Cherry Juice: Ingredients and Cooking Tips
Cherry juice is an amazing delicacy familiar to everyone. It impresses not only with its rich sweet and sour taste, but also with its vitamin composition. In order to enjoy it, you need to pay attention to some tips for making juice at home.
Composition and useful properties
The main ingredient in cherry juice is, of course, cherries. It contains a huge amount of vitamins, macro- and microelements that positively affect our health. First of all, you should talk about its bactericidal properties. It has a lot anthocyanins - red pigment, which makes it easily digestible. Thanks to coumarin cherry is usually eaten as a prevention of complications in arterial atherosclerosis. It reduces blood clotting.
Of the micro and macro elements, it is necessary to highlight magnesium and iron. In our body, magnesium is found by default in teeth and bones, and in order for them to be strong and healthy, you need to consume magnesium in sufficient quantities, for example, in cherry juice.
Magnesium is famous for its effect on the cardiovascular system, it also helps with a breakdown and lack of mood, with fatigue and muscle pain due to the fact that it takes part in the production of ATP, a participant in energy metabolism in our body. Magnesium is also involved in the formation of nerve impulses that carry information from the brain to all other parts of the body.It is thanks to them that a person can move, speak and somehow consciously exist. It is an excellent prevention of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, controls blood pressure.
Magnesium regulates the amount of calcium, so it would be nice to drink cottage cheese or sour cream with cherry juice. It helps to relax muscles and the entire nervous system, thus reducing stress levels and uplifting mood. This is a real natural anti-stress that produces serotonin and raises the energy level of the whole organism. It can also help with insomnia and other sleep problems.
It is also useful during critical days in women, as it promotes hormonal balance and reduces menstrual pain. It maintains the kidneys in proper condition, preventing kidney stones. In combination with a mild laxative effect of other substances contained in cherry juice, it will cope with constipation and remove toxins from the intestines.
Cherry juice is able to restore the deficiency of the necessary elements. One of the most important metabolic processes - the formation of DNA and RNA, also cannot go smoothly without magnesium - it prevents mutation and the appearance of malignant cells and other dysfunctions.
Not so long ago, it was discovered that cherry juice contains ellagic acid – it blocks the growth of cancer cells, thus being a cancer prevention drug.
Cherry juice can lower blood pressure and help strengthen capillaries and blood vessels. It is also useful in diseases of the cardiovascular system, which is why it is recommended by doctors, and among the people, cherry has long been called the “heart berry”.
Cherry juice is an expectorant, mild laxative, it increases appetite, it is recommended to take it for gout and arthritis.
It is very useful to use natural cherry juice for anemia - trace elements such as iron, copper and cobalt are hematopoietic. In addition, iron is involved in such important processes as the formation of hemoglobin (it contains 70% of all the iron that the body has in stock) and the synthesis of certain hormones, such as thyroid hormone. It is also necessary to maintain good physical shape.
First of all, iron works in the respiratory system - it transports oxygen to the muscles through the blood and forms red blood cells. Myoglobin, which is responsible for this, contains the remaining iron. Without iron, the safe release of energy from cells is impossible. That is why many athletes suffer from iron deficiency. The more a person engages in physical exercise, the less iron in his body.
Cherry juice, which has a low calorie content, contains enough iron - it can be drunk between workouts or added to smoothies and other nutritious cocktails for both athletes and losing weight girls. For example, in ancient times, after heavy battles, warriors were given cherry juice to drink, which allows them to speed up blood formation.
Iron, like magnesium, plays a big role in menstruation. Due to the fact that every month a woman loses a certain percentage of blood, she needs more iron than a man - the recommended daily dose for a woman is 18 mg, while for a man - only 8 mg. In order to satisfy the daily dose of iron, you can use cherry juice in combination with cereals - make cocktails or drink meat with it.
Due to its iron content, drinking cherry juice daily can reduce the risk of anemia and protect red blood cells from damage and dysfunction. The juice also helps to improve physical activity and increase energy levels.
Due to the content of copper in cherry juice, cobalt and vitamin C iron is well absorbed by the body, its presence enhances the work of B vitamins, also contained in cherries.
From the sweet and sour taste of the cherry itself and cherry juice, it is not difficult to guess the high content of ascorbic acid in it. In symbiosis with vitamin P and tannins it strengthens blood vessels, increases immunity and body resistance to viruses. Frequent consumption of cherries is believed to ease heart attacks.
Cherry juice contains a large amount pectinsthat help the body synthesize B vitamins. This news will especially please girls who love cherry juice, because these vitamins are responsible for the condition of the skin, the quality of hair and nails. Cherry juice made in the summer can be a good source of vitamins for the winter. In addition, B vitamins are also responsible for inner peace - they help with menstruation, stress and nerves. The combination of substances such as B vitamins and magnesium in cherry juice makes it an excellent remedy for calming the nervous system.
Carbohydrates predominate in cherries - they make up 89.45% per 100 grams of product. Second place is occupied by proteins - 6.75%, fats with 3.8% - in last place. In general, the calorie content of 100 grams of cherries is 52 kcal. Water in cherry 85 g.
Harm
Despite the objective benefits, cherry juice can also bring some harm.It should not be used by people with high acidity, ulcers and other diseases of the digestive system, including weak intestines, kidney and liver diseases. It is also not recommended for use by diabetics and those who have chronic diseases of the respiratory system - bronchitis, asthma, and so on.
Also, it should not be drunk for people with allergies, individual intolerance, children under two years old. Despite this, pregnant women can drink cherry juice and even really need it because of the content of folic acid or vitamin B9, which is responsible for the formation of the fetus. Cherry juice is also included in the diets of nursing mothers, but in smaller doses - it increases blood formation, therefore it helps to recover faster after childbirth.
Cooking Tips
Making cherry juice at home is more than possible, especially considering that cherries grow in almost every suburban area, and are also very common in the city. As a rule, it begins to bloom in June - July, and bears fruit closer to August. In our area, cherries can be found virtually everywhere, except for high-altitude and desert regions. Its berries are more than affordable.
Bottled and packaged drinks do not even compare with real cherry juice prepared at home in a juicer. Sometimes it is difficult to call such drinks and juices - these are nectars or water with the addition of juice. There is no need to mix cherry juice with others - in terms of the content of vitamins and active substances, it can replace any other drinks.
For juice, you can take both small cherries and large ones - the main thing is to choose only ripe berries. They need to be thoroughly washed and cleaned of bones. Part of the juice will stand out already at this stage, collect it in a separate bowl and set aside.
Making cherry juice is very easy. You will need to take:
- 2 kg of cherries (preferably freshly picked, but frozen is also not forbidden);
- water;
- 100 g sugar (can be varied to taste).
To squeeze the juice from the remaining cherries, you can use a juicer or pusher and a sieve. Further, following the recipe, you need to put the squeezed berries in a multi-layer gauze and squeeze well, squeezing the juice. The pulp and peel remaining after the release of the juice can be used for cooking compote, or you can make juice with pulp.
It must be mixed with water - the amount is determined by taste, but it is better to start with small portions, and sugar. Don't forget to add the juice left over from the pitting of the cherries.
It is impossible to store the juice prepared in this way for a long time.
In order to prepare a drink for the winter, a different recipe is used. Cherry juice must be boiled. Of course, most of the nutrients from cherries will thus be gone. But the taste and smell will remain, which is enough for most lovers.
The first step is to sort the cherries, wash them and peel them. Transfer to a saucepan. Then add water and sugar to them, mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. The juice is boiled for 3 minutes over low heat, then it is preserved - poured into jars and covered with lids. Banks need to be placed in a saucepan, on the bottom of which a towel is first laid, and pour them with water up to their shoulders. Boil and keep so for another half hour.
After that, the jars should be taken out of the water. They are turned upside down and kept at room temperature for a day, after which they are cleaned in a cool room. You can enjoy the drink in a few days, it is stored all winter.
For information on how to make cherry juice for the winter, see the next video.