wonder drug (if it was a drug…) If you missed this valuable news, it’s running again below.

References:

1. How To Starve Cancer by Jane McLelland, Agenor Publishing, 2018

https://www.cancerdefeated.com/even-in-the-face-of-impossible-odds-proof-you-can-beat-cancer/

Cherries — A Potent Super Food

Strangely enough, this delicious super fruit increases your melatonin levels, improving the quality and quantity of your sleep. Besides that, they've been shown to be valuable in maintaining healthy blood pressure, killing off cancer cells and helping to relieve and prevent arthritis and gout. What's not to love about these beauties?

June 19, 2017

Story at-a-glance

• Sweet cherries are a great source of potassium, which is important for maintaining normal blood pressure, and contain a number of potent anticancer agents
• Tart cherries have been shown to improve athletic performance, endurance and recovery, reducing post-exercise pain and inflammation. Tart cherries also help relieve and prevent arthritis and gout
• If you live in a sub-tropical area, growing acerola cherry trees in your backyard can provide you with this potent super food for several months of the year. Relying on commercially-available cherries will limit them to just a few weeks a year

By Dr. Mercola

Cherries are a favorite summer treat with a number of health benefits. Harvest season runs from May through July, and with high susceptibility to disease and a short shelf life, cherry season is a short one. An exception is if you grow your own Barbados or West Indian cherry, more commonly known as the acerola cherry.

I have several acerola trees and harvest cherries nearly nine months of the year. Acerola cherries1 also are one of the highest sources of vitamin C. Each acerola cherry provides about 80 milligrams (mg) of natural vitamin C with all the other important supporting micronutrients, unlike synthetic vitamin C. When I have a bountiful harvest and eat more than 100 cherries, I get close to 10 grams of vitamin C.

The recommended daily allowance for vitamin C in the U.S. is a mere 75 to 90 mg for women and men respectively, so just one of these cherries can provide you with all the vitamin C you need for the day.

You pretty much have to grow acerola cherries on your own, though, as they cannot withstand transportation and storage. Deterioration can occur within four hours of harvesting and they ferment quickly, rendering them unusable in five days or less. Unless you intend to use them for juicing, they also do not fare well being kept in the freezer. Sadly, they only grow outdoors in subtropical climates like Florida.

Tart Versus Sweet Cherries

Conventional cherries can be divided into two primary categories: sweet and tart (sour). Sweet varieties such as Bing cherries are typically eaten fresh, while Montmorency tart cherries are typically sold dried, frozen or as juice.2 Tart cherries develop a fuller flavor when they're used in cooking, which is why they're often used in baked desserts. As noted by the Cherry Marketing Institute:3

“When it comes to nutritional science and cherries, most studies involve tart Montmorency cherries. In fact, more than 50 studies have examined the potential health benefits of Montmorency tart cherries, and the research is continuing. 

This research strongly supports the anti-inflammatory qualities of Montmorency tart cherries, as well as the benefits of muscle recovery and pain relief from conditions like arthritis. Studies have also found that Montmorency tart cherries contain [m]elatonin, a naturally occurring substance that helps regulate sleep patterns.”

One 8-ounce glass of tart cherry juice will give you:4

• 62 percent of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin A (about 20 times more vitamin A than sweet cherries)
• 40 percent of your RDI of vitamin C
• 14 percent of your RDI of manganese
• 12 percent of your RDI of potassium and copper
• 7 percent of your RDI for vitamin K

Sweet cherries are a great source of potassium,5 which is important for maintaining normal blood pressure. It plays an important role in your fluid balance, and helps offset the hypertensive effects of sodium. Sweet cherries also contain a number of potent anticancer agents, including:

•Beta carotene, which converts into vitamin A (retinol), important for healthy vision as well

•Vitamin C, the “grandfather” of the traditional antioxidants, the health benefits of which have been clearly established. It’s a powerful antioxidant, which helps neutralize cell-damaging free radicals

•Anthocyanins, including quercetin. Sweet cherries have three times the amount of anthocyanins than tart cherries, and those with deep purple pigments (opposed to red) have the highest amounts.

Quercetin is among the most potent in terms of antioxidant activity and has a wide range of other health-promoting properties as well. As a group, anthocyanins have been shown to promote cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of mutated cells, thereby reducing your cancer risk

•Cyanidin,6 an organic pigment compound with powerful antioxidant activity. By promoting cellular differentiation, it reduces the risk of healthy cells transforming into cancer cells. One study found cyanidin isolated from tart cherries was superior to that of vitamin E and comparable to commercially available antioxidant products7

•Ellagic acid, this polyphenol “prevents the binding of carcinogens to DNA and strengthens connective tissue,” thereby preventing the spread of cancer cells.8 It also inhibits DNA mutations and inhibits cancer by triggering apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cells

Mind Your Portions

Just beware that cherries, both sweet and tart, are relatively high in fructose. One cup, about 10 pieces, contain about 4 grams of fructose. It's important to take this into account if you’re tracking your fructose consumption. I recommend keeping total fructose below 25 grams per day if you’re otherwise healthy, or as low as 15 grams if you struggle with health issues associated with insulin resistance. The good news is you don’t need to eat much more than a handful to get good amounts of antioxidants.

Alternatively, if you have confirmed that you are burning fat as your primary fuel and are engaging in cyclical ketogenesis, then, on the days that you are strength training (about twice a week), you can increase your net carbs to 100 or 150 grams, so you can have larger amounts of cherries on those days. Just be sure not to binge on large amounts daily for the entire cherry season as you are just asking for unnecessary metabolic challenges.

Tart Cherries — A Natural Endurance-Boosting Super Food

In one recent study,9 Montmorency tart cherries, taken in the form of a juice concentrate, were found to improve athletic performance and recovery among semiprofessional soccer players, decreasing post-exercise inflammation and muscle soreness.

Similarly, athletes consuming tart cherry juice prior to long-distance running experienced less pain than those who did not.10 Other research has confirmed tart cherry juice is a valuable endurance sports drink. As noted by Running Competitor:11

“The best way to accelerate muscle recovery after exercise is to prevent muscle damage from occurring during exercise. And one of the best ways to do [sic]prevent muscle damage during exercise is to consume the right nutrients before exercise. Tart cherry juice does just that. This was demonstrated in a 2010 study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.

Twenty recreational runners consumed either cherry juice or placebo for five days before running a marathon, then again on race day, and for two days afterward as well. The lucky runners who got the cherry juice exhibited less muscle damage immediately after the marathon. They also showed lower levels of inflammation and recovered their muscle strength significantly quicker.”

Cherries, courtesy of their high vitamin C content, may also stave off exercise-induced asthma, the symptoms of which include cough, wheezing and shortness of breath when exercising. A meta-analysis12 from Finland found vitamin C may reduce bronchoconstriction caused by exercise by nearly 50 percent.

Interestingly, another powerful and natural strategy to accelerate muscle recovery is photobiomodulation. I have a 1-foot by 3-foot panel of red (660 nm) and near-infrared (850 nm) LEDs that I use every day for about five minutes. The bed is a few thousand dollars but you can achieve similar results with a smaller near-infrared device from Amazon.13 It just takes longer as it has fewer LEDs. You also need to remove the plastic lens and put black electrical tape over the green photodiode so it will turn on in the daytime.

On the days that I lift heavy enough to cause muscle challenges serious enough to make it difficult to sit down or use the toilet the next day, I use the light bed for 10 minutes and that is enough to completely abort the post-exercise stiffness and pain. It is an amazing mitochondrial support; every time I use it, I’m surprised that I can avoid the post-exercise pain and stiffness.

Cherries Are Potent Anti-Inflammatories

Tart cherries contain two powerful compounds, anthocyanins and bioflavonoids. Both slow down the enzymes cyclo-oxyygenase-1 and -2, which helps to relieve and prevent arthritis and gout.14 Gout occurs when the metabolic processes that control the amount of uric acid in your blood fail to do their job effectively.

The stiffness and swelling are a result of excess uric acid-forming crystals in your joints, and the pain associated with this condition is caused by your body's inflammatory response to the crystals. Dr. Nathan Wei, a nationally known rheumatologist, recalled this story about the powerful effect of cherries on gout:15

“Dr. Ludwig W. Blau, relating how eating a bowl of cherries one day led to complete relief from pain, sparked off the interest in cherries in the treatment of gout … Blau's gout had been so severe that he had been confined to a wheelchair. One day, quite by accident, he polished off a large bowl of cherries, and the following day the pain in his foot was gone.

“[Blau] continued eating a minimum of six cherries every day, and he was free from pain and able to get out of his wheelchair … Blau's research led to many other people suffering from gout who reported being helped by cherries.”

In a study16 of over 600 people with gout, those who ate a one-half cup serving of cherries per day for two days, or consumed cherry extract, had a 35 percent lower risk of a subsequent gout attack. Those who ate more cherries, up to three servings in two days, halved their risk. Other studies have found:

• Eating two servings (280 grams) of sweet Bing cherries after an overnight fast led to a 15 percent reduction in uric acid and lower nitric oxide and C-reactive protein levels (which are associated with inflammatory diseases like gout).17 The researchers noted the study supports "the reputed anti-gout efficacy of cherries" as well as "evidence that compounds in cherries may inhibit inflammatory pathways" 
• Consuming tart cherry juice daily for four weeks may lower your levels of uric acid18

By reducing inflammation, the anthocyanin and bioflavonoids in cherries may also help reduce:

• Migraine headaches. These compounds are actually known to have similar activity to aspirin and ibuprofen
• Pain from inflammatory osteoarthritis.19 According to one study,20 women with osteoarthritis who drank tart cherry juice twice daily for three weeks had significant reductions in markers of inflammation and a 20 percent reduction in pain. The researchers noted that tart cherries have the "highest anti-inflammatory content of any food"

How Cherries Support Healthy Sleep

Interestingly, cherries contain natural melatonin,21 a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger that helps "cool down" excess inflammation and associated oxidative stress. It also plays a vital role in sleep, cancer prevention and general regeneration. Based on daily environmental signals of light and darkness, your pineal gland has evolved to produce and secrete melatonin to help you sleep.

Research suggests that consuming tart cherry juice increases your melatonin levels, thereby improving time in bed, total sleep time and sleep efficiency. According to the researchers:22

"…consumption of a tart cherry juice concentrate provides an increase in exogenous melatonin that is beneficial in improving sleep duration and quality in healthy men and women and might be of benefit in managing disturbed sleep."

Other Health Benefits of Cherries

Tart and sweet cherries also have a number of other important health benefits. For example, they’ve been found to:

•Improve risk factors associated with diabetes and heart disease. In one animal study, rats fed tart cherry powder along with a high-fat diet gained less weight and accumulated less body fat than rats not fed tart cherries. They also had lower levels of inflammation and triglycerides, suggesting a role in heart health.23

Quercetin is also known to have a beneficial impact on cardiovascular health by reducing your blood pressure. According to a study investigating the effects of quercetin in hypertension, “The results of this meta‐analysis showed a significant effect of quercetin supplementation in the reduction of blood pressure, which suggest that this nutraceutical might be considered as an add‐on to antihypertensive therapy”24

•Reduce your risk of stroke. Tart cherries activate peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPAR) in tissues, which help regulate genes involved in the metabolism of fat and glucose. PPAR activation has a beneficial effect on blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

In fact, research suggests eating cherries may provide heart benefits similar to prescription PPAR agonists,25 drugs prescribed for metabolic syndrome. The problem with these drugs is that while they may improve risk factors associated with heart disease, they may increase your risk of stroke instead.

As reported by Science Daily, 26 “… [R]esearch from the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory suggests that tart cherries not only provide similar cardiovascular benefits as the prescribed medications, but can also reduce the risk of stroke, even when taken with these pharmaceutical options”

•Lower your risk of dementia. Inflammation and oxidative stress are associated with an increased risk for dementia. The polyphenols in tart cherries effectively combat both, thereby lowering your risk of cognitive decline.

As explained in one recent study,27 “[P]olyphenols from dark-colored fruits can reduce stress-mediated signaling in BV-2 mouse microglial cells, leading to decreases in nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. [T]art cherries — which improved cognitive behavior in aged rats … may be effective in reducing inflammatory and OS-mediated signals”

•Lower your risk of colon cancer by substantially reducing formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) when added to hamburger patties. It also slows meat spoilage.28 HAAs are potent carcinogenic compounds created when food is charred, and have been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. Hamburger patties with just over 11 percent tart cherries in them contained anywhere from 69 to 78.5 percent less HAAs after cooking, compared to regular patties

Storage and Washing

To retain the best flavor, consume fresh cherries within two days if kept at room temperature, or store in the refrigerator for longer shelf life. Avoid washing them before storing, as this accelerates deterioration. Instead, wash them immediately before eating.

As mentioned, growing a few cherry trees or bushes29 in your backyard can provide you with this potent super food for several months out of the year. Relying on commercially-available cherries will limit them to just a few weeks a year. I eat a few acerola cherries every day, right from my own organic garden.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/06/19/cherries-super-food.aspx