Sports Dietitian Ranks: What’s the Best Tart Cherry Juice?
As you may already know, tart cherry juice is an awesome tool to use for recovery, but which one is the best? There are many different options on the market and there are things you should look out for before you choose a product.
In this blog post you will find out all about different cherry juice options along with the benefits that come with it!
Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice
Tart cherry juice is a recovery superstar, and there is a bunch of reasons for it! Some of the benefits of cherry juice include:
Decreased inflammation: Cherry juice works with your body to decrease inflammation. It also aids in improving and speeding up the recovery process.
Improved strength: When cherry juice helps to decrease inflammation throughout your body, it also helps your body deal with the stress you are putting it through. The overall improvement in recovery can help with increasing your strength in the long run because you will be able to push your body further in workouts.
Better sleep: Cherry juice is an awesome sleep aid due to the natural source of melatonin it contains. Every athlete’s sleep needs are different, it just depends on what works best for you. Tart cherry juice can help with falling asleep faster and getting deeper sleep.
When to Drink Tart Cherry Juice
Cherry juice is great at any time, but adding it to specific times of your routine may enhance the benefits you receive from it. Here are three different times that you can include cherry juice in your routine.
After practice
When we are pushing our bodies to get better during practice, it is normal for us to experience some soreness and inflammation after because that is our bodies way to adapt to the demands our bodies have. Taking tart cherry juice after practice may interfere with the growth that our bodies need to have to get better in our performance. This is why I would recommend cherry juice before bed, not directly after practice.
Before Bed
Tart cherry juice has a role before bed because of the melatonin effect, but also because a majority of your body’s recovery occurs when you are going to sleep. Drinking it before bed will help you to improve your muscle strength, decrease inflammation in your body for the next day, and promote a better night of sleep.
Taking cherry juice at night up to 3 days before practice days may be beneficial in the long run for recovery.
After Your Game
You give it all during your games, so give recovery your all afterwards! Your goals for post game day fueling should be anti-inflammation so you can bounce back, especially if you have a game the next day.
Make sure to take your tart cherry juice immediately after your last game of the day to start your recovery journey.
Best Tart Cherry Juice Products
Best Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate
You may have seen Cheribundi floating around in the world of athletics, but there are other options that are just as effective! This Simple Truth 100% Tart Cherry Juice can be found at any chain of the Kroger family grocery stores, and it has the same amount of cherries as Cheribundi. There is no reason to be spending significant amounts on this recovery tool, especially when there are options that you can get at an everyday grocery store.
Best Tart Cherry Juice Capsules
These R&R capsules have a high enough tart cherry powder to give you all you would need in recovery. It also contains vitamins and minerals like magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B-6 to help improve your recovery. The dose is one capsule and it should be taken at bedtime due to the melatonin content also added. This is a great way to add tart cherries into your bedtime routine and they are certified for sport so they don’t have any banned substances.
Best Tart Cherry Juice Pouches
Cheribundi Pouches
If you don’t enjoy sipping on a glass of cherry juice after you are done at a game or want something you can drink very quickly, I recommend some cherry juice concentrate. This concentrate is equivalent to 40 tart cherries and so it is easy to include post-games and also have one concentrate before bed so you are recovering directly after and then throughout the night.
Conclusion
Tart cherry juice is a great way to speed up recovery and there are different ways you can consume it.
Some of the benefits of are decreased inflammation and improved strength due to the anti-inflammatory properties, as well as better sleep because of the natural melatonin.
There is a time and place for cherry juice, and the best time on a regular basis is bedtime. This will allow your muscles to grow from your exercise, while giving them a better, quicker recovery at night when you sleep. It is also important to take it directly after your last game of the day, especially when you may play again the next day.
There are many different options when it comes to tart cherry juice so you can choose whatever you prefer. I provided great examples above for juice, concentrate, and capsules that will all give you the benefits.
Recovery is so important to prioritize with athletes, and supplements like tart cherry juice are great ways to improve your recovery without breaking the bank. This and other supplements are things that I discuss with my athletes in the Performance Fueling Club (PFC). PFC is an online sports nutrition coaching program that helps athletes with flexible on-demand content and live nutrition coaching with a sports dietitian.
If you are looking for guidance on recovery fueling,, I encourage you to sign up today. We currently have open enrollment, and I would love to help support you in getting to your goals!