Did you know that there are many varieties of cherries and that some, actually most of the ones you may be consuming, could be pro-inflammatory not anti-inflammatory?

Yes indeed!

So how do you know which ones are in your juice or post workout cherry shake?

You are right. You probably don’t know.

As a performance coach, I personally had several conversations with sport nutritionists, strength coaches, and even cafeteria managers of athletic facilities, to find out if cherry juice is the right choice for their athletes post workout.

It came to my attention that nobody responsible for the food and supplement purchases actually knew what type of cherry was found throughout the entire cafeteria; from their cherry snacks, cherry juice, and even the fresh cherry itself.

Once, I decided to ask the cafeteria manager, if she knew what type of cherries she was buying for the athletes? And her response was:” What do you mean? I thought all cherries are the same?”

Hmmm, that’s probably the same reaction you may have to that question, right?

Well, pay attention as the facts may surprise you, as it surprised me when I was investigating cherry juices and their sources.

There is a massive nutritional difference and health impact between anti-inflammatory cherries and pro-inflammatory cherries.

Based on the Inflammatory Ratings created by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, we know that Acerola Cherry is anti-inflammatory. It can definitely contribute to your health, and maybe even assist your athletic recovery, but the other ones like:

• Cherries, sour, fresh
• Cherries, sour frozen
• Cherries, sour in heavy syrup
• Cherries, sour, in juice
• Cherries, sour, in light juice
• Cherries, sweet, fresh
• Cherries, sweet, in juice
• Cherries, sweet, in light syrup
• Cherries, sweet, in syrup, drained
• Cherries, tart, dried, sweetened

Are all pro-inflammatory, yes that is correct!!!

Again, how do you know, what type of cherry you are getting in your juice or post workout shake? And before you answer that question, let me ask you this, did you know that the fresh cherry fruit in itself is pretty high in sugar? One cup of fresh cherries contains 13 grams of sugar, and with the process of creating a cherry juice there is even more sugar content in a cup of cherry juice.

So, is the cherry juice really helping you achieve more effective athletic recovery? Unless you know where the cherry is coming from (and you don’t), I am not so sure about that! This was one of the reasons we didn’t add cherry to our proprietary blend in Resync. There were no satisfying extracts available to us in which could add value and not deduct value from our supplement.

Based on my professional experience as a former athlete, and now a performance coach, I knew it was my obligation to investigate cherries. I needed to take a deeper look into the research. I checked all the new and old remedies that actually showed an impact on athletic recovery, and simultiously did not contain HIGH sugar levels. Sugar is our biggest enemy in athletic recovery.

It is probably not news to you, that in recent years, active people and especially high-level athletes have been seeking herbal remedies to support, muscle soreness and other symptoms due to their intense workouts.

Based on all the research, I want to share with you what my team and I have created here at Resync. It may be very helpful for you to know why top athletes are already using our products in their recovery phase instead of cherry juice.

Resync vs Tart Cherry (unsweetened) Juice

We knew there are more powerful fruits than cherries to support recovery. One of these fruits is the aronia berry (also called ), which has been tested in athletes, and shown to significantly lower post-exercise levels of TNF-alpha, and significantly increase levels of TACs and iron. (Skarpanska et al. 2014). Many more studies have confirmed and supported the beneficial effects of chokeberry juice in reducing the side effects of an intense physical training load and supporting recovery.

 

COMPARISON ANTHOCYANIN

 

We invite you to read one of our recent blogs where we talk about “Antioxidant Rich Aronia Berry And Its Effect On Athletic Recovery” 

In addition to aronia berry, we felt strongly about adding ginger and turmeric to our formula, which are also supported by great clinical studies, and shown to support muscle soreness recovery. Results from these clinical studies suggests that turmeric and ginger both have the potential to be a part of the nutritional intake of those wishing to lower post-exercise soreness, and accelerate muscle strength recovery which may hasten return to effective training.

However, what you need to pay attention to, just like with the cherry juice, is the form of turmeric used in supplements. Turmeric is difficult to absorb in the human body (Cai and others 2013, McFarlin and others et. al 2016). In order to be effective for your athletic recovery, the amount and bioavailability of this rhizome matters the most and many ‘optimized for absorption’ turmeric have recently become available.

Both ginger and turmeric have been used for many years in the athletic arena and we make sure that they are of superior quality. We are actually using brand new turmeric that has the profile of the whole rhizome, not just one part of it for superior bioavailability.

By the end of the day, you can tell that my goal was to give you the pros and cons of cherry juice, and to inform you about the existing types of cherry fruits and their negative effects on your body.

I also wanted to provide you with an alternative, our Resync blend, which by comparison should give you a pretty clear picture why it may be a healthier and better choice overall, not just for athletes.

However, as always the choice is yours, just make sure it is the right one for you and your body. We are here to support you and to make sure you can become the best an effectively recovered athlete, and provide you with facts that will guide you to make better choices and to support your performance.