Health&Wellness Magazine February 2015 | Page 34

34 & February 2015 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net | Like us FOOD BITES @healthykentucky FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL CHERRY MONTH By Tanya Tyler, Staff Writer When we give something the perfect finishing touch, we say it’s the “cherry on the top.” Cherry is a favorite flavor for all kinds of things, from cough drops to bubblegum to Slurpees, and finding out that this fruit is good for you only makes it that much sweeter. You might be surprised to learn cherries come in other colors than red. Dark cherries that look almost purple are called black cherries. The skin of rainier cherries turns a yellowish pink when ripe; its flesh is white. And not all cherries are sweet; some of them are quite tart. Cherries have been part of the human diet since prehistoric times. Cherries have those sought-after antioxidants that can lower your risk for cancer and heart disease. Cherries Cherries were brought to America by early settlers in the 1600s. More than 650 million pounds of cherries are now produced in the United States each yea