Our Verdict
When comparing strawberries to cherries, we picked the cherries.
Why?
It was close, and certainly both are great!
When it comes to vitamins and minerals, each fruit has its strengths (and both are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals), but on balance, strawberry comes out a little higher—especially for vitamin C, as a cup of strawberries can provide the daily recommended amount already.
In terms of macros, strawberries have less sugar, but this isn’t really a big deal when it comes to fruit, as the fiber content and polyphenols more than offset any negative effects.
Speaking of which, the fiber content is comparable for each fruit, and both contain a lot of antioxidants.
What swings it into cherries’ favor is cherries’ slew of specific phytochemical benefits, including cherry-specific anti-inflammatory properties, sleep-improving abilities, and post-exercise recovery boosts, as well as anti-diabetic benefits above and beyond the normal “this is a fruit” level.
In short, both are very respectable fruits, but cherries have some qualities that are just special, and that we feel outweigh the “has more vitamin C” of strawberries.
We’ll do a main feature on cherries’ medicinal properties sometime soon, but in the meantime, if you’d like to try a tart cherry supplement, here’s an example product on Amazon 🍒
