Tart Cherry

A fruit extract studied for exercise-induced muscle soreness.

Supplements

Research records

Historical source snapshot. Not freshly verified, not a recommendation. Study findings, community accounts and app defaults are not interchangeable.

Publication suitability · 2026-10-15: Historical reference only; not a clinical verification. Clinical, regulatory, efficacy, safety and dose claims are not independently established by this review.

Tart Cherry

A fruit extract studied for exercise-induced muscle soreness.

Evidence category: Clinical study. This describes the source category, not approval or certainty.

Regulatory statement in source: Not separately recorded; do not infer approval from the evidence category.

Tart cherry, most often studied as Montmorency tart cherry juice or concentrate, is a fruit source of anthocyanins and other polyphenols with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been tested mainly in athletes and recreationally active adults for effects on muscle soreness, inflammation markers, and recovery after strenuous exercise. Trial results are mixed: some randomized studies report meaningful reductions in exercise-induced pain and strength loss, while others in different populations find no measurable benefit.

Benefits reported in the imported source

Several randomized trials in runners and other athletes report less muscle pain and faster strength recovery after strenuous exercise
Meta-analyses link supplementation with reductions in inflammatory markers such as IL-6 after exercise
Whole-fruit source with a well-characterized polyphenol and anthocyanin content

Risks and limits

Findings are inconsistent across studies, and some trials in non-resistance-trained populations found no measurable benefit
Many trials are small, short, and funded or supplied by cherry industry groups, which can bias reported outcomes
High sugar content in juice form is a factor for people managing blood glucose

Source bottom line: Tart cherry has real randomized-trial support for easing exercise-induced soreness in some athletic populations, but the effect is inconsistent enough across studies that it cannot be called a reliable recovery aid across the board.

Uncertainty: Reference information only. Not medical advice.

Study protocols — reports, not instructions

54 healthy runners in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial during the Hood to Coast relay race

Reported regimen: 355 mL of tart cherry juice or a placebo cherry drink twice daily for 7 days before the event and on race day, each bottle equivalent to roughly 45 to 50 cherries with at least 600 mg phenolic compounds and 40 mg anthocyanins
Duration: Seven days before the event and on race day
Reported outcome: The cherry juice group reported a significantly smaller increase in post-race muscle pain (12 mm on a visual analog scale) than the placebo group (37 mm), a statistically significant difference.
Source: Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial (availability check 2026-10-15: possible access barrier; not independently inspected; HTTP 200)

Claim provenance

evidence.json#/catalog:supplement:tart-cherry/protocols/0

Community and practice descriptions

Accounts of a practice are not evidence of safety or effectiveness. Words such as “standard”, “safe” or “recommended” describe the source account, not verified consensus or this wiki’s advice. Commercial and self-published citations are retained for traceability, not vendor endorsement or independent clinical corroboration.

Historical research outcome: no-verified-description · 2026-10-06

No suitable community description was independently verified in these checks. The entry remains empty; this does not establish that no practice exists elsewhere.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/living-with-gout: no-practice-description — The inspected gout guide gives clinical and lifestyle advice rather than an independently verified tart-cherry community routine.

Pharmacokinetic context

No half-life recorded in this source snapshot. No value has been inferred.

Source references

Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial (availability check 2026-10-15: possible access barrier; not independently inspected; HTTP 200)
No Effect of Tart Cherry Juice or Pomegranate Juice on Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Non-Resistance Trained Men (availability check 2026-10-15: possible access barrier; not independently inspected; HTTP 200)

Snapshot provenance

Source ID: catalog:supplement:tart-cherry. Commit: adc7684614f9439b41d91a3312b62e7982c7e20e. Review state: historical-not-reverified. Authored links are retained separately from the canonical evidence links in the public data. App templates/defaults and rejected drafts are archived, not deployed.

Related entries and components

None listed.