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Recovery

Tart Cherry Juice Trick: Faster Strength Recovery, Lower IL-6

Dr. Gymbro · · 4 min read
#recovery #supplements #antioxidants #inflammation #tart cherry juice #marathon #strength recovery

Marathoners swear by it, and plenty of lifters have started copying them: a couple of bottles of tart cherry juice around a brutal event. A 2010 study in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports put the habit to a placebo-controlled test. The results were mixed. Strength came back faster and key inflammation markers dropped, but some of the markers you'd most expect to move did not.

What the Study Did

The paper is "Influence of tart cherry juice on indices of recovery following marathon running" by Howatson G, McHugh MP, Hill JA, Brouner J, Jewell AP, van Someren KA, Shave RE and Howatson SA (Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2010;20(6):843-52). You can find the PubMed record here.

Twenty recreational marathon runners were assigned to either cherry juice or a placebo. The cherry group drank two 8 fl oz (~240 mL) bottles a day of a Montmorency tart cherry juice blend (Cherrypharm), one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They did this for 5 days before the marathon, on race day, and for 48 hours afterward. The placebo was a fruit-flavoured concentrate mixed with water.

Each bottle contained the juice of roughly 50-60 cherries, at least 600 mg of phenolic compounds, at least 40 mg of anthocyanins, and 32 g of carbohydrate. The researchers measured markers of muscle damage, inflammation, antioxidant status and oxidative stress before and after the race.

The Results, With the Real Numbers

Strength came back faster. Isometric strength recovered significantly faster in the cherry juice group (P=0.024). For anyone who trains again within days of a hard effort, this is the headline result.

Inflammation markers were lower. The cherry group showed reduced levels of:

  • IL-6 (P<0.001)
  • C-reactive protein, CRP (P<0.01)
  • Uric acid (P<0.05)

Antioxidant status was higher. Total antioxidant status (TAS) was about 10% greater in the cherry group than in the placebo group at all post-supplementation measurements (P<0.05).

Lipid peroxidation was lower at 48 hours. TBARS, a marker of oxidative stress, was lower in the cherry group at 48 h (P<0.05).

What Did NOT Change

The cherry story is less tidy than the marketing suggests. According to the paper, no other muscle damage indices differed significantly between groups. That means:

  • Creatine kinase was not significantly different.
  • Lactate dehydrogenase was not significantly different.
  • Muscle soreness was not significantly different.
  • Protein carbonyls, another oxidative stress marker, were not different either.

So cherry juice did not make runners less sore, and it did not reduce the usual blood markers of muscle damage. Strength recovered faster and inflammatory markers fell, but the "less damage" and "less soreness" claims are not supported by this trial.

Why It Might Work

The authors conclude that tart cherry juice appears to be a viable way to aid recovery after strenuous exercise. Their proposed route is increased total antioxidative capacity, plus reduced inflammation and lipid peroxidation, which in turn helps restore muscle function. Tart cherries are rich in phenolic compounds and anthocyanins, and each bottle in this trial carried at least 600 mg of the former and at least 40 mg of the latter.

The data fit that story: higher TAS, lower IL-6, CRP and uric acid, lower TBARS at 48 h, and faster strength return. The study can't prove that one caused the other, though. It shows a pattern, not a proven mechanism.

Limitations You Should Know

  • Small sample. Only 20 runners were studied, so the results should be treated cautiously until replicated.
  • Runners, not lifters. The participants were recreational marathoners. Whether the effects carry over to heavy resistance training is an extrapolation, not something this paper tested.
  • One product, one protocol. The results apply to a specific Montmorency blend at a specific dose and schedule.
  • Mixed outcomes. Soreness, CK and LDH didn't budge, so "faster recovery" here mainly means strength and inflammatory markers.
  • Sugar comes along for the ride. Each bottle has 32 g of carbohydrate, which matters if you're tracking intake.

A Caution on Blunting Inflammation

This is a debate in the field, not a finding of this paper. Some researchers argue that inflammation and oxidative stress are part of the signalling that drives training adaptation. On that view, constantly dampening them during regular training blocks may not be desirable. This study didn't test long-term adaptation, so it can't settle the question. A reasonable reading is that cherry juice may suit one-off, high-stress events better than daily use in every training phase.

Practical Takeaways

Dose: The study used two 8 fl oz (~240 mL) bottles per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Timing: Start about 5 days before a hard event, keep going on the day itself, and continue for 48 hours afterward.

Carbs: Each bottle has 32 g of carbohydrate, so two bottles add up. Factor that into your daily intake.

Who it may suit: Endurance athletes and lifters facing a single punishing event, such as a race, a meet, or a brutal block of sessions. They may value quicker strength return and lower inflammation markers.

Who might skip it: Anyone expecting less soreness, because the study found no significant difference there. Also anyone watching sugar or carbs closely, and anyone who prefers not to blunt inflammation during regular training phases. If you have a medical condition, check with a professional first.

Bottom Line

The cherry juice trick has real data behind it, but the data is narrower than the hype. In 20 marathoners, tart cherry juice led to faster isometric strength recovery (P=0.024), lower IL-6 (P<0.001), CRP (P<0.01) and uric acid (P<0.05), and about 10% higher antioxidant status. It did not significantly change CK, LDH or soreness. It's a promising, event-focused tool, not a magic bullet.

Source: Howatson G, et al. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2010;20(6):843-52. PubMed | DOI

Original study

Read the original research on pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov →

This article summarizes published research for general information. It is not medical advice.

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Dr. Gymbro

Dr. Gymbro writes for Dr. Gymbro: science-backed fitness, nutrition & performance.

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