Tart cherry
Montmorency concentrate or powder
Moderate
Some good studies, not many repeats
Moderate: two small RCTs with objective (actigraphy/PSG) outcomes; replication needed.
In one study people gained about 34 minutes of sleep a night within a week, and in a small study of older adults with insomnia, over an hour. The studies were small, so the effect may be smaller for you.
Montmorency tart cherry raised melatonin levels and added about 34 minutes of sleep with 5–6% better efficiency in a week-long crossover trial; a small pilot in older insomniacs found 84 extra minutes. These are big numbers from small studies — which is exactly why it makes a good personal experiment.
Natural melatonin plus procyanidins that slow tryptophan breakdown, raising serotonin/melatonin availability.
Short sleepers; people who prefer a food-based option. Watch the sugar in juice — use concentrate or capsules.
We compare each effect with how much that number normally swings from one night to the next. An effect smaller than the swing is real, but you will not see it in a week of data.
- Total sleep timeVisible over weekseffect: 34 minnormal swing: ±50 min
- Sleep efficiencyProbably visibleeffect: 5.5 ptsnormal swing: ±4 pts
- Total sleep time (older insomnia pilot)Probably visibleeffect: 84 minnormal swing: ±50 min
What to buy
- ✓Montmorency variety
- ✓Concentrate (30 mL servings) or 480 mg freeze-dried capsules
- ✕'Cherry juice cocktail' with added sugar
- · Benign; note sugar content in juice.
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The trial protocol: 30 mL morning + evening for 7+ days.
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Capsules if the concentrate is too much sugar or too much hassle. Eleven thousand ratings — check that it names the Montmorency variety.
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See all on AmazonEvery result, next to the line that means no effect
Each diamond is a study's best estimate. The thin line shows how sure the study was: the shorter the line, the more certain the result.
- Total sleep timemin · Howatson 2012+34.0[not given]
- Total sleep time (older insomnia pilot)min · Losso 2018+84.0[not given]
- Sleep efficiencypts · Howatson 2012+5.50[not given]
Each unit gets its own scale, so numbers are never mixed on one line. When a study gave no range, we leave it blank instead of inventing one.
2 studies over 6 years
The studies
- 1.Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep qualityEuropean Journal of Nutrition · 2012 · crossover · n = 20
+34 min total sleep, +5–6% efficiency (actigraphy), higher urinary melatonin after 7 days.
- 2.Pilot study of the tart cherry juice for the treatment of insomnia and investigation of mechanismsAmerican Journal of Therapeutics · 2018 · pilot · n = 8
+84 min sleep time by polysomnography in older adults with insomnia.
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