Insights & Discussion
Tart cherry juice blend yielded modest improvements in sleep for older adults with insomnia, exhibiting effects similar to or better than natural products like valerian and melatonin.
In the pilot study, 15 older adults who were suffering from chronic insomnia but were otherwise healthy participated in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design. The study lasted for 6 weeks, with each participant receiving both the proprietary tart cherry juice blend and a placebo for 2 weeks with a 2-week washout period between the two treatments. Sleep continuity and insomnia severity were evaluated by analyzing 2-week mean values derived from daily sleep diaries and the Insomnia Severity Index respectively.
The tart cherry juice blend was found to bring significant improvements in all assessed sleep variables before and after treatment. These improvements were particularly noticed in reducing insomnia severity, specifically the minutes awake after sleep onset, compared to placebo. Sleep latency, total sleep time, or sleep efficiency didn't show any notable improvements compared to placebo. The benefits of the tart cherry juice on sleep for older adults with insomnia were in the range of effect sizes seen in studies using valerian or melatonin, which are the most commonly studied natural products for insomnia. But these effects were considerably less than evidence-based insomnia treatments such as hypnotic agents and cognitive-behavioral therapies.
Discover Related Insights
There is evidence to support significant improvements to total sleep time and sleep efficiency with the ingestion of tart cherries.
2023 Current Sleep Medicine Reports Too Sour to be True? Tart Cherries (Prunus cerasus) and Sleep: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Stretton B, Eranki A, Kovoor J, Bacchi S, Gupta A, Maddern G, et al.
Systematic Review Cherry Sleep
We identified a total of 277 unique records, from which 8 studies of low-moderate methodological quality were included in the systematic review. Meta-analysis of subjectively recalled sleep efficiency (SE) and total sleep time (TST) were not significant. Objective SE, however, was significantly higher in the cherry cohort when compared to placebo with an effect size of 0.63 (95% CI 0.29–0.97, P < 0.01). There was low associated heterogeneity (I2 = 0%). Objective TST was significantly higher in the cherry cohorts, with a pooled effect size of 1.21 (95% CI 0.83–1.58, P < 0.01). There was high associated heterogeneity (I2 = 81.5%).
Consumption of tart cherry juice can increase exogenous melatonin that is beneficial in improving sleep duration and quality and might be of benefit in managing disturbed sleep.
2011 European Journal of Nutrition Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality Howatson G, Bell PG, Tallent J, Middleton B, McHugh MP, Ellis J
Randomised Controlled Trial Cherry Melatonin Sleep
Total melatonin content was significantly elevated (P < 0.05) in the cherry juice group, whilst no differences were shown between baseline and placebo trials. There were significant increases in time in bed, total sleep time and sleep efficiency total (P < 0.05) with cherry juice supplementation. Although there was no difference in timing of the melatonin circardian rhythm, there was a trend to a higher mesor and amplitude.