Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice

With their sweet juiciness and burst of flavor, cherries bring summer memories of cherry pie, cherry cobbler—or just popping the ruby red fruit into your mouth to experience their fruity goodness. Beyond being tasty, cherries are packed with nutrition, including vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron and folate. They'll also give you a nice antioxidant and fiber boost—one cup provides about 3 grams of fiber, per the USDA.

Together, the nutrients in cherries offer a wealth of health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties. And we know that chronic inflammation is a culprit in many conditions, from heart disease and diabetes to cancer and arthritis.

But what about sweet cherry's sour sister, the tart cherry, often found in the form of juice? Does tart cherry juice have health benefits, too? We dug into the research to find out.

Health Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice

While research on the benefits of tart cherry juice is still emerging and being hashed out, here are six potential benefits of drinking tart cherry juice.

Improved Memory

A small 2019 randomized controlled trial published in Food & Function gave 37 older adults several different tests for cognitive performance. This group retook the same tests after 12 weeks of consuming a cherry drink—half of them drank tart cherry juice every day, the other half drank a placebo cherry-flavored beverage that did not contain any juice.

The results indicated that those who drank the tart cherry juice felt their memory had improved, compared to the placebo group who did not experience a subjective improvement in memory. In addition, the tart cherry juice group had improved test scores after 12 weeks of drinking the tart cherry juice, including improved sustained attention—which affects several areas of cognition. The tart cherry juice group also made fewer errors when learning new tasks.

A 2022 study in The British Journal of Nutrition found similar results in sustained attention for the tart cherry juice group. This group also felt more alert and had less mental fatigue than the control group that received a placebo drink.

Improved Sleep

Sleep is an often underrated health habit, but one that brings many health benefits when you get enough of it—including a stronger immune system and less inflammation.

There are many things you can try to help get a better night's sleep, like noshing on certain foods during the day and not eating too close to bedtime. Turns out, sipping on tart cherry juice might help, too.

A 2018 pilot study in the American Journal of Therapeutics suggests that drinking 8 ounces of Montmorency (a type of cherry) tart cherry juice twice a day may help fight insomnia by elevating levels of melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle.

And a 2023 review in Current Research in Food Science looked at whether polyphenols—the type of antioxidants found in cherries—help ward off insomnia and other sleep disorders. This review found evidence supporting this notion and suggests more research be done on this topic.

Pictured Recipe: Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Spinach Smoothie

Exercise Recovery and Performance

If you like more intense workouts but dread the soreness and fatigue following them, tart cherry juice may help. A 2022 review in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports suggests that taking tart cherry juice for several days prior to exercising—what they refer to as "precovery"—will speed up muscle recovery time. Study authors note that there is no evidence suggesting that drinking tart cherry juice the day of a tough workout or event, or following it, helps. The aid really comes from drinking it each day for several days leading up to it.

Tart cherry powdered extract, a more concentrated form of tart cherry juice, may help, as well. A 2021 study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests that supplementation with tart cherry extract helped reduce markers of oxidative stress on muscles following intense resistance exercise, as well as recovery time.

If you're looking for a boost for your endurance exercise, tart cherry juice might help with that, too. A 2020 review in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition suggests that drinking tart cherry juice for seven days and up to 1.5 hours prior to exercise may significantly improve endurance exercise performance.

The effects of tart cherry juice might be limited to well-trained athletes, however. One 2019 study in Nutrients suggests that men who are not trained in resistance exercise did not reap the same benefits in muscle recovery that other studies have shown with people who are trained.

Relief from Gout

Gout is a form of arthritis caused by too much uric acid in the blood, which can cause sudden severe pain, and swelling and tenderness in the joints, especially in the big toe. If this sounds like something you may be suffering from, talk to your healthcare practitioner. Untreated gout can lead to more pain and joint issues.

On the bright side, tart cherry juice may help. The anthocyanins—the antioxidants responsible for their red-purple color—in tart cherries are thought to reduce the inflammation caused by high levels of uric acid. This, in turn, is responsible for helping to reduce gout symptoms, per a 2019 review in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. This is especially important for people unable to take medications for gout due to contraindications (for example, if taking the medication for gout would interact with meds treating other conditions and cause harm).

Tart cherry capsules may benefit, too. A 2021 study in Plant Foods for Human Nutrition suggests that ingesting tart cherry, either in juice or powdered capsule form, helps to lower uric acid for up to eight hours after taking it.

Pictured recipe: Cherry, Wild Rice & Quinoa Salad

Lower Blood Pressure

Deemed the "silent killer," high blood pressure increases your risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke. Many of the earlier studies on tart cherry juice looked at its effects on blood pressure, suggesting tart cherry juice may reduce systolic blood pressure. Many recent studies, however, including a 2021 study published in Nutrients, did not see an effect of tart cherry juice on blood pressure. So, while the research remains inconclusive, the researchers in the above study noted that tart cherry juice is safe and well-tolerated.

Calms Inflammation

Research, including a 2019 study in Nutrients, explains that the mechanism behind tart cherry juice's blood pressure and LDL cholesterol-lowering effects might be due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. And as previously mentioned, scientists believe that inflammation is a culprit in many chronic conditions, including high blood pressure.

Where to Buy Tart Cherry Juice

Tart cherry juice can be found online and in most grocery stores in either the health-food aisle or with other juices and beverages. Check the label to make sure there are no added sugars and that it's 100% tart cherry juice. The same goes for dried tart cherries, which may have added sugar, as well. Whole tart cherries can usually be found in the freezer section, or fresh in the produce section for a short time while they're in season (June in warmer areas or July or August in colder climates).

Precautions

It's important to remember that too much of a good thing is still too much. Tart cherry juice is no exception. When consumed in larger amounts, it can cause abdominal discomfort and diarrhea. This is especially true for those who have to watch their FODMAPs, since cherries contain sorbitol.

Because tart cherry juice has shown promise in reducing blood pressure, it's probably wise to talk to your healthcare practitioner if you're on blood pressure medication before taking tart cherry juice. You want your blood pressure to be in a healthy range, but going too low can cause problems of its own.

Overall, though, tart cherry juice does not appear to pose any risk of interacting negatively with medications or certain conditions.

Bottom Line

Research on tart cherry juice is still emerging and the jury is out on its effectiveness for improving certain conditions. But like the whole fruit, tart cherry juice will give you a nice boost of nutrients (minus the fiber) and antioxidants. And who knows—you might also find you glean some noticeable health benefits from it, too.