Compound or practice · Sleep
Tart Cherry
A natural melatonin-and-anthocyanin source with small sleep and exercise-recovery signals.
- Overall grade
- Grade C
- Last revised
- 2
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
A structured monograph in Prometheus's bundled library. Its grades are the monograph's own reading of the evidence, not a peer-reviewed review.
2 at grade C — 2 graded rows
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- Sleep qualityEvidence grade C
Small
Smallmixed
- Exercise recovery / sorenessEvidence grade C
Reduced damage markers
Smallmixed
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Thin evidence: Sleep quality (grade C); Exercise recovery / soreness (grade C).
The evidence in words
What it is
Tart (Montmorency) cherry juice/extract contains melatonin, anthocyanins, and other polyphenols, marketed for sleep and recovery.
How it works
Its melatonin content and anti-inflammatory anthocyanins plausibly support sleep and reduce exercise-induced muscle damage.
What the evidence shows
Small trials suggest modestly improved sleep time/quality and reduced markers of muscle damage and soreness after intense exercise. Effects are small and the studies are few, but it is a food-based, low-risk option.
How to use it
~480 mL juice or an equivalent concentrate/extract daily, often twice daily around hard training.
Safety & interactions
Safe; the juice carries sugar and calories worth accounting for.
Bottom line
A gentle, food-based aid for sleep and post-exercise recovery. Modest effects; fine if you enjoy it.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Standard
- ~480 mL juice or equivalent concentrate daily.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Tart Cherry for Exercise recovery / sorenessEvidence grade C — Reduced damage markersEvidence grade C
- Tart Cherry for Sleep qualityEvidence grade C — SmallEvidence grade C
- Tart Cherry: dosage and how to take it~480 mL juice or equivalent concentrate daily.Evidence grade C
- Tart Cherry: side effects, safety & interactionsSafe; the juice carries sugar and calories worth accounting for.Evidence grade C
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.