7 Essential Health Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice
I’ve tried way too many supplements. From smart drugs to testosterone boosters and multivitamins – I’m not afraid to experiment. Still, I’ve yet to find a better supplement than Montmorency tart cherry juice.
Imagine falling asleep faster than ever before, waking up with a pep in your step, and watching joint pain become a thing of the past.
The benefits of tart cherry juice are vast.
Oh, and many believe tart cherries offer protection against cancer, too. That’s a pretty great advantage if you ask me.
Overall, I believe most people will find the benefits of tart cherry concentrate improve their day-to-day lives.
Below you’ll find out why.
P.S: My grandma put me on this stuff. That’s how you know it’s good. Get yours here.
What is Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice?
So…why should you down a glass of tart cherry concentrate mixed with water before bed every single evening?
One 32 ounce bottle of Montmorency cherry juice is made up of nearly 25 pounds the fruit. That’s a whole lot of cherries.
Cherries offer a lot of health benefits, but you’d have to consume a full bag of them every day to receive any of them.
That’s where Montmorency juice comes in.
When you down 1-2 ounces of this cherry concentrate combined with 5-8 ounces of water, you’re able to receive all the benefits of eating the cherries – without needing to eat a hundred or so cherries each day.
Montmorency tart cherries comes from France, Canada, and the United States.
If you live in the US, there’s a good chance the juice you’ll drink was harvested in Michigan or Wisconsin, as that’s where most Montmorency cherries are grown here.
7 Incredible Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice
Now that you know a little more about the juice – let’s dive into why you should drink tart cherry concentrate.
The benefits of tart cherry juice are vast.
Many offer anecdotal evidence, but there have also been studies that show significant benefits, too.
Don’t just take my word for it.
Let’s look at seven incredible benefits of tart cherry juice and what science has to say:
– Tart Cherry Juice For Sleep –
I’ve yet to find a better supplement when a better nights’ rest is the subject at hand. Tart cherry juice for sleep is a winning combination.
Cherries are a natural source of melatonin, the hormone that helps dictate your sleep cycle. Instead of taking a pill, just drink a little juice before bed.
Studies have shown that drinking cherry concentrate can add up to 90-minutes of sleep to your night. That’s 90 extra minutes to recover from the gym, let the body rest, and allow your mind to recuperate. (Source)
– Cherry Juice For Arthritis –
As of today, nearly 50 million people battle some arthritis in the United States. Yours truly is one of them. It sucks.
Luckily, cherry juice for arthritis offers vast benefits. As cherries are high in anthocyanins, which have strong antioxidant and inflammation-fighting properties, drinking cherry concentrate can help with inflammation.
As arthritis is essentially chronic joint inflammation, the juice tends to lower inflammation and helps manage arthritis.
But don’t take my word for it. Just look at this double-blind study regarding drinking cherries and knee pain. Individuals with knee problems found pain significantly reduced when drinking cherry juice for a few months.
As someone who has had multiple surgeries, I can tell you one thing – tart cherry juice is amazing for arthritis management.
– Cherry Juice For Gout –
Gout is a form of arthritis that’s fairly severe. Instead of stiffness and chronic pain, those with gout also find burning pain and “attacks” when suffering.
The condition is usually caused by too much uric acid in the blood.
As cherry concentrate consumption can relieve inflammation, it also helps with gout. Studies have shown that consuming the juice can reduce gout attacks by over 35%.
Put simply if you’re suffering from with gout or arthritis – you should be drinking cherry juice every single day.
– Tart Cherries and Cancer –
I’ve personally noticed the benefits of tart cherry juice with regards to arthritis and sleep quality. Cancer prevention is a little tougher.
It’s hard to “notice” a supplement preventing cancer in the body. So we will have to look at some studies here.
Many studies have shown that drinking cherry concentrate can help prevent cancer. Why? Let’s take a look at anthocyanins, again.
According to a study by Dr. Mary Ann Lila:
“The roles of anthocyanin pigments as medicinal agents have been well-accepted dogma in folk medicine throughout the world, and, in fact, these pigments are linked to an amazingly broad-based range of health benefits…Anthocyanins have demonstrated marked ability to reduce cancer cell proliferation and to inhibit tumor formation. Fruit extracts with significant anthocyanin concentrations proved to be effective against various stages of carcinogenesis.” (Source)
What does all this science speak mean?
That cherries can help fight and possibly prevent cancer from forming in your body. That’s a pretty significant benefit if you ask me.
– Cherry Juice and Muscle Recovery –
I’ve noticed the benefits of tart cherry juice here. When I down some concentrate before bed, my body wakes up feeling refreshed the next morning. Soreness has been reduced, and joints feel better.
I’m not the only one to notice such things. A variety of studies have shown how cherry concentrate can improve muscle recovery and reduce soreness.
According to a study in the 2010 issue of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition:
“Runners who consumed 11 to 12 ounces of tart cherry juice twice daily for seven days before a long-distance relay and during the 24 hours of the race reported significantly less pain following the run than those who consumed a placebo.” (Source)
– Montmorency Cherries and Heart Disease –
Like cancer, it can be hard to tell if a supplement reduces your chance at a life threatening disease. So let’s look at the science.
The link between heart disease prevention and cherries isn’t as clear as other benefits, but I’ll try to explain.
Cherry juice contains one of the most potent antioxidants around – quercetin. Quercetin has been shown to prevent oxidative damage, reduce blood pressure, and more.
Individual studies claim the antioxidant can reduce the likelihood of type-2 diabetes in patients.
The combination of these benefits and factors essentially reduces cardiovascular system risks, which in turn, could lower the likelihood you suffer from heart disease.
I tried to break that down in layman’s terms.
Better yet, just check the study here.
– Fighting Inflammation –
I don’t even need to link a study here. Cherry juice concentrate may be the single best thing for fighting inflammation.
Just give it a shot. Buy a bottle of Montmorency cherry concentrate and drink one ounce mixed with water before bed.
I guarantee inflammation will go down throughout your whole body. Your joints will feel better, and soreness will be diminished.
Any Downsides?
From a health standpoint, I’ve yet to find any downside to drinking cherries. The concentrate offers so many benefits.
However, no supplement is perfect. Montmorency cherry concentrate can be a pain in some regards, including:
- Not Cheap: I go through three $24 USD bottles of cherry concentrate every two months. That’s a little more than $35 a month spent on cherries. This isn’t the cheapest supplement out there, but for me – it’s worth it.
- Needs to Be Refrigerated: You’ll have to refrigerate cherry concentrate. It’ll go bad pretty quickly if it’s not cold. Not a huge deal, but not ideal, either.
- Not Ideal For Traveling: Traveling with a bottle of pills is easy. Traveling with a 32-ounce bottle of juice – that’s not ideal. I carry 2-3 bottles of this stuff with me wherever I go, but it’s a hassle.
My Experience Drinking Cherry Juice Concentrate
The vast health benefits cherry juice concentrate have made the supplement my personal favorite.
I’m not sure I’d manage without some Montmorency concentrate in my fridge at all times.
The stuff is potent, powerful, and you will FEEL the effects of the juice after drinking it for just a few days.
I recommend this stuff to all my friends and family.
Anybody who asks about supplements, I tell them about the cherries. I truly believe in the stuff.
Why?
I’ve had surgery on my ankle and knee. I’ve also gotten PRP injections in my shoulder after a partially torn rotator cuff. I used to bench press 315 pounds and could dunk a basketball off a drop-step at 5’11” – but only post-game 😉
My joints have taken a lot of wear and tear over the years.
Tart cherries offer more benefit than anything else I’ve tried. My joints and body feel better when I drink this concentrate. It’s noticeable, and I feel more energy in the gym because of it.
As well, I’ve been taking natural sleeping pills for a decade.
When you have practice at 5:30 AM, you have to get to bed on time every single night. So I’ve tried melatonin pills and ZMA. Both work ok.
Montmorency cherry concentrate works 10X better.
My sleep is deeper, and I wake up feeling refreshed after a night drinking my cherry cocktail before bed. Plus, I always fall asleep within 90-minutes of drinking it.
Where to Buy Tart Cherry Juice
There are two ways to buy tart cherry juice – online and at Whole Foods.
Personally, I’ve only bought bottles from Whole Foods. I prefer Stanton Orchard Cherry Concentrate.
The issue is it’s hard to buy on Amazon.
However, after a little research, it seems both these products are similar and high-quality:
~ Country Spoon Montmorency Red Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate 34 oz. ~
~ Cherry Bay Orchards Tart Juice Concentrate, Cherry, 32-Ounce ~
If you’re in the United States and looking to buy online, I’d highly recommend checking out one of these two cherry concentrate products.
They both have great reviews and will offer the benefits you want.
Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice – My Verdict
Overall, tart cherry juice will provide more health benefits than any other natural supplement.
It’s a bold claim…
But I’m confident you’ll find your body feeling better than ever before after drinking some cherries before bed each night.
