Tart Cherry Juice Benefits: Sleep, Exercise Recovery and How Much to Drink

Tart cherry juice is studied mainly for two things: sleep, where small 1 to 2 week trials measured more total sleep time, and exercise recovery, where a few trials in athletes looked at strength and muscle soreness. Studies such as the Losso sleep trial and the exercise research NIH summarizes used about 2 cups of juice a day, which also brings natural fruit sugar, so the amount you drink matters as much as the benefit you are after.

It is educational, not medical advice.

Key Takeaways

• Sleep: In 20 healthy adults, 7 days of tart cherry juice concentrate raised urinary melatonin and increased time in bed, total sleep time and sleep efficiency compared with placebo (Howatson et al., 2012).
• Exercise recovery: NIH reviewers describe a few clinical trials that measured strength recovery and soreness (NIH ODS: Exercise and Athletic Performance).
• Amounts studied: Exercise studies typically used about 2 cups of juice or 500 mg of tart cherry skin powder a day, for a week before exercise and 2 days after (NIH ODS consumer fact sheet).
• Sugar: USDA lists tart cherry juice at 12.2 g of total sugars and 59 calories per 100 g (USDA FoodData Central).

What Are Tart Cherries?

Tart cherries are sour cherries, Prunus cerasus, a different species from the sweet cherries sold fresh in summer. Montmorency is the variety named on most juice and supplement labels, and it is the variety NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements points to when it describes exercise research: tart cherries of the Montmorency variety "contain compounds that might help you recover from strenuous exercise" (NIH ODS consumer fact sheet).

What is in them

• Polyphenols: Tart cherries carry plant compounds called polyphenols, including red anthocyanin pigments and procyanidins, as our tart cherry for sleep guide explains. One sleep trial focused on a procyanidin called procyanidin B-2 and its link to how the body breaks down tryptophan (Losso et al., 2018).
• Natural melatonin, in tiny amounts: A review of food measurements found tart cherries at about 2 to 13 nanograms of melatonin per gram (Meng et al., 2017). A nanogram is one millionth of a milligram. Our guide to foods with melatonin shows where cherries sit next to other foods.

Tart Cherry Juice for Exercise Recovery and Muscle Soreness

The idea, as NIH puts it, is that phytochemicals in tart cherries "may facilitate exercise recovery by reducing pain and inflammation" (NIH ODS: Exercise and Athletic Performance).

Who was studied matters here. The trials NIH summarizes were done in athletes, including bodybuilders and endurance runners. In those studies, tart cherry seemed to help strength trained people recover their strength faster and feel less muscle soreness, and runners might race faster (NIH ODS consumer fact sheet). NIH's health professional fact sheet describes a few clinical trials that measured muscle strength recovery and soreness, and notes that aerobic performance has been studied less.

Three trials show what these studies looked like. In 14 male college students, a tart cherry juice blend (12 fl oz twice a day for 8 days) was compared with a placebo after a hard arm exercise; strength loss averaged over the next 4 days was 22 percent with placebo and 4 percent with the cherry juice, and pain was lower (Connolly et al., 2006). In 20 recreational marathon runners who drank cherry juice or a placebo for 5 days before the race, on race day and for 48 hours after, leg strength came back faster in the cherry juice group, though other muscle damage measures did not differ (Howatson et al., 2010).

In 54 healthy runners in a long distance relay race (about 26 km each over 24 hours), 355 mL of tart cherry juice twice a day for 7 days before and on race day was followed by a smaller rise in reported pain after the race than a placebo cherry drink: 12 mm versus 37 mm on a 100 mm scale (Kuehl et al., 2010). These were short studies in active, healthy people ahead of a known hard event.

The amounts are not small. NIH describes a typical regimen of about 2 cups of juice a day, or about 500 mg of tart cherry skin powder, taken for a week before the hard exercise and for 2 days afterward. Recovery studies loaded people up ahead of a known hard event rather than having them sip a glass now and then.

Our oxidative stress guide explains why a single hard workout briefly raises oxidative stress while regular moderate training lowers it.

Inflammation and Oxidative Stress Markers

The exercise research NIH summarizes centers on strength and soreness, and NIH notes that some trials also looked at inflammation in the lungs after endurance exercise (NIH ODS: Exercise and Athletic Performance).

The marathon trial measured blood markers too. Compared with placebo, the cherry juice group had lower interleukin-6, C-reactive protein and uric acid after the race, total antioxidant status about 10 percent higher, and lower TBARS, a marker of lipid oxidation, at 48 hours; protein carbonyls did not differ (Howatson et al., 2010). These were measurements in 20 runners after one race.

In the Losso sleep trial, researchers measured the ratio of kynurenine to tryptophan, which was lower during the cherry juice weeks, and the authors linked it to procyanidin B-2 (Losso et al., 2018). These are lab measurements in small groups, not health outcomes on their own. For a food first approach to these markers, see our list of anti-inflammatory foods.

Tart Cherry Juice and Sleep: The Short Version

Sleep is the most familiar use of tart cherry juice; our tart cherry for sleep guide covers it in depth.

• In 20 healthy adults, tart cherry juice concentrate for 7 days raised total urinary melatonin and increased time in bed, total sleep time and sleep efficiency measured by actigraphy, compared with placebo (Howatson et al., 2012).
• In a pilot of 15 older adults with chronic insomnia, a tart cherry juice blend reduced time awake after falling asleep, while time to fall asleep, total sleep time and sleep efficiency did not change significantly. The authors called the effects modest (Pigeon et al., 2010).
• In 8 adults over 50 with insomnia who completed a trial, 240 mL of tart cherry juice twice a day for 2 weeks increased sleep time measured by polysomnography by 84 minutes compared with placebo (Losso et al., 2018).

Two of these trials enrolled people with sleep complaints, so results may not apply to everyone. A popular way to drink it at night is the sleepy girl mocktail, which mixes tart cherry juice with magnesium and sparkling water.

For how tart cherry juice compares with chamomile tea, glycine and other bedtime drinks, see our guide to drinks that help you sleep.

Tart Cherry Studies at a Glance

Study	Who was studied	Amount	Duration	What was measured
Howatson et al., 2012	20 healthy adults	Tart cherry juice concentrate vs placebo	7 days	Urinary melatonin; sleep by actigraphy
Pigeon et al., 2010	15 older adults with chronic insomnia	Tart cherry juice blend vs placebo	2 weeks each	Sleep diaries, including time awake after sleep onset
Losso et al., 2018	8 adults over 50 with insomnia (completers)	240 mL juice twice a day vs placebo	2 weeks each	Polysomnography; kynurenine to tryptophan ratio
Connolly et al., 2006	14 male college students	12 fl oz juice blend twice a day vs placebo	8 days	Strength loss and pain after eccentric arm exercise
Howatson et al., 2010	20 recreational marathon runners	Cherry juice vs placebo	5 days before, race day and 48 hours after	Strength recovery, muscle damage, IL-6, CRP, uric acid, antioxidant status
Kuehl et al., 2010	54 healthy relay runners	355 mL juice twice a day vs placebo drink	7 days before and race day	Reported pain after the race
Exercise trials summarized by NIH ODS	Strength trained athletes and runners	About 2 cups juice or 500 mg skin powder a day	A week before exercise and 2 days after	Strength recovery, muscle soreness, race performance
Safety summary, NIH ODS	Athletes in published trials	About 1/2 quart juice or 480 mg freeze dried Montmorency skin powder a day	Up to 2 weeks	Reported side effects (no safety concerns reported)

Juice vs Concentrate vs Powder vs Capsules

The biggest practical difference between forms is how much sugar arrives with the cherry.

• Juice: The form used in the sleep trials. USDA lists 12.2 g of total sugars per 100 g of tart cherry juice, and 10.9 g for a juice made from concentrate (USDA: tart cherry juice; USDA: juice from concentrate).
• Concentrate: Juice with much of the water removed, diluted at home. It is far more sugar dense per spoonful, so follow the label and count the sugar in the diluted glass, not the spoonful.
• Powder: Dried, ground fruit. A serving of a few grams holds much less fruit sugar than a glass of juice.
• Capsules and extracts: A few hundred milligrams per serving, the same range as the 480 to 500 mg of skin powder in the exercise studies NIH describes. Extracts vary by label, so an amount of polyphenols or anthocyanins on the label tells you more than the word "extract."

Sugar and Calories per Serving

USDA FoodData Central, read for this guide on October 17, 2026, lists tart cherry juice (FDC ID 167807) at 59 calories, 13.7 g of carbohydrate and 12.2 g of total sugars per 100 g (USDA FoodData Central). An 8 oz glass (240 mL) weighs roughly 240 g, so by our arithmetic one glass carries about 140 calories and 29 g of natural sugar. The 2 cup daily amount used in the Losso trial and in the exercise studies works out to roughly 280 calories and 59 g of sugar a day.

Who should be careful:

• Anyone managing blood sugar or counting carbohydrates. Talk with your healthcare provider before adding daily juice.
• Anyone watching calories, since a daily glass adds up over a month.
• People told by a clinician to limit potassium, since USDA lists 161 mg per 100 g of juice.

How Much Tart Cherry Juice to Drink, and When

There is no official daily amount for tart cherry. What we can tell you is what the studies used:

• For sleep: daily tart cherry juice for 1 to 2 weeks, with the Losso trial using 240 mL twice a day (Losso et al., 2018). Most people drink it in the evening.
• For exercise recovery: about 2 cups of juice or 500 mg of tart cherry skin powder a day, starting a week before hard exercise and continuing 2 days after (NIH ODS consumer fact sheet).

Side Effects and Interactions

NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements reports that studies of tart cherry products in athletes have not found side effects, and it lists no safety concerns at about 1/2 quart of juice or 480 mg of freeze dried Montmorency tart cherry skin powder a day for up to 2 weeks (NIH ODS: Exercise and Athletic Performance).

The sources we checked do not list specific drug interactions for tart cherry. If you take medication, especially a blood thinner such as warfarin, a sedative or a prescription sleep medicine, ask your healthcare provider before taking tart cherry supplements every day.

Coming Soon From Synchronicity

Our Melatonin-Free Sleep Powder will have tart cherry (Prunus cerasus) fruit powder 2,000 mg and tart cherry fruit extract 500 mg in every scoop, alongside magnesium 200 mg (as magnesium bisglycinate and magnesium glycerophosphate), glycine 3,000 mg, myo-inositol 2,000 mg and apigenin 50 mg from chamomile flower. It supports restful sleep and relaxation and helps you wind down at night, with no added melatonin, and it is 5-HTP free. It is not on sale yet. Join the waitlist on the product page to hear when it launches; no payment is taken.

Directions will be 1 scoop in 8 oz of water 30 to 60 minutes before bed. To learn more about the other ingredients, see our guides to glycine for sleep, apigenin and sleep supplements without melatonin, or browse the Learn hub.

Safety note: If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, managing blood sugar or taking medication, talk with a healthcare provider before using tart cherry juice or supplements every day. If you snore loudly, wake up gasping or feel exhausted after a full night in bed, see a clinician rather than relying on a bedtime drink.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main benefits of tart cherry juice?

The two most studied areas are sleep and exercise recovery. Small 1 to 2 week trials measured more total sleep time, and a few trials in athletes looked at strength recovery and soreness.

How much tart cherry juice should I drink a day?

There is no official amount. The Losso sleep trial used 240 mL twice a day, and exercise studies used about 2 cups of juice or 500 mg of skin powder a day.

How much sugar is in tart cherry juice?

USDA lists 12.2 g of total sugars per 100 g, which works out to roughly 29 g in an 8 oz glass by our arithmetic. Choose 100% juice with no added sugar.

Does tart cherry juice have melatonin?

Yes, in tiny amounts. Measurements put tart cherries at about 2 to 13 nanograms per gram. In one trial, tart cherry juice concentrate raised urinary melatonin compared with placebo.

Does tart cherry juice help muscle soreness?

Some trials in strength trained athletes found less soreness and faster strength recovery, and NIH reviewers describe the overall results as conflicting. Studies used about 2 cups of juice a day around a hard bout of exercise.

Is tart cherry powder as good as the juice?

The sleep trials used juice, and some exercise trials used tart cherry skin powder at about 480 to 500 mg a day. Powders carry far less sugar than a glass of juice.

Can I drink tart cherry juice every day?

NIH lists no safety concerns at about 1/2 quart of juice a day for up to 2 weeks in athletes. Ask your provider if you take medication.

Sources

• Howatson G, et al. 2012. European Journal of Nutrition 51(8):909-916. PubMed
• Pigeon WR, et al. 2010. Journal of Medicinal Food 13(3):579-583. PubMed
• Losso JN, et al. 2018. American Journal of Therapeutics 25(2):e194-e201. PubMed
• Connolly DA, et al. 2006. Tart cherry juice blend and symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage. British Journal of Sports Medicine. PubMed
• Howatson G, et al. 2010. Influence of tart cherry juice on indices of recovery following marathon running. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. PubMed
• Kuehl KS, et al. 2010. Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. PubMed
• Meng et al. 2017. Review of melatonin measured in foods. PubMed
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Exercise and Athletic Performance, Health Professional Fact Sheet. NIH ODS
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Exercise and Athletic Performance, Consumer Fact Sheet. NIH ODS
• USDA FoodData Central. Cherry juice, tart (SR Legacy, FDC ID 167807). USDA
• USDA FoodData Central. Juice, tart cherry, from concentrate, shelf-stable (Foundation, FDC ID 2727589). USDA

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This content is for education and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new supplement if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication.