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What Is Tart Cherry Good For? The Montmorency Evidence by Outcome
Tart cherry is best supported for recovery after hard exercise: across 14 trials, Montmorency cherry taken for about a week around a race or heavy session reduced muscle soreness (effect size -0.44) and helped strength recover (-0.78), mostly at about 60 mL of concentrate a day.1 Sleep rests on three crossover trials of 20, 15 and 8 people, with gains in minutes; gout on one observational study of 633 people in which cherries went with 35% lower odds of an attack; blood pressure on a 7 mmHg fall lasting three hours after a single 60 mL dose in 15 men.7, 8, 9, 11, 13 The fruit's melatonin is real but tiny, 13.46 nanograms per gram.10 No cherry health claim is authorised in Great Britain; potassium carries the only wording a label may use. This evidence map sits alongside the Wellgard ashwagandha guide.
Is tart cherry the same as Montmorency cherry and sour cherry?
Yes. Tart, sour and Montmorency cherry are the same fruit, Prunus cerasus, Montmorency being the variety the trials and most UK products use. Sweet cherries (Prunus avium) are a different species, and juice pressed from them is not what any study below used. Balaton is a second sour variety with a sixth of Montmorency's melatonin.10 If the label says only "cherry", check.
Does tart cherry help muscle recovery after exercise?
The strongest evidence, and still modest. A 2021 meta-analysis of 14 trials found a small effect on muscle soreness (effect size -0.44), moderate effects on recovery of strength (-0.78) and power (-0.53), a large effect on jump height (-0.82), small falls in two inflammatory markers and no change in a muscle-damage marker; most trials were small and in trained men.1 Ten trials in 147 people, pooled separately, found endurance performance a little better (standardised mean difference 0.36).2
The trials give the doses. Twenty UK marathon runners drank cherry juice for five days before, on the day of and two days after the race: isometric strength recovered faster and interleukin-6, C-reactive protein and uric acid were lower.3 Fifty-four relay runners on 355 mL of juice twice a day for a week saw post-race pain rise by 12 mm on a 100 mm scale against 37 mm on placebo.4 Sixteen trained cyclists on 30 mL of Montmorency concentrate twice a day for eight days held their strength for 72 hours after a 109-minute race simulation.5 In nine water polo players a week of juice changed nothing; the authors blamed a sport that damages little muscle.6
Does tart cherry help you sleep?
Three small trials, covered in full on do sour cherries help you sleep. In 20 healthy UK adults, a week of concentrate at 30 mL twice a day raised urinary melatonin and added about 25 minutes of sleep.7 In 15 older adults with insomnia, two weeks of a juice blend improved only time awake after falling asleep and insomnia severity, by effects the authors called "considerably less than" sleeping tablets or CBT for insomnia.8 In eight over-50s with sleep-lab-confirmed insomnia, 240 mL twice a day for two weeks added 84 minutes of recorded sleep.9 The fruit's melatonin is 13.46 nanograms per gram, about 1.3 micrograms per 100 g, a thousandth of a prescription dose; the authors now point to tryptophan availability as the likelier mechanism.9, 10
Is tart cherry good for gout and uric acid?
The gout evidence is observational. In 633 people with gout followed for a year, eating cherries in the two days before a flare went with 35% lower odds of an attack (odds ratio 0.65), and cherries plus allopurinol with 75% lower odds than neither.11 That is self-reported intake, not a trial. On uric acid itself, 48 healthy adults given juice (240 mL) or capsules (480 mg) for 48 hours saw serum urate fall by about 8%, and only transiently.12 No juice "flushes" uric acid: the kidneys clear it, and the NHS says frequent attacks or high urate need uric acid-lowering medicine taken regularly, even when symptom-free.14 What foods cause gout puts cherries next to the purine, alcohol and sugar evidence.
Does tart cherry reduce inflammation or lower blood pressure?
In the exercise trials, a little: pooled C-reactive protein (effect size -0.46) and interleukin-6 (-0.35) fell by small amounts, measured in the days around a race.1 So "how long to reduce inflammation" has an answer only for exercise: the trials loaded for four to seven days and continued two or three days after. No trial has measured inflammation in people taking it for weeks for stiff joints, so there is no figure for that use. On blood pressure, 15 men with early hypertension given a single 60 mL dose saw systolic pressure fall for three hours, peaking 7 mmHg below placebo at two hours.13 One dose, one afternoon; nobody changes a blood-pressure tablet on it.
How much tart cherry should you take, and when?
Match dose and timing to the outcome the trials measured.
| Purpose | What the trials used | When | Trial length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery after hard exercise | 30 mL concentrate twice a day (60 mL), or 355 mL juice twice a day | Four to five days before the event to two or three days after | 7 to 8 days1, 3, 4, 5 |
| Sleep, healthy adults | 30 mL concentrate twice a day | Morning and an hour before bed | 7 days7 |
| Sleep, insomnia over 50 | 240 mL juice twice a day | Morning and an hour before bed | 2 weeks9 |
| Uric acid | 240 mL juice or one 480 mg capsule | Single doses | 48 hours12 |
| Blood pressure | 60 mL concentrate | Single dose, effect over 3 hours | 1 day13 |
So "how long until results" depends on the purpose: a week for recovery, one to two weeks for sleep, hours for urate, and no trial has run longer than a few weeks.
Juice, concentrate or capsules: which is better?
The same fruit at different strengths. Juice is pressed cherries, often diluted and sometimes sweetened; concentrate has had most of the water removed, so 30 mL stands in for roughly 240 mL of juice and is diluted at home; capsules carry a dried powder of the fruit. "From concentrate" juice is concentrate with the water put back: pre-diluted, not inferior. No trial has compared commercial products; formats differ in dose per serving and sugar, both on the label. The healthiest choice has no added sugar, and the NHS counts any juice as at most one of five a day, 150 mL.15 A 30 mL serving of concentrate (two tablespoons) is half the dose the UK recovery and sleep trials used, which was 30 mL twice a day; where a concentrate supplies potassium at 15% or more of the reference intake, potassium contributes to normal muscle function, normal functioning of the nervous system and the maintenance of normal blood pressure.5, 7, 16 Natural sugars are declared on the label. Cautions, from potassium to sorbitol: tart cherry juice warnings.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better for inflammation, tart cherry or turmeric?
Tart cherry's inflammation data come from week-long exercise trials with small falls in C-reactive protein and interleukin-6; turmeric's curcumin has been trialled for weeks to months in people with joint pain, set out on how to take turmeric for inflammation.1 No trial has compared the two.
Which is better, beetroot juice or tart cherry juice?
Beetroot juice is studied for its nitrate and endurance; tart cherry's endurance effect is smaller (standardised mean difference 0.36) and its main record is recovery afterwards.2 No trial has set them against each other.
Should I drink tart cherry juice in the morning or at night?
The sleep and recovery trials split the dose, morning and an hour or two before bed.5, 7, 9 For a single daily serving no trial settles it; take it when you will remember.
Why do people drink sour cherry juice?
Recovery after running or the gym, gout, sleep and the taste, in that order of evidence: trials, an observational study, three small trials.1, 7, 11
Sources
- Hill JA, Keane KM, Quinlan R, Howatson G. Tart cherry supplementation and recovery from strenuous exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2021. PubMed 33440334.
- Gao R, Chilibeck PD. Effect of tart cherry concentrate on endurance exercise performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2020. PubMed 31986108.
- Howatson G, et al. Influence of tart cherry juice on indices of recovery following marathon running. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 2010. PubMed 19883392.
- Kuehl KS, et al. Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2010. PubMed 20459662.
- Bell PG, et al. Recovery facilitation with Montmorency cherries following high-intensity, metabolically challenging exercise. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2015. PubMed 25794236.
- McCormick R, et al. Effect of tart cherry juice on recovery and next day performance in well-trained water polo players. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2016. PubMed 27895542.
- Howatson G, et al. Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. European Journal of Nutrition, 2012. PubMed 22038497.
- Pigeon WR, et al. Effects of a tart cherry juice beverage on the sleep of older adults with insomnia: a pilot study. Journal of Medicinal Food, 2010. PubMed 20438325.
- Losso JN, et al. Pilot study of the tart cherry juice for the treatment of insomnia and investigation of mechanisms. American Journal of Therapeutics, 2018. PubMed 28901958.
- Burkhardt S, et al. Detection and quantification of the antioxidant melatonin in Montmorency and Balaton tart cherries (Prunus cerasus). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2001. PubMed 11600041.
- Zhang Y, et al. Cherry consumption and decreased risk of recurrent gout attacks. Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2012. PubMed 23023818.
- Hillman AR, Uhranowsky K. Acute ingestion of Montmorency tart cherry reduces serum uric acid but has no impact on high sensitivity C-reactive protein or oxidative capacity. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 2021. PubMed 33506357.
- Keane KM, et al. Effects of Montmorency tart cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) consumption on vascular function in men with early hypertension. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016. PubMed 27146650.
- NHS. Gout. nhs.uk/conditions/gout.
- NHS. 5 A Day: what counts? nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/5-a-day/5-a-day-what-counts.
- Department of Health and Social Care. Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. gov.uk.
General information, not medical advice: gout and blood pressure are managed with your GP, and anyone on regular medicine or with kidney disease asks a pharmacist before a daily cherry concentrate.
