Cardiovascular disease will cost the country an estimated $432 billion this year and will kill more people than any other disease. Many who will suffer a heart attack currently have metabolic syndrome, which greatly increases a person's risk for heart disease, stroke and Type II diabetes. Researchers have coined metabolic syndrome a "silent epidemic" because most of the 47 million Americans who have it, don't know it.
Unlike other unchangeable factors, such as gender (men have a greater risk of heart attack than women), age (83 percent of people who die of heart disease are 65 or older) and heredity (children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves), the risk factors for metabolic syndrome can be modified. Practices including exercising regularly and eating healthy foods have lowered the odds of developing metabolic syndrome.
One such healthy food, the tart cherry, is currently in the spotlight for its potential to fight this silent epidemic. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System recently published a promising report linking an increased intake of tart cherries to a lower risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Tart cherries, such as Montmorency cherries grown in northern Michigan, in contrast to the more common, sweet Bing cherries, have high concentrations of antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins. This study, performed on rats, credits these antioxidant compounds with lowering levels of total cholesterol, blood sugar, fat in the liver and oxidative stress, and with increasing the production of a molecule, PPAR (peroxisome proliferator-activating receptor), that helps the body burn fat.
Given the positive changes observed in this animal study, the university will soon begin a clinical trial on the effect of whole tart cherries in humans. Encouragingly, rats fed even a small amount of cherries - only one percent of their total diet - had reduced signs of metabolic syndrome. The clinical study will also assess the effects of cherry juices and dried cherries on lowering metabolic syndrome.
While a course of action regarding tart cherry intake for humans at risk for heart disease cannot yet be prescribed, sweet cherries should still be enjoyed all summer - their peak season - for other healthful benefits. Dr. Russel Reiter, professor of cellular and structural biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, extols the fruit for its high levels of melatonin, which not only controls sleepiness at night and wakefulness during the day but also functions as an antioxidant to help the body destroy free radicals.
The American Institute for Cancer Research, which esteems a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, recommends sweet cherries for their powerful phytochemicals, believed to help prevent cancer of the breast, lung, liver and skin. Cherries furthermore are a good source of dietary fiber, potassium and vitamins A, C and E.
In the next few months, we may discover that eating moderate amounts of tart cherries, as suggested by the animal trial, may indeed lower a person's risk for developing heart disease. Until these findings are published, however, and until fresh tart cherries become as widely available as the sweet varieties, we should relish the bundles of tasty and nutritious ruby Bing and yellow Rainier cherries before their fleeting season passes.
For a recipe for Cherry Clafouti, see the food section, page 14.