In a recently published clinical study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, researchers from Texas A&M University explored the potential benefits of Montmorency tart cherry powder supplementation for exercise recovery. The results suggested a short-term dose helped to accelerate recovery from muscle soreness, slow strength decline during recovery, and lessen markers of muscle catabolism in resistance-trained individuals.

Led by Richard Kreider, Ph.D., from the Department of Health and Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Nutrition Laboratory, in College Station, Texas, the research team used a double-blind, placebo-controlled testing method to examine if short-term ingestion of a powdered tart cherry supplement, prior to, and following intense resistance-exercise alleviated muscle soreness and recovery from strength loss.

The study looked at healthy, resistance-trained men and matched them based on relative maximal back squat strength, age, body weight and fat-free mass. The subjects were then assigned, in a double-blind manner, capsules containing 480 mg of powdered Montmorency tart cherries (as CherryPURE^®) or a placebo.

Those taking the tart cherry supplement reported a significant decrease in post-workout muscle soreness compared to the placebo group. Blood tests also revealed significantly attenuated post-workout markers of protein catabolism, indicating muscle recovery benefits following exercise in the tart cherry supplement group.

The study was funded by Anderson Global Group LLC and Shoreline Fruit LLC through an unrestricted research grant to Texas A&M University. All researchers involved independently collected, analyzed and interpreted the results from this study and had no financial interests concerning the outcome of the investigation. The results from the study do not constitute endorsement by the authors and/or the institution concerning the nutrients investigated.