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Cherries are rich in antioxidants, made of 75 percent of water, making it a perfect weight-loss food, and naturally contain melatonin which can regulate your circadian and sleep cycles.

Cherries are also known to be bursting with a substance known as anthocyanins a flavanoid that is primarily responsible  for the red, purple, and blue hues evident in many fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, and flowers. More than just a natural food coloring, the substance has been promoted as having curative and anti-inflammatory properties that relieves pain and that researchers now say can be used against arthritis and gout attacks.

Previous research reports that 8.3 million adults in the U.S. suffer from gout, an inflammatory arthritis triggered by a crystallization of uric acid within the joints that causes excruciating pain and swelling. 

Separate research has found that cherries also contain boron, which helps increase bone health when consumed in conjunction with magnesium and calcium; the California Cherry advisory notes that eating 20 cherries is 10 times more effective than taking aspirin.

Putting these reports together, lead author Dr. Yuqing Zhang, Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Boston University and his colleagues recruited 633 gout patients to determine if cherries could help prevent and/or relieve gout attacks; patients were asked about the date of gout onset, symptoms, medications and risk factors, including cherry and cherry extract intake in the two days prior to the gout attack, with a serving size of 10 to 12 cherries.

After a years worth of web-based follow-up and check-in visits, researchers reported:

"Our findings indicate that consuming cherries or cherry extract lowers the risk of gout attack," said Dr. Zhang. "The gout flare risk continued to decrease with increasing cherry consumption, up to three servings over two days."

The authors found that further cherry intake did not provide any additional benefit. However, the protective effect of cherry intake persisted after taking into account patients' sex, body mass (obesity), purine intake, along with use of alcohol, diuretics and anti-gout medications.

Researchers advise that while patients suffering from gout attacks do not abandon standard therapies, treatments and/or medications, adding cherry products to your regiment can only help.