New research suggests tart cherries could speed muscle recovery

Study finds daily cherry juice reduces muscle damage caused by exercise

2011-02-10

(Press-News.org) Tart cherries could help athletes reduce muscle damage to recover faster from a tough workout, according to new research published in the American College of Sports Medicine's journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Researchers at the Sports and Exercise Science Research Center at London South Bank University in the UK gave 10 trained athletes 1 ounce of an antioxidant-packed tart cherry juice concentrate (provided by CherryActive) twice daily for seven days prior to and two days after an intense round of strength training. The athletes' recovery after the cherry juice concentrate was significantly faster compared to when they drank juice without the same phytonutrient content of cherry juice.

After drinking cherry juice, athletes returned to 90 percent of normal muscle force at 24 hours, compared to only 85 percent of normal at the same time point without cherry juice – a significant difference that could affect an athlete's next bout of performance. Researchers suggest that the powerful antioxidant compounds in cherry juice likely decreased oxidative damage to the athletes' muscles – the damage that normally occurs when muscles are worked to their max – allowing the muscles to recover more quickly.

Cherries and Muscle Recovery This is the latest in a growing body of science linking cherries to muscle recovery. Researchers attribute the benefits to anti-inflammatory, antioxidant compounds in the red fruit called anthocyanins, also responsible for cherries' bright red color.

"Cherries are what I call an ultimate super food," said Dr. Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, registered dietitian and author of The SuperFoodsRx Diet: Lose Weight with the Power of SuperNutrients "Not only are they a perfect complement to a training routine since they're available year-round in dried, frozen and juice forms, but they taste great." Dr. Bazilian says some of her favorite ways to include cherries in the diet range from topping dried cherries in oatmeal to enjoying a smoothie of cherry juice and low-fat yogurt.

In addition to recovery benefits, research also suggests cherries could affect inflammation related to heart disease and arthritis.

### For more information on the recovery benefits of tart cherries, and to download the Red Recovery Routine, a guide to training with cherries, visit www.choosecherries.com.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Motorcycle helmets reduce spine injuries after collisions

2011-02-10

Motorcycle helmets, long known to dramatically reduce the number of brain injuries and deaths from crashes, appear to also be associated with a lower risk of cervical spine injury, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests. "We are debunking a popular myth that wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle can be detrimental during a motorcycle crash," says study leader Adil H. Haider, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Using this new evidence, legislators should revisit the need for mandatory helmet laws. ...

The 'new' kilogram is approaching

2011-02-10

A milestone in the international Avogadro project coordinated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has been reached: With the aid of a single crystal of highly enriched 28Si, the Avogadro constant has now been measured as exactly as never before with a relative overall uncertainty of 3 • 10𔃆. Within the scope of the redefinition of the kilogram, the value NA = 6.02214078(18) • 1023 mol𔂿 permits the currently most exact realization of this unit. The results have been published in the most recent edition of the journal "Physical Review Letters". The ...

Biogeochemistry at the core of global environmental solutions

2011-02-10

Millbrook, NY— If society wants to address big picture environmental problems, like global climate change, acid rain, and coastal dead zones, we need to pay closer attention to the Earth's coupled biogeochemical cycles. So reports a special issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, published this month by the Ecological Society of America. "There are nearly seven billion people on the planet. And our activities are throwing the Earth's biogeochemical cycles out of sync, to the detriment of air and water resources, climate stability, and human health," comments ...

1 factor can make mortgage modifications up to one-third more likely, study finds

2011-02-10

COLUMBUS, Ohio – One factor, little-known by borrowers, can play a large role in whether banks are willing to renegotiate mortgages with homeowners who are struggling to meet payments. Unfortunately, it is a factor that homeowners have no control over. Researchers found that mortgages owned by lenders were 26 to 36 percent more likely to be renegotiated than very similar mortgages that the original lenders sold to other companies, which turned them into securities. "Homeowners don't have a say in whether their bank sells their mortgage or not, but that can have a ...

Behavioral problems linked to cortisol levels

2011-02-10

Montreal, February 9, 2011 – Cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, seems to behave in contradictory ways in children. Some youngsters with behavioral problems have abnormally high levels of cortisol, while others with identical problems have abnormally low levels. What's going on? Researchers at Concordia University and the Centre for Research in Human Development may have resolved the cortisol paradox. In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior, they link cortisol levels not simply to behavior problems, but to the length of time individuals ...

Beyond Alzheimer's: Research explores hippocampal sclerosis

2011-02-10

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 9, 2011) - The population of aged persons worldwide is expanding rapidly, and it is becoming increasingly clear that there are many different diseases that affect the minds of these individuals. Researchers at the University of Kentucky are breaking new ground in the ongoing project of identifying and defining those diseases most likely to affect an aged population. Dr. Peter Nelson of the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging is the lead author on a paper soon to be published in the journal BRAIN; the paper deals with the little-understood ...

Crocodile tears don't fool us all

2011-02-10

How easy is it to fake remorse? Not so easy if your audience knows what to look for. In the first investigation of the nature of true and false remorse, Leanne ten Brinke and colleagues, from the Centre for the Advancement of Psychology and Law (CAPSL), University of British Columbia and Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, show that those who fake remorse show a greater range of emotional expressions and swing from one emotion to another very quickly - a phenomenon referred to as emotional turbulence - as well as speak with more hesitation. These findings have ...

Personal well-being is linked to national satisfaction, especially when times are tough

2011-02-10

The country where you live can have a big impact on your life. A new study of people from 128 countries finds that the more satisfied people are with their country, the better they feel about their lives—especially people who have low incomes or live in relatively poor countries. The study, published in the latest issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is based on a Gallup World Poll that reached about 1,000 people in each of 128 countries, obtaining a total of more than 130,000 responses. People were asked a series of ...

Cocaine production increases destruction of Colombia's rainforests

2011-02-10

Cultivating coca bushes, the source of cocaine, is speeding up destruction of rainforests in Colombia and threatening the region's "hotspots" of plant and animal diversity, scientists are reporting in a new study. The findings, which they say underscore the need for establishing larger protected areas to help preserve biodiversity, appear in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. Liliana M. Dávalos and colleagues note that the pace of deforestation in Colombia has accelerated over the past 20 years, even as population growth has slowed and the economy has shifted ...

Greener process for key ingredient for everything from paint to diapers

2011-02-10

Scientists are reporting discovery of an environmentally friendly way to make a key industrial material — used in products ranging from paints to diapers — from a renewable raw material without touching the traditional pricey and increasingly scarce petroleum-based starting material. Their report on a new catalyst for making acrylic acid appears in ACS Catalysis, the newest in the American Chemical Society's suite of 39 peer-reviewed scientific journals. Weijie Ji, Chak-Tong Au, and colleagues note that acrylic acid is essential for making paints, adhesives, textiles, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

DDT residues persist in trout in some Canadian lakes 70 years after insecticide treatment, often at levels ten times that recommended as safe for the wildlife which consumes the fish