One of the nation’s top macro trends involves “the quest for rest,” or the wide range of foods, beverages and supplements designed to encourage sleep, relaxation, and stress relief.

Tart cherry juice is highlighted as one of the main ingredients in these sleep-promoting products due to the naturally occurring melatonin. Many of the new products in this category are being fortified with melatonin, while tart cherries are one of the few natural food sources of this sleep hormone. 

That’s why tart cherries are a main ingredient in a range of new sleep-positioned foods and beverages, including ice creams from Nightfood Inc. (www.nightfood.com) and chocolate clusters with dried tart cherries from Good Source Foods (www.goodsourcefoods.com) 

In fact, a new meta-analysis that reviewed all of the potential treatments for insomnia concluded that tart cherry juice was effective in improving total sleep time and sleep quality among the elderly, 65 years and older.[1]  The analysis found that tart cherry juice performed better than the control in all of the studies examined.  Similarly, supplements containing melatonin also improved sleep time and sleep quality more than the placebo. 

Find more information about US grown tart cherries, including scientific research on sleep.

Notes: 

[1] Samara, MT, Huhn M, Chiocchia V, et al. Efficacy, acceptability, and tolerability of all available treatments for insomnia in the elderly: a systematic review and network meta‐analysis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 142:6-17, 2020.