Cherries – Myths and Truth

Don’t drink water after eating cherries! Watch out, if you swallow a pit. And there’s dangerous hydrocyanic acid in cherry pits …

There are some really strange prejudices against cherries out there. Although none are true, they don’t seem to go away. Enough is enough! Don’t miss out on the pleasure of the crunchy fruits. The SanLucar Blog reveals the three greatest cherry myths:

Myth number 1:

Don’t drink water after eating cherries!

Or you’ll get a terrible stomach-ache. This prejudice is medically untenable. If you are thirsty, you can clearly drink water after eating cherries. You could get grumbling in your belly at the most. If you have eaten an unusual amount of cherries or have a sensitive stomach anyway. It could indeed be a reaction to the acid contained in the fruit.

Myth number 2:

Don’t swallow cherry pits!

Lots of grandmas still tell us today that the pits can settle in one of the numerous intestinal bulges. And that a small cherry tree will grow in your stomach. This rumour is also nonsense. True to the motto “What is decisive is what comes out,” cherry pits are easily released.

Myth number 3:

Do not crush cherry pits – risk of poisoning!

Logically, the crushing of a cherry pit is a real risk for your teeth and fillings – but according to popular belief, there is also acute danger of poisoning by the hydrocyanic acid the pits contain. The fact is, a single cherry pit has negligible quantities of hydrocyanic acid. So you would have to crack a whole lot of pits to endanger your own health. Before it could actually reach risky levels risky, you’d have worn out all your teeth.