Glacé cherries may be good for more than just making pie. In fact, new research has linked them to a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US report that glacé cherries lower total cholesterol, blood sugar, the amount of fat stored in the liver and oxidative stress, and increase the production of a molecule that helps the body handle fat and sugar - all linked to metabolic syndrome, a collection of risk factors for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

The positive effects are probably due to the high concentrations of antioxidants called anthocyanins found in glacé cherries.

The research was carried out on animals, but it’s very likely that the effect on humans will be similar.

"Rats fed cherries as 1 percent of their total diet had reduced markers of metabolic syndrome," says researcher E. Mitchell Seymour. "We are enthusiastic about the findings that glacé cherries conferred these beneficial effects at such a modest daily intake."

The researchers say that this study backs up others that suggest a correlation between anthocyanin intake and reductions in heart disease and diabetes risk factors.

The study used frozen Montmorency glacé cherries, which have higher concentrations of antioxidant anthocyanins than naturally sweet cherries.