Tart cherry → Sleep duration and regularity
Higher Tart cherry moves Sleep duration and regularity only in some conditions. Read the mechanism.
Losso 2018 found that 240 mL of Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day for two weeks added 84 minutes of laboratory sleep time versus placebo in eight adults over 50 with insomnia. Howatson 2013 saw a similar direction in twenty healthy adults; Hillman found no sleep difference in forty-four healthy adults over thirty days.
Randomized trial · Contested · N=8
Supported by an experiment or a tightly identified design. Read the caveats.
Mechanism
Authors treat tart cherry juice as a source of melatonin and of procyanidins that spare tryptophan. They do not isolate one molecule. Losso, Finley, Karki and colleagues crossed eight completers older than 50 with insomnia through two weeks of juice (240 mL twice a day) and two weeks of placebo, with a two-week washout. Eleven were randomized; three with apnea were referred out. Laboratory sleep time rose 84 minutes (P=0.0182). Pittsburgh sleep efficiency improved (P=0.03). Other questionnaires did not. Howatson, Bell, Tallent and colleagues crossed twenty healthy adults through seven days of concentrate and placebo. Urinary melatonin rose. Time in bed, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency rose (P<0.05). The abstract does not publish the minute counts. Pigeon, Carr, Gorman and Perlis crossed fifteen older adults with chronic insomnia through two weeks of a proprietary blend and placebo. Versus placebo, wake after sleep onset and insomnia severity fell. Latency, total sleep time, and efficiency did not beat placebo. Hillman, Trickett, Brodsky and Chrismas assigned forty-four healthy adults to juice or powder or placebo for thirty days. Sleep time and quality did not differ.
Caveats
Researchers assigned people to a juice or a control, so this is a trial stamp. The files are small. More papers of the same design do not settle the claim. Losso is eight completers and two weeks. Pigeon is fifteen people and a branded blend; most diary contrasts missed versus placebo. Howatson is seven days in healthy adults without a published minute increment. Hillman is the largest file here and is null in healthy people. This is a journal entry, not medical advice and not a reason to drink cherry juice for insomnia.
Effect
qualitative. Losso 2018: 240 mL BID, 2 wk, N=8, PSG TST +84 min. Howatson 2013: N=20, 7 d, TST/efficiency up. Pigeon 2010: N=15, WASO only vs placebo. Hillman: N=44, 30 d, sleep null.
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “Tart cherry → Sleep duration and regularity.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-tart-cherry-sleep (atlas updated 2026-09-02).
Papers
- Pilot Study of the Tart Cherry Juice for the Treatment of Insomnia and Investigation of Mechanisms.
JN Losso, JW Finley, N Karki, AG Liu, A Prudente, R Tipton, Y Yu, FL Greenway · 2018 · American journal of therapeutics
- Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality.
G Howatson, PG Bell, J Tallent, B Middleton, MP McHugh, J Ellis · 2013 · European journal of nutrition
- Effects of a tart cherry juice beverage on the sleep of older adults with insomnia: a pilot study.
WR Pigeon, M Carr, C Gorman, ML Perlis · 2010 · Journal of medicinal food
- Montmorency tart cherry supplementation does not impact sleep, body composition, cellular health, or blood pressure in healthy adults.
AR Hillman, O Trickett, C Brodsky, B Chrismas · 2026 · Nutrition and health