Cherries: Nature’s Anti-inflammatory Sleep Aid

November 13th, 2023

By Sayer Ji

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

The newest study comes from researchers at Spain’s University of Extremadura. They tested 30 people – ten between 20 and 30 years old, ten between 35 and 55 years old and ten between 65 and 85 years old.

The researchers randomly divided the subjects into two groups. They were given either a tart cherry juice drink or a placebo with cherry flavor twice a day. Those who drank the cherry juice experienced substantially better sleep quality – measured by sleep efficiency, awakenings, and total sleep time.

Moreover, the researchers found that the older group experienced better improvements in sleep quality that the younger groups.

Another study included scientists from the United States (Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine), the UK (Northumbria University and the University of Surrey) and South Africa (University of Johannesburg). This study followed 20 healthy men and women with an average age of 27 years old.

Half of the group was randomly assigned to drink tart cherry juice concentrate and the other half drank a placebo for seven days. The juice concentrate was made from tart Montmorency cherries (Prunus cerasus).

The results determined that the cherry group slept an average of 34 minutes more per night and had a 5-6% increase in sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency is the time spent asleep as a proportion of time in bed.

They also found that the internal melatonin levels among the cherry group increased significantly, while the placebo group did not have any melatonin increase. Within 48 hours of cherry juice consumption, the urine of the cherry drinkers showed increased levels of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin – the primary melatonin metabolite. The researchers also measured melatonin levels by studying the subjects’ circadian rhythms.

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