The Effect of Tart Cherry Supplementation on Exercise Recovery
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Jason Jagroop
College:
The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major:
Excercise Science
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Pragya Sharma Ghimire
Abstract:
Jason Jagroop and Dr. Pragya Sharma Ghimire
Resistance training, an exercise intervention, aims to induce muscle hypertrophy and enhance strength. However, prolonged strenuous activity may cause muscle fiber and ligament breakdown, leading to inflammation, free radical presence, exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD), and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Over recent decades, considerable research has focused on accelerating muscle recovery and minimizing damage post-exercise, exploring factors like sleep quality, exercise frequency, and nutrition. Tart cherries extracted from Montmorency cherries (Prunus Cerasus) are fruits rich in polyphenols such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, flavanols, and phenolic acids. These compounds are known for reducing swelling/inflammation and act as antioxidants. Few promising research studies have shown supplementing tart cherry after resistance training may enhance/speed up recovery and attenuate muscle soreness/damage. Therefore, this study aims to understand the effect of tart cherry supplementation on aiding muscle recovery following strenuous resistance training.
A total of 35 Articles were gathered from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. Of the 35 articles, 15 articles were extracted from the past ten years—keywords used while searching were Tart Cherry, Exercise, and Recovery. The results from the articles gathered have shown Tart cherry supplementation to have a slightly beneficial effect on alleviating muscle soreness and reducing oxidative stress, with a moderate impact on restoring muscle strength and power after intense exercise on alleviating muscle soreness and reducing oxidative stress, with a mild effect on restoring muscle strength and power after intense exercise. Tart cherry supplementation appears to offer a promising alternative for post-strenuous exercise recovery compared to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Research suggests that tart cherry supplementation mitigates indicators of muscle breakdown, diminishes immune and inflammatory stress, and supports various facets of recovery following intense exercise.