Would Tart Cherry Juice Assist With Sleeping?

If you're having trouble falling or staying asleep, try drinking tart cherry juice to boost your body's melatonin levels. Additional study is need to validate its efficacy, however.

Many people swear by tart cherry juice as a magical sleep aid. Since melatonin is found in tart cherries, this idea isn't totally without validity. The body's secretion of the hormone melatonin aids in the transition into sleep and controls the body's sleep cycles.

The antioxidants and tryptophan in tart cherry juice aren't the only things that might disrupt your sleep.

The Natural Sleep Aid

This article takes a closer look at tart cherry juice, explaining why it might aid with better sleep quality and reviewing the data on its efficacy.

If tart cherry juice could aid sleep, what exactly is in it?

It is believed that tart cherry juice might help you obtain a better night's sleep in a safe and effective manner. According to this idea, tart cherries contain substances that make you want to sleep:

• Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that controls when a person sleeps; it is found in tart cherry juice. Studies conducted in 2022 (Reliable Source) suggest that melatonin supplements have the potential to improve both the quantity and quality of sleep.
• The amino acid tryptophan is a precursor to the feel-good chemicals serotonin and melatonin. Your behaviour, emotions, and sleep cycles might be affected by them.
• Sleep better at night without worrying about aches and pains thanks to tart cherry juice's abundance of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory chemicals (Trusted Source).

Does tart cherry juice have any effect on enhancing sleep quality, according to the research?

Science Behind Tart Cherry Juice

The efficacy of tart cherry juice in enhancing sleep has only been investigated in four trials up to this point:

• In a study conducted in early 2010, researchers invited fifteen people (all 65 and above) who suffered from insomnia to consume either a tart cherry-apple juice mix or a placebo drink first thing in the morning and again either one or two hours before bed. After two weeks of drinking the tart cherry juice, those who took the sleepiness severity index saw a little improvement.
• Twenty healthy adults participated in a 7-day trial of tart cherry juice concentrate or a placebo in a 2012 research (Reliable Source). The study's cherry juice group had far higher levels of melatonin and saw considerable improvements in both the quantity and quality of their sleep.
• Participants who drank 240 mL of tart cherry juice twice daily slept better than those who drank the placebo, according to a 2-week 2018 research of 8 persons over the age of 50.
• Over the course of five days, 19 top female hockey players were divided into two groups in a research conducted in 2022. Some people drank 200 millilitres (mL) of tart cherry juice first thing in the morning and again before bed. The second group took the same amount of a placebo. People in the study who drank tart cherry juice had better quality sleep overall.

Even though these preliminary trials showed that those who drank tart cherry juice had better sleep overall, we still need bigger and longer-term research to be sure it works.

If you're interested in giving tart cherry juice a try, what much should you drink?

You may replicate the dosages used in the aforementioned trials to see whether tart cherry juice aids in sleep improvement.

Two 8-ounce (240 mL) glasses of tart cherry juice, one in the morning and one in the evening, were the recommended daily intake by most research investigations.

If you're having trouble sleeping because you ate sweets just before bed, try a tart cherry juice without additional sugar.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for tart cherry juice, whether in powder or tablet form, is about 480 mg.

The majority of the beneficial effects of tart cherry juice or powder were shown after 7 to 10 days of supplementation in the trials. Therefore, you might conclude that it is not effective if you do not see any changes after two weeks.

Key Points

Larger, longer-term research are required to demonstrate the efficacy of tart cherry juice for enhancing sleep quality, but smaller, shorter-term studies have hinted to its advantages.

See a doctor if you're experiencing trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Their expertise allows them to identify potential factors affecting your sleep quality and provide solutions to enhance it.