Cherry Juice Fights Muscle Pain

Anecdotal reports say tart cherry juice helps relieve the pain of arthritis and gout, and some say it even cures headaches and helps people sleep better. Some point to possible benefits on heart health and cancer prevention. Now a new study provides evidence that it might aid muscle pain associated with exercise.

The small study tested the effectiveness of a tart-cherry-juice blend in preventing the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage by using a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design with 14 male college students. The subjects either drank fresh cherry juice blended with apple juice made up of 12 oz. of liquid, equivalent to the juice from 50 to 60 cherries, or a placebo. After participants exercised their arms, researchers assessed muscle tenderness, motion and strength. Strength loss and pain were significantly lower in the cherry-juice-drinking subjects versus those consuming a placebo, with strength loss averaging 22% with the placebo but only 4% with the cherry juice. In addition, subjects reported that pain peaked at 24 hours for those drinking cherry juice, but continued to increase for those on the placebo for the next 48 hours.

The study, "The efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of muscle damage," by DAJ Connolly, et al appeared in the British Journal of Sports Medicine Published Online First: 21 June 2006. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2005.025429.

Dr. Russel Reiter, a neuroendocrinologist with the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, believes tart cherries' pain relief may not come from a specific antioxidant, but instead from the synergistic effect shown by melatonin, a powerful antioxidant, along with at least 17 other compounds that show antioxidant properties, including anthocyanin. Antioxidants are thought to increase immune function and possibly fight disease by helping to prevent or repair damage done to human cells.