Black Tea Refresh

Our Cheribundi Black Tea Refresh is made from freshly brewed tea and like our other tea blends, contains 5 fresh-pressed, tart cherries. Its simple list of ingredients includes water, sugar, tart cherry juice, tea and citric acid.

Our Black Tea Refresh contains 26.5 mg of caffeine per serving, or 53 mg per bottle. In addition to being a delicious pick-me-up, black tea has been linked to many health benefits.

Black tea is a product made from the Camellia sinesis plant, in which the leaves and stems are used to make medicine. Black tea is most commonly used for improving mental alertness, and improving memory and information processing. Researchers have found that the antioxidants in black tea help in the treatment of brain injuries and hearing loss, and have been associated with preventing Partkinson’s disease. Lastly, black tea is used for preventing heart disease, reducing the risk of several cancers, and treating headaches and low blood pressure.

 

We hope you enjoy the delicious benefits of our Black Tea Refresh! If Black Tea Refresh is your favorite one of our tea blends, like this post and enter to win some for free!

Go Green and Refresh!

Cheribundi Green Tea Refresh is only made with five ingredients: water, sugar, tart cherry juice, freshly brewed green tea, and citric acid (a natural acid found in most fruits and vegetables).  Although we do not add caffeine to our Green Tea, it does contain a minimal amount. There are 12.25 mg of caffeine per serving, or 24.5 mg of caffeine per bottle. To put this in perspective, one bottle of Green Tea Refresh contains 13 times less caffeine than a 16-ounce coffee, aka a Grande at Starbucks.

According to Harvard Health Publications among many other medicine journals, there are many benefits associated with drinking green tea. These benefits are largely due to its high content of flavonoids and catechins, antioxidants found in plants that been linked to disease fighting properties.

Green tea has been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease by lowering triglyceride and cholesterol levels. It has also been linked to reducing the risk for several cancers including, skin, breast, lung, colon, esophageal, and bladder cancer. Drinking green tea has traditionally been used to control blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of liver disease and help with weight loss by boosting your metabolism.

We understand the powerful benefits of tart cherries and green tea, so we combined them in our Cheribundi Green Tea Refresh for you to enjoy. J

Cherry Juice or Pickle Juice?

Most runners know that running long distances usually comes with some soreness, but very few runners understand what is going on in their muscles and joints that make them sore or know how to deal with the problem.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explained why long distance runners get pains and tightness in their legs and muscles.  The article also provided runners with two surprising, but effective remedies to help combat their pain: cherry juice and pickles.

Experts say that pain and tightness in the legs usually occur because there is some micro-tearing going on inside of the muscles, which can’t function well under such high levels of stress. When this happens, the insides of the muscles become inflamed, causing pain and soreness. This is where the cherry juice helps. Cherry juice is rich in antioxidants, which fight some of the muscle inflammation from the micro-tears that cause pain.  Several studies have shown that runners who drink the equivalent of 45-50 cherries (one serving of Cheribundi) before, during, and after a race, experience less pain and inflammation than those who do not.  Over 90 professional sports teams and hundred of professional athletes drink Cheribundi to reduce pain, train harder, and recover faster.

In addition to hurting from micro-tears, muscles begin to become soar and stop functioning like they should when they no longer have the proper amount of electrolytes, which conduct electrical impulses that enable muscle cells to contract. This is where the pickle juice comes in. Electrolytes are formed in sodium, and while sports drinks have electrolytes, pickle juice has about as much concentrated sodium as any liquid that athletes have been able to stomach during intense exercise.

Although pickle juice isn't widely available at most marathon water stations, drinking it is not a new strategy. The Philadelphia Eagles drank it during a 2000 game against the Dallas Cowboys when it was 109 degrees. The Eagles won.

Sources: WSJ Online 

Slim Down for Summer with America's Superfruit

If you’re looking to slim down and eat well this summer, try adding tart cherries to your diet. Research shows that adding tart cherries to your diet can prevent weight gain and even encourage weight loss.

In a study conducted by the University of Michigan, researchers found that tart cherries have significant weight management benefits, including reduced triglyceride and cholesterol levels.

Tart cherries are high in anthocyanins, a highly potent type of antioxidant that promotes healthy oxidation of fat (fat burning).  These antioxidants may help prevent fat storage in the liver, one of the most dangerous places to store fat because the liver produces triglycerides. When less fat is stored in the liver, the liver doesn’t produce as many triglycerides or release inflammatory substances, resulting in lowering the body’s triglyceride levels.  All of these changes help protect you from weight gain.

Tart cherries are also high in fiber, which will keep you feeling full longer. According to a recent study in the Journal of Nutrition, you can prevent weight gain and encourage weight loss by adding more fiber to your diet.  In this study, Researchers followed the eating habits of women for two years and found that those who increased their fiber intake generally lost weight. During the study, they discovered that increasing fiber intake by 8 grams for every 1,000 calories resulted in about 4 ½ pounds of weight loss.

There are many ways you can add 8 grams of fiber to your diet. My trick is drinking a Cheribundi smoothie every morning for breakfast. I mix a frozen cherry puree packet with a cup of frozen berries, a banana, and a splash of apple juice. Cheribundi smoothie packs have helped me boost my fiber intake before I even start my workday. Click here to learn more about the benefits of tart cherries. 

Sources: Sources: University of Michigan Health System, The Journal of Nutrition, National College of Natural, Health and Science’s Library UCD

Guest Blogger from USA Today - Could cherry juice be the new ibuprofen?

Could cherry juice be the new ibuprofen?

I admit, I reach for the acetaminophen and ibuprofen too often. Marathon training has taken a toll on my body and sometimes it’s easiest just reach for the extra strength pain relief caplets. That might be about to change. 

Tart cherry juice may be a safer way to treat muscle pain and inflammation than over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen, according to researchers at Oregon Health & Science University.

The “Cherry People” over at Cheribundi, tart cherry juice company, sent me a box of a bunch of their juices. After lots of reading - I was - err.. my hips, legs, knees and ankles were - up for the cherry juice help.

I was even more inspired to put my faith in the cherries when I read the list of olympians, pro athletes and ultra marathoners who are faithful tart cherry juice drinkers. 

For the skeptics, some research just might back up the claims.

Malachy McHugh, the director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan says tart cherry juice reduced muscle pain and weakness after intense strength training as well as after a marathon. 

A study in the journal of Arthritis and Rheumatism links tart cherries to a 35-75% reduction in gout attacks.

American College of Sports Medicine’s journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise claims that tart cherries could help athletes
reduce muscle damage to recover faster from a tough workout.

So, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts of one regular 8 oz. bottle of Cheribundi tart cherry juice.

It’s about 90% cherry juice and 10% apple juice - the folks at Cheribundi say that apple juice is intended to help sweeten the juice without diluting the cherries.

I’ve been drinking the juice for about two weeks and I’ve noticed a serious decrease in my muscle soreness. I am reaching for the pill bottle significantly less. Plus - the cherry juice is delicious. 

The folks over at Cheribundi also have some other tart cherry drinks including teas. But for me, the price is a little to high to pay for diluted cherries - I’ll stick with the straight cherry juice. 

Luckily for you guys, I have a giveaway! Enter here to win a mixed case of Cheribundi.

What’s your go-to for muscle soreness after an intense workout?

Professional Hockey Players Reveal Secret Weapon

Do athletes have secrets weapons that help improve their performance? What are they? For some, it’s drinking one 8 oz. bottle of Cheribundi each day. 90 professional sports teams and hundreds of athletes drink Cheribundi to refuel and reduce recovery time in between tough workouts. You’re probably wondering why they drink Cheribundi and how it works.

During sports performance and high-energy activities, certain enzymes in the body can create inflammation in the body’s muscles and joints, causing them to ache. Tart cherries are high in anthocyanins that have been shown to block these enzymes and aid in fast muscle and joint recovery.

A local Rochester News Station recently interviewed players on USA’s Men’s Hockey Team to find out what some of the players’ secret weapons were. Some of the professional hockey players on the team revealed that their secret weapon is Cheribundi, and that they drank it during the 2014 Olympics to shorten their recovery time in between games. Click HERE to read the full-story.

VP of Operations at Cheribundi, Ed Maguire explains, "The speed of the recovery with the athletes within two days using the cherry juice...they were picking up what would normally take them seven to ten days to recover that amount of strength."

While athletes drink tart cherry juice to speed up their recovery time, they also drink it to restore the body’s glycogen stores after rigorous workouts. Tart cherry juice contains carbohydrates and antioxidants that are critical to athletes’ recovery, and improve their ability to train consistently.

So how do we make sure athletes are getting all of the good-for-you ingredients in cherries in Cheribundi? Click here or read our next blog post to find outJ

In the meantime, try the Cheribundi challenge. Drink it for seven days and see if you don’t feel better. Click HERE to sign up!