With the warm weather fast approaching many of us will be balancing work and summer activities. In addition the days will soon be getting longer too. This means more daylight, thus reducing the amount of time per day our body produces melatonin. Since melatonin is naturally produced in the body and exposure to light actually reduces the amount of melatonin in our system, the longer days may have some people getting less sleep. With this being the case, it makes sense to take a look a natural ways to enjoy a more restful night’s sleep during the summer months.One natural choice is to add a glass of tart cherry juice to your daily routine. The reason for this suggestion is due to a study published from the University of Rochester, University of Pennsylvania and the VA Center of Canandaigua. According to the information in the study, the researchers worked with 15 older adults during the four week study period. During the first two-week stage of the research, the participants were asked to drink a glass (8 ounces of pure tart cherry juice) twice a day. They drank a glass once in the morning and the second glass in the evening. After the initial two weeks, the participants were then asked to drink a placebo drink, containing no cherry juice, for the remaining two weeks.
After the full four weeks were finished the data from the research was collected and analyzed. The results indicated an increase in a healthy night’s sleep when the participants drank the cherry juice. The researchers found the adults enjoyed about 17 more minutes of sleep, on average, during the two weeks of drinking the cherry juice.
So what are the Benefits in Cherry Juice?
As mentioned above, melatonin is naturally produced in the body and contributes to help regulate the rhythmic pattern of the body. It helps with wakefulness during the day and sleepiness during the night time hours. Tart cherries, is the top source of naturally occurring melatonin and to date no other fruit or vegetable has been discovered to provide more natural melatonin then tart cherries. This means by enjoying a glass of cherry juice twice daily may help to maintain healthy sleep patterns and help you get a better night’s sleep.
So take a peek at the melatonin levels in different tart cherry products. The following information is a result of research conducted by Dr. Russell Reiter. Dr. Reiter is considered the “Dean of Melatonin” by his peers. The reason for the nickname is one area of his career is the amount of research he has published on melatonin.
Melatonin in Tart Cherries for Sleep Benefits
Cherry Products Melatonin Levels
- Fresh Tart Cherries: Up to 13.5 nanograms (ng) of Melatonin per gram
- Cherry Juice Concentrate: Has up to 10 times more the Melatonin per gram when compared to the raw fruit.
- Cherry Powder 137+ ng per gram
* Result conducted by Dr. Russell Reiter - *Cherry powder is used to make tart cherry capsules
To learn more about Dr. Russell Reiter and Melatonin, check out this article on Cherry Juice Sleep Benefits and Melatonin
As indicated by the information in the chart above, a glass of cherry juice has about 135 nanograms of melatonin and the tart cherry powder even has more. We use tart cherry powder in our Fruit Advantage Tart Cherry Joint Formula – tart cherry capsules. So as you enjoy the long days of summer, consider adding a glass of cherry juice or tart cherry capsules to your daily routine to get an great night’s sleep, too.