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Last Updated: Jun 30, 2008 - 11:14:37 AM |
MONDAY April 7, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating lots of tart cherries daily may help protect against heart disease and diabetes, according to a study presented Sunday at the Experimental Biology 2008 meeting in San Diego, CA.
The animal study showed rats fed tart cherry powder had low levels of inflammation, body fat, weight gain and blood cholesterol.
For the study, researchers from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center fed rats whole tart cherry powder mixed into a high fat diet.
They found the rats on the cherry diet did not gain as much weight as rats that did not receive cherries.
They also found that cherry-diet rats had low levels of inflammation that has been linked to heart disease and diabetes, and low levels of cholesterol and triglycerides than the other rats.
The results were observed in both lean and obese rats.
The obese rats used in the study were bred to have a predisposition to obesity and insulin resistance. The researchers found these rats when fed cherry powder were less likely to buildup fat in their bellies, another factor linked to cardiovascular disease.
The lean rats were prone to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and impaired glucose tolerance. In the study, they received a low-fat diet with or without cherries.
Cherry-fed lean rats had lower total cholesterol, lower blood sugar, less fat storage in the liver and lower oxidative stress.
But it is unknown whether these benefits would also be observed in the obese rats or in rats fed a higher fat, western-style diet containing elevated saturated fat and cholesterol.
The amount of cherries used in the rats' diet is equivalent to about 1.5 cups every day for humans.
The researchers are preparing to do a pilot-phase clinical trial later this spring to determine whether tart cherries will have the same effect in humans.
"These new findings are very encouraging, especially in light of what is becoming known about the interplay between inflammation, blood lipids, obesity and body composition in cardiovascular disease and diabetes," said Steven Bolling, M.D., a U-M cardiac surgeon and the laboratory's director.
"The fact that these factors decreased despite the rats’ predisposition to obesity, and despite their high-fat ‘American-style’ diet, is especially interesting."
The study was funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute, a trade association for the cherry industry, which has no influence on the design, conduct or analysis of the research.
© 2004-2008 by foodconsumer.org unless otherwise specified
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