Cherries and Weight Loss.
Maybe you haven’t heard about the cherry diet yet? I hadn’t either until recently.
Some people will try and tell you cherries and weight loss goes hand in hand. Well, I feel a lot of things go hand in hand when it comes to losing weight and having an understanding of why diets don’t work.
As far as I’m concerned, no one food is capable of magically reducing the belly fat around your waist although a number of high nutrient fruits, such as cherries, can be a very helpful addition in any weight loss diet when combined with a properly planned reduced-calorie meal plan.
Cherries, like many other fruits are rich in fibre which is good news as fibre can help you lose weight.
This fibre helps enhance satiety for overall calorie control. But remember, cherries added to your diet plan are no guarantee you’ll lose heaps of weight by the end of the month.
One of my clients asked me recently about the benefits of the cherry diet and wanted to know what I thought about it. To tell you the truth, it was a diet that had totally escaped my attention (although I had heard about the benefits of tart cherries) so I thought I had better get up to speed and find out what do cherries do for your body and tell you what I discovered from my research.
By all accounts the cherry diet is becoming more popular because it’s incredibly easy to follow. Although it is not as easy as sitting down and eating handfuls of cherries all day. All lifestyle diets are about balance and quantity.
There is only one rule to this diet – to eat cherries every day and/or to drink fresh cherry juice. What could be easier than that I ask myself?
Although cherries are more popular for their taste, researchers are now seeing that cherries are actually extremely healthy as well. The bioactive components and nutrients found in cherries appear to be linked to the prevention of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory diseases, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Here’s what a number of sources are saying; not only will cherries protect you from a number of lifestyle health conditions, but this luscious fruit will also make it easier for you to accomplish your weight loss goals.
4 reasons why cherries help promote weight loss.
1. Cherries don’t contain a lot of calories (the average cherry contains 5 calories).
Although a lot of other fruits contain fewer calories, it’s worth noting that cherries aren’t considered to be high-calorie foods. You can easily satisfy your hunger with a dozen cherries, which roughly amounts to 60 calories.
2. Cherries do a good job of satisfying your hunger because they are rich in fiber.
All weight-loss diets I have researched of late suggest you should consume more fibre as this nutrient isn’t easily digested by your body. In other words, you will have to drink a lot of water to move the fibre through your digestive system. This will help you with your weight loss goals because it water will contribute to the feeling of fullness.
3. Many people often confuse thirst with hunger, so staying hydrated will also prevent you from overeating.
The good thing about fibre from fruits and vegetables is, that consuming it will help you feel full for a longer period of time. This means it will actually help prevent you from overeating on other less nutrient value foods that are potentially high in calories.
On top of that, the soluble type of fiber that absorbs water helps you by slowing the absorption of sugars, thus making your body store less fat.
4. Dark cherries also contain compounds known as anthocyanins, which will help you reduce belly fat. Back in 2008, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published a study, which showed just how powerful these compounds are when it comes to reduced belly fat.
Anthocyanins are flavonoid pigments that are found in a lot of different fruits and vegetables. Although there is still a lot of research to be done on the way anthocyanins are absorbed and distributed in the tissues of our bodies.
It seems researchers generally agree that these compounds can be a powerful tool for fat loss.
Although cherries definitely can help you reduce belly fat, simply adding them to your existing diet won’t do the trick.
So I repeat again as this is important to understand…….there are no magical foods that will help you shed those extra kilos simply by eating them.
Cherries, like many other quality fruits and vegetables, can help you reach your desired weight loss goals, but you will also need to make sure your diet is balanced and filled with a variety of other garden fresh produce.
On top of that, you should avoid eating processed junk food plus you should exercise regularly if you want to shed that extra weight around your belly.
After all that I would certainly incorporate a handful of fresh cherries in your diet. I would also encourage you to eat them whenever you feel the urge to have a snack instead of some sugar laden processed food that will blow out your daily calorie requirements.
By keeping your fridge stocked with some washed cherries you will always have a highly nutritious snack on the ready.
In the final wash up, I wouldn’t suggest you consider the cherry diet as being a potential magic panacea for your fat loss woes but more as an addition to a healthy well balanced style of eating.
So by all means, incorporate some fresh cherries into your diet but don’t forget about other fruits.
Eating a wide variety of seasonal fresh fruits and berries is most important when trying to maintain good health and balance in your lifestyle.
And just before I go, here are a few more benefits of tart cherries. They are also highly effective for a number of other ailments other than getting rid of belly fat that you may not know about.
Being high in potassium they are known to help control blood pressure problems and they also offer powerful protection against cancer because the cherries contain anthocyanin plus high levels of boron, beta-carotene and Vitamin C.
Sour cherries are also good for athletes too because of their known anti-inflammatory powers as witnessed in this research that was published in the Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition. It studied the cherries’ power to reduce muscle damage and soreness from working out and came up with some very positive results.
Arthritis and Gout are also known to benefit from the powers of these tart cherries.
Have a read of this study from the Osteoarthritis Research Center in the US to assess the efficacy of tart cherry juice in treating pain and other features of knee osteoarthritis (OA): Randomized double-blind crossover study of the efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
Like to know more…..then here are five good reasons to eat more cherries.
Cheers – John – your Active Ageing Mentor and Coach.
P.S. Help a friend……like and share. Thanks.
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