Tart Cherries Improve Antioxidant Defenses

NASHVILLE, Tenn.If you like cherries then youre in luck. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition found consumption of tart cherry juice, which contains high amounts of anthocyanins, improves antioxidant defenses in vivo in older adults, shown by an increased capacity to constrain an oxidative challenge and reduced oxidative damage to nucleic acids (2009; 139(10):1896-1900). In a double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 12 volunteers consumed in random order either tart cherry juice or placebo (240 mL twice daily for 14 days) separated by a four-week washout period. The tart cherry juice intervention reduced the ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced F2-isoprostane response (P<0.05), whereas placebo had no significant effect. The tart cherry juice intervention also reduced basal urinary excretion of oxidized nucleic acids (P<0.05) but not urinary excretion of isoprostanes.