This common fruit may be the secret to better sleep

Sleep is key to living your best life, and is essential for both general health and overall happiness. If you’re struggling with sleep there are a host of aids and routines designed to assist in getting the rest you need. One possibly surprising place to look for help is… your fruit bowl.

And one fruit in particular: cherries. And especially tart cherries, such as those of the Montmorency variety.

The sleep benefits of cherries

These tart cherries have been shown to have considerable quantities of melatonin, a hormone in the human body that plays an important role in regulating our vital sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, a tiny gland in the brain. Its production is linked to the time of day and increases when it’s dark, indicating to the body that it likely time to sleep.

Eating a bowl of cherries, or drinking cherry juice, can raise melatonin levels in the body, making it easier to wind down and fall asleep, and then also increase the duration of that sleep.

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Tart cherries induce the zzzzz’s

Tart cherries generally have higher levels of melatonin than sweet versions. A study by Louisiana State University found that participants who drank tart cherry juice twice a day for two weeks slept an average of 84 minutes longer each night.

Not just melatonin in cherries

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) report that in addition to containing melatonin itself, tart cherries also contain tryptophan, an essential amino acid, which your body cannot produce but must ingest. And tryptophan is necessary for the body to produce melatonin itself, so you get a double benefit.

Cherries aren’t just about getting sleepy

In addition to helping with sleep, cherries, like most fruit, have a host of benefits. They are a great source of antioxidants, which help reduce inflammation and can help reduce symptoms of some inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. They also promote heart health, containing anthocyanins which can help reduce blood pressure. And for those doing exercise, it’s good to know tart cherry juice has been shown to reduce muscle soreness and help recovery after strenuous exercise.

It’s cherry season now, so get stuck in

Cherry season, (which I just mistyped as ‘cheery season’ and, given how good they are, maybe that should be its name), runs through May, June and July in the U.S. when the vast majority are sold, so it’s the perfect time to get down to your local store and pick up some gloriously ripe cherries. And hopefully have a good sleep after tucking into them.