Even if you would prefer to eat a whole fruit, drinking juice does have some benefits. There is one type of juice in particular that has such a wide variety of benefits that it is considered one of the healthiest juices to drink every day. We're talking about sour cherry juice here. Find out in this article what benefits it has to offer for your health and how you can make it yourself at home.
Is tart cherry juice healthy?
There is a clear and unequivocal answer to this question: YES! The juice of theSour cherries are considered extremely healthyand you can drink it every day. The vitamins and other valuable substances it contains have a good effect on health and can help with various problems. Plus, the sour taste will keep you from drinking too much.
But be careful! If you buy juice from the supermarket, be sure to avoid pseudo-juice drinks. These contain large amounts of added sugar and are anything but healthy. Pay attention to the name direct juice or even better – make the juice yourself. Three methods can be found below.
The health benefits of cherry juice
Cherry juice (particularly tart cherry juice) is surprisingly beneficial to health in several ways. When you drink homemade or organic tart cherry juice, you can reap several benefits:
- Tart cherry juice is a good source of various vitamins and minerals, including potassium, which helpsRegulation of blood pressurecontributes.
- It is highly effective in relieving and even eliminating the pain of gout and arthritis.
- Cherry juice has anti-inflammatory properties.
- It is packed with antioxidants (due to anthocyanins) that strengthen the immune system and prevent cancer.
- Drinking tart cherry juice can boost metabolism and promote fat burning.
- The healthy drink helps with recovery after training and against sore muscles.
- Tart cherry juice can help you fall asleep and promote healthy sleep, with similarEffect like melatonin/Valerian.
Make your own sour cherry juice: an overview of the 3 best methods
Make your own cherry juice with a juicer
All you need is the fresh fruit and a juicer, and after just a few minutes you will have delicious and healthy freshly squeezed cherry juice. Here's how:
- First wash the cherries andremove the seeds(as they can damage your device).
- Then you simply put the cherries in the juicer and let the device do all the work.
A notice:The raw juice does not have a long shelf life and must be consumed within a day.
Freshly squeezed sour cherry juice without a juicer
You can do this either by hand with a cheesecloth or, more quickly and easily, with a potato masher. Follow these steps:
- Rinse and pit the cherries.
- Then place in a large bowl or shallow dish and mash with a potato masher or similar tool to release the juice.
- Place the cherry puree in a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and squeeze the pulp to collect as much juice as possible.
Make your own sour cherry concentrate
This method of making cherry juice uses heat and creates a tart cherry juice concentrate. However, this means that a large part of the vitamins and minerals are lost.
- First wash the cherries and remove the stems. It is not necessary to pit the fruit.
- Put the fruit in a saucepan with water (2 cups of water per 500 grams of cherries), bring to the boil and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Drain through a fine-mesh sieve and press down on the fruit with a spoon so that as much juice as possible comes out.
- To preserve the juice, add the liquid back to the pot and season with sugar. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat and pour into clean glass bottles.
