Cherries (Prunus cerasus) are high in phytochemicals including antixoidants that have been reported in the scientific literature to improve symptoms of gout, decrease inflammation, relieve pain in long distance runners, reduce oxidative stress, improve recover after exercise, and improve your sleep.
WOW! That was quite a list! Today we will highlight a clinical trial with cherries that evaluated its impact on sleep.
Millions of people suffer from poor sleep every night which is why so many people might be trying things like prescription or over the counter drugs to help them sleep.
One food that is now being suggested to improving sleep is cherries.
Cherries contain melatonin which is an important brain chemical that our bodies make every night to help us sleep.
This is how it works. At bedtime when the lights go off our brains begin making melatonin which will help our bodies relax and fall asleep.
One mechanism for cherries helping people sleep is that they will supplement melatonin to help us sleep better.
Cherries also contain antioxidants. These antixoidants help decrease inflammation which is typically high in people who are having trouble falling asleep.
In the European Journal of Nutrition cherries were evaluated in a clinical trial to see if melatonin levels were improved with cherries.
Here are the details of a clinical trial
– Study design: randomized placebo controlled crossover design.
– Patients: 20 volunteers consumed either placebo or cherry juice concentrate for 7 days. Patients did not known when they were consuming placebo or cherry juice.
– Analysis: Sleep quality was recorded by actigraphy (a highly accurate way to measure sleep/wake cycles) and a sleep questionnaire. Urine was analyzed for evidence of melatonin breakdown.
Here are the results of cherry juice on melatonin levels
– Cherry juice increased melatonin levels significantly (p < 0.05) in urine
– Sleep efficiency improved from 83.9 before cherry juice to 86.8 with cherry juice.
Take away message:
Melatonin levels are increased or decreased based on light/dark cycles with higher levels occurring at night time. In this study evidence of higher melatonin levels after consuming cherry juice suggesting one possible mechanism for cherries improving sleep. Melatonin is not the only mechanism for cherries promoting sleep. Sleep is also regulate by inflammation with higher levels of inflammation associated with disrupted sleep. Cherries are known to contain anthocyanins that will help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. By increasing antioxidant levels with cherries another possible mechanism is that inflammation will be decreased which leads to improved sleep.
Reference:
Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. Eur J Nutr. 2012 Dec;51(8):909-16.
His research on plant medicine has led to more than 45 publications and abstracts.This research has been presented at international meetings in the USA, France, Turkey, Peru, Israel, Austria, and Italy.
Categories: Antioxidant, Sleep
Cherry for sleep? Results of a clinical trial