Tart cherry juice is backed by real research for both muscle recovery and sleep. Here is what the studies actually show, and how much to drink.
The Fitness RoadMost of the research on tart cherry juice is specifically about Montmorency tart cherries, a sour cherry variety grown mainly in Michigan and parts of Europe, not the sweet eating cherries you'd...
The Fitness RoadThe proposed mechanism behind tart cherry juice and recovery centers on its unusually high concentration of anthocyanins, which appear to reduce the oxidative stress and inflammation that build up in...
The Fitness RoadThe sleep research runs on a completely different mechanism, and it's arguably even more directly supported than the recovery claims. Montmorency tart cherries are one of the few food sources that...
The Fitness RoadDosing is where a lot of the confusion around tart cherry juice comes from, mostly because commercial products vary wildly in concentration. For recovery purposes, most of the research protocols use...
The Fitness RoadAll three forms show up in the research, and the right choice mostly comes down to sugar tolerance, convenience, and budget. Bottled 100% tart cherry juice is the most direct way to match the doses...
The Fitness RoadTart cherry juice is generally well tolerated, but it isn't risk-free for everyone. The natural sorbitol content, a sugar alcohol also found in prunes and other stone fruits, can cause bloating, gas,...
The Fitness RoadA handful of avoidable mistakes explain most of the disappointing results people report. Buying a "cherry juice blend" that's mostly apple or grape juice with a small percentage of actual tart cherry...
The Fitness RoadIt helps to know where tart cherry juice actually fits next to the other recovery drinks people reach for, since it's not solving the same problem as most of them. Electrolyte drinks replace sodium,...
The Fitness RoadTart cherry juice is one of the more genuinely well-supported natural recovery and sleep aids on the market right now, which is unusual in a category full of products backed by little more than a...
The Fitness RoadTart cherry juice is backed by real research for both muscle recovery and sleep. Here is what the studies actually show, and how much to drink.
The Fitness Road