"It mimicked a high-fat product", said Alden Booren, a meat specialist at Michigan State University, referring to the Plevalean burger that was recently scientifically tested by their labs.

Popping tart cherries instead of a pill may be an option for those suffering from inflammatory pain, according to Michigan State University researchers.

Michigan State University research, funded by the Michigan Agricultural Experimental Station and the Cherry Marketing Institute, finds that the same chemicals that give tart cherries their color may relieve pain better than aspirin and ibuprofen. Cherries may also provide antioxidant protection comparable to commercially available supplements like vitamin E and vitamin C. This report appeared in the February 1999 edition of Journal of Natural Products, published by the American Chemical Society.

Although studies have not yet been conducted on humans, lead author Muralee G. Nair, a professor of horticulture who is affiliated with the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, says that results suggest eating about 20 tart cherries could reduce inflammatory pain and benefit the consumer with antioxidant protection. That small amount of cherries contains 12-25 milligrams of active antioxidant compounds, including anthocyanins, according to the authors.

Anthocyanins were found to prevent the oxidative damage caused by oxygen or free radicals almost as well as compounds in antioxidant products on the market. In addition, inflammation-causing enzymes, called cyclcoxygenase-1 and -2, were inhibited by the anthocyanins at doses more than ten times lower than aspirin, and without stomach irritation aspirin sometimes causes.

In addition, the cherries may also assist in improving memory, concentration and vision and assist in preventing the development of cardiovascular disease.

Daily consumption of cherries has the potential to reduce pain related inflammation, arthritis and gout, says Nair. "If you have pain from chronic arthritis and aspirin bothers your stomach, eating a bowl of cherries may reduce that pain."

If eating a bowl of cherries isn’t always practical, a cherry pill with all the benefits of the fruit may be available in the future.

"Then people can pop a pill instead of eating a whole bowl full of sour cherries", Nair says. "That’s pretty hard to do."