Tart cherry juice. It’s the hero of the moment on endurance threads, among sports scientists, and in recovery blogs and we’ve been watching Tour De France favourites lapping it up the moment they cross the line. But why?
Reduced soreness, improved sleep, reduced inflammation and above all, accelerated recovery are at the heart of the cherry juice charm.
But that doesn’t mean you should down as a nightly aperitif…and to be honest, given the sour notes, I’m not sure why you’d want to!
Why Tart Cherry Juice Is So Popular
Tart cherry juice didn’t get popular because athletes were desperate to sup down the delicious flavour, that’s for sure. It earned its stripes. The juice – specifically from SOUR cherries like montmorency varities – is packed with anthocyanins, melatonin, and a variety of plant compounds that help your body get down to repairing things after the damage is done in training and racing.
Research has shown that it reduces muscle soreness, brings down inflammation, and even helps some people sleep better (a big win if you’ve ever spent the night tossing and turning because your legs feel like they don’t belong to you). Athletes using it have reported improved recovery after both resistance training and endurance events.
So yes, it’s not just hype. But, as with all supplements, this is not a hero save-all product and there’s a few nuances to bear in mind if you’re considering using the stuff to accelerate your recovery…
Why You Shouldn’t Take It Every Day
Recovery isn’t just about feeling better. It’s about getting better.
The soreness, the fatigue, the inflammation, it’s all signals. Your body listens to those cues, adapts, and builds a stronger version of you. Now imagine blunting that signal every single day with a hit of antioxidant-heavy juice – you’re basically chucking water on the fire and saying “bud, I got this”, when what you actually want is your body to notice the threat, put the fire out and in the process, work out how to rebuild itself in a more fire resistant way – next time it’s going to take longer for those flames to catch a hold and voila! You made some gains! So while you might FEEL great after supping your red potion, it might not be doing as much good as you feel it is…
Chronic use of tart cherry juice, especially when you’re not under high stress, can reduce training adaptations. Inflammation (within reason) is part of how your body learns and improves. Suppressing it constantly is like trying to learn a language but muting your teacher because their voice is annoying.
You’re left comfortable… and uneducated.
When Tart Cherry Juice Actually Makes Sense
I’m definitely not here to banish cherry juice to the nutritional naughty list. It absolutely has its place, so long as you understand exactly when and how to use it as a beneficial tool.
Tart cherry juice shines when recovery time is short and performance matters more than adaptation. Multi-day races? Yes. Brutal back-to-back sessions that would normally wreck your week? Go for it. It’s also useful during taper weeks, when your goal is to arrive fresh and sharp and with optimal recovery and preparedness. Essentially we’re thinking about when fast recovery outweighs the need for adaptation.
But for your average Tuesday tempo run? Probably not worth it.
Use it like you’d use an aero helmet; selectively, with purpose, and not while walking around the house trying to “feel” fast.
Let’s Talk About Teeth (Sorry not sorry)
Now, a quick detour to your mouth, which, for the record, does not love your new recovery routine.
Tart cherry juice is acidic and sugary. It may be natural, but so is lava, and you wouldn’t be guzzling that down without a quick call to your dentist I hope… Regular sipping, especially before bed (a popular time, thanks to the melatonin content), bathes your teeth in an acidic solution at exactly the moment your saliva flow is lowest and your risk of decay and erosion is highest.
Over time, this increases your risk of enamel erosion, decay, and gum inflammation. But the good news is, there’s a few little tweaks you can make to the way you consume your recovery shots to minimise the risks…
- Drink it with meals (less acid contact, more buffering)
- Rinse your mouth with water afterwards BUT don’t brush immediately, give it 20mins!
- Avoid sipping it like a cocktail – take your dose and move on
- Consider using a straw
- Opt for concentrate over juice to reduce volume and exposure
How Much Should You Actually Take?
The evidence suggests a dose of 480–720 mg of anthocyanins (the magic sour cherry ingredient) daily, usually split into two servings. That translates to:
- Around 30 mL of tart cherry concentrate, twice a day
- Or roughly 240 – 350 mL of tart cherry juice, not from concentrate
Take one dose post-training, and another in the evening if you’re using it during a key week. And just like beetroot juice, you need to be taking this in advance of the race or event you want to recover from. But only when you actually need it.
It’s a Supplement, Not a Lifestyle
None of this works if you’re not eating real food, sleeping enough, or timing your nutrition properly. You can’t out-cherry-juice a junk diet or bad training decisions.
Recovery still relies on:
- Eating enough calories (yes, even carbs)
- Getting quality protein across the day
- Managing sleep and stress
- Training smart, not just hard
Tart cherry juice is a supplement, NOT a foundation fixer. It’s a tool to support what you’ve already got dialled in. If you’re hoping it’ll fix poor planning or lack of fuel, you’re in for disappointment.
Tart cherry juice is legit. It works. But it works best when used strategically, not habitually. Too much and you risk blunting the very adaptations you train for. Use it during race weeks, hard training blocks, or chaotic post-event recovery, not as your nightly “health shot.”
Train your body to recover. Use tart cherry juice when the margins matter.
And for the love of enamel, rinse your mouth after.