Written by: Malachy McHugh, Ph.D
About the Author: Malachy McHugh received his Ph.D in Exercise Physiology in 1999 from the University of Wales, Bangor. Since 1999, Dr. McHugh has been the Director of Research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma (NISMAT) at Lenox Hill Hospital in New Your City. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, member of the Orthopedic Research Society and an adjunct professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at New York University.

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The New York Rangers were the first professional athletes to start drinking a new tart cherry juice as part of their daily training regimen. Thanks to a growing body of literature providing indirect evidence on the beneficial effects of cherries for various inflammatory conditions, the team’s medical staff hoped that it could help with the rigors of the NHL season — and they have been pleased with the results.

The all-natural juice, cheribundi, was developed at Cornell University and clinically tested on an inflammatory condition that most people recognize — exercise-induced muscle damage. Soreness, weakness and stiffness that occur 1–2 days after relatively unfamiliar exercise are highly reproducible responses. When compared to placebo, taking cheribundi for 4 days pre and post exercise significantly reduced the symptoms of muscle damage. Strength loss (the best indicator of muscle damage) averaged only 4% with cheribundi compared to 22% with placebo. Pain was also reduced.

These results published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Connolly et al 2006) are impressive considering all the interventions that have been shown to be ineffective. Stretching, massage, ultrasound and electrical muscle stimulation have all been shown to be unproductive. More importantly, most studies have shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have minimal impact on the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage.

The apparent medicinal effects of cherries are attributed to the numerous phyto-nutrients with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions. However, the pertinent issue with cherries, as with other so-called “functional foods”, is how much to consume to get results. The challenge is to find a naturally potent product that is convenient and has not been broken down by exposure to harsh food processing techniques. CherryPharm appears to have solved the issues of degradation and convenience with their “not from concentrate” juice — each 8 fl. oz. bottle contains the equivalent of 50 tart cherries.

There remains a lot to learn about medicinal effects of “functional foods” such as cherries. Despite the size of the dietary supplement industry, the health benefits of most products are probably optimized by consuming those foods in their natural state rather than in a concentrated or encapsulated or powdered form. Unfortunately, the dearth of clinical studies supporting health benefits of foods and supplements starkly contrasts with the number of products in the marketplace. This makes published reports showing efficacy on products such as cheribundi all the more important.