Cherries

Cherry is the fruit of plant Prunus avium and delights us with its sweetness for a fairly limited period of time, from the beginning of June until the end of July. But cherries are not just delicious, they also have interesting healthy properties. They are in fact a source of vitamins, such as A, C, B1, important for the proper functioning of muscles and the nervous system, B2, useful for the health of skin, nervous system and vision, and mineral salts such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus. Moreover, the cherries are a source of easily assimilable sugars, and therefore energy, proteins and anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that also give the red color. The cherries are slightly laxative and therefore are useful to counteract constipation, but these sweet, red or black colored fruits have also diuretic properties and are able to decrease uric acid, thus resulting useful in case of gout. Thanks to their energizing and remineralizing properties, cherries are an excellent choice for children, adolescents and sporty people, but are helpful also in cases of anemia, asthenia, stress, fatigue and during pregnancy. Finally, the cherries contain melatonin (McCune et al., Crit Rev. Food Nutr, 2011), a hormone that regulates the sleep cycle in our body and therefore improves the quality of sleep. As for the contraindications, cherries are not tolerated in case of gastritis and ulcer.