Experience Insomnia? How Sour Cherry Juice Can Help You Sleep

If you’ve been looking for advice on how to combat insomnia, you’ll most likely have come across a number of medical and natural remedies. One perhaps unusual nutrient that is often mentioned is sour cherry juice. In recent years, researchers have investigated the benefits of this melatonin-rich fruit product in helping to promote sleep and relaxation. But how does it work? To help give you a more in-depth breakdown, we’ve put together this guide on how sour cherry juice can help you drift off to sleep

What is sour cherry juice?

Not only delicious, sour cherry juice provides a number of health benefits, too. It’s derived from tart types of cherries, such as Montmorency cherries. With about 120 calories per 1-cup serving, it’s rich in nutrients like potassium, iron and magnesium. Sour cherry juice also contains melatonin — an important hormone that helps to induce sleep within our bodies.^iv What’s more, it’s comprised of anthocyanins and procyanidins — chemicals with anti-inflammatory properties that can support sleep.^v If you’re struggling to sleep at night, you may want to consider adding sour cherry juice to your daily diet.

How does sour cherry juice help to promote sleep?

Combats insomnia

A number of recent studies suggest that consuming more sour cherries daily can help calibrate our circadian rhythm (also known as our internal body clock) and promote sleep at night. One 2012 study of older adults with insomnia observed that sour cherry juice had similar or superior effects on sleep onset than melatonin supplements — one of the most widely examined natural aids for insomnia.ⁱⁱ Another study found that adults who drank two daily servings of sour cherry juice for seven days demonstrated higher melatonin levels and experienced increased sleep efficiency and sleep time than their counterparts who consumed the placebo.ⁱⁱⁱ

Longer sleep duration

There’s also been research to suggest that drinking sour cherry juice could extend overall sleep times.^iv Participants, who were 50 years old and experienced insomnia, were given the placebo or cherry juice to drink for two weeks, twice daily — once in the morning and right before bed. The study concluded that those who drank cherry juice increased their sleep time by an impressive 84 minutes.

Increases antioxidants and boosts mood

In this same study, researchers proposed that sour cherry juice may also have such a noteworthy effect on sleep because of its antioxidant content. Subjects who drank the sour cherry juice also exhibited decreased levels of kynurenine in their blood — low levels of which have been associated with sleep deprivation in individuals with low mood.^vi, ^v

The researchers also surmised that sour cherry juice may also affect tryptophan — an amino acid involved in the production of melatonin and serotonin. It would seem that some compounds in sour cherry juice inhibit the breakdown of tryptophan, so it can work better in the body.^v Discover more about the benefits of tryptophan (5-HTP) for sleep and anxiety.

While the existing empirical data is compelling, it’s worth noting that many of the studies focused on older adults with insomnia, which isn’t reflective of the whole general population. To validate these findings, more rigorous, larger-scale studies are required — although that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t be beneficial to you.

What cherry juice works the best for sleep?

Sour cherry juice provides a natural alternative to melatonin supplements, but not all cherries support sleep. You need to look for tart or sour varieties, since these contain higher concentrations of melatonin. Sour cherry juice is likely to be the most convenient and easiest option to reap the benefits for sleep as you’d have you eat vast quantities of fresh cherries to experience the same effects.

Choosing a high-strength, quality sour cherry, like our CherryMax™, helps deliver a potent dosage to naturally aid with sleep. To support restful sleep, take 10ml (2 teaspoons) daily — once in the morning, and one hour before bed.

For more information on combating insomnia or improving your sleep hygiene, simply browse the rest of our sleep hub.

References:

1. Pigeon. W., Carr. M., Gorman. C., & Perlis. M.. (2010). Effects of a Tart Cherry Juice Beverage on the Sleep of Older Adults with Insomnia: A Pilot Study. Journal of Medicinal Food. 13(3), 579-583.

2. Howatson. G., Bell. P., et al. (2011). Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. European Journal of Nutrition. 51(8), 909-916.

3. Howatson. G., Bell. P., et al. (2011). Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. European Journal of Nutrition. 51(8), 909-916.

4. Losso. J., Finley. J., et al. (2018). Pilot Study of the Tart Cherry Juice for the Treatment of Insomnia and Investigation of Mechanisms. American Journal of Therapeutics. 25(2), e194-e201.

5. Losso. J., et al. (2018). Pilot Study of the Tart Cherry Juice for the Treatment of Insomnia and Investigation of Mechanisms. American Journal of Therapeutics. 25(2), e194-e201.

6. Cho. H., Savitz. J., et al. (2017). Sleep disturbance and kynurenine metabolism in depression. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 99, 1-7.

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Olivia

Olivia Salter has always been an avid health nut. After graduating from the University of Bristol, she began working for a nutritional consultancy where she discovered her passion for all things wellness-related. There, she executed much of the company’s content marketing strategy and found her niche in health writing, publishing articles in Women’s Health, Mind Body Green, Thrive and Psychologies.

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