Or words to that effect.
I've got to pull the original paper and look at the macronutrient breakdown of the placebo (i.e. is this just a carbohydrate effect), but this looks *fascinating* and practical.
From Medscape,
June 22, 2006 — Tart cherry juice decreases symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage, according to the results of a randomized trial reported online in the June 21 Online First issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
"Cyclo-oxygenase inhibitory flavonoids and anthocynanins with high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities have been identified in tart cherries, which are considered good sources of phenolic compounds," write D. A. J. Connolly, MD, from the University of Vermont in Burlington, and colleagues. "This has led to speculation that cherry consumption may be effective in alleviating symptoms in inflammatory conditions."
In this crossover-design study, 14 male college students drank 12 fl oz of a cherry juice blend or a placebo twice daily for 8 consecutive days. On the fourth day of supplementation, the students performed a bout of eccentric elbow flexion contractions (2620 maximum contractions), and isometric elbow flexion strength, pain, muscle tenderness, and relaxed elbow angle were recorded before and for 4 days after the eccentric exercise. Two weeks later, each subject repeated the protocol with the other beverage, using the opposite arm for the eccentric exercise.
Strength loss and pain were less with cherry juice than with placebo (time by treatment, strength P < .0001; pain, P = .017). Relaxed elbow angle and muscle tenderness were similar with both beverages.
"These data show efficacy for this cherry juice in decreasing some of the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage," the authors write. "Most notably, strength loss averaged over the four days after eccentric exercise was 22% with the placebo but only 4% with the cherry juice."
Study limitations include small sample size, tenderness measurement only made at 1 site.
"Although the results of this study indicate a protective effect of cherry juice, it is not possible to conclude that cherry juice supplementation prevented muscle damage, because only two of four indirect markers of damage showed an effect," the authors conclude. "These results have important practical applications for athletes, as performance after damaging exercise bouts is primarily affected by strength loss and pain. In addition to being an efficacious treatment for minimising symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage, consumption of cherry juice is much more convenient than many of the treatments that have been presented in the literature."
Cherrypharm Inc. funded this study. The authors have disclosed that each have 2.5% equity in Cherrypharm Inc.
Br J Sports Med. Posted online June 21, 2006.
Learning Objectives for This Educational Activity
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
Describe the effects of cherry juice ingestion on strength loss and muscle pain after eccentric exercise in healthy men.
Describe the effect of cherry juice on range of elbow motion and muscle tenderness after eccentric exercise in healthy men.
Clinical Context
Tart cherries are good sources of phenolic compounds and may be useful in alleviating inflammatory conditions such as those associated with exercise. However studies examining the effects of antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E, on muscle groups have yielded inconsistent results due to differences in muscle groups studied and symptoms of muscle damage. In healthy men and women, consumption of 45 cherries a day has been shown to reduce circulating levels of inflammatory markers. The current study is a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial conducted on 14 healthy men, examining the effect of tart cherry juice taken before and after eccentric exercise on symptoms of muscle damage.
Study Highlights
14 of 16 men recruited participated as volunteers in this experiment.
Mean age was 22 years; height, 1.78 m; and weight, 90 kg.
Inclusion criteria were no elbow flexor pain, no upper extremity arm training within 3 months, and no history of arm or elbow injury.
Exclusion criteria were elbow pain or muscle tenderness.
All volunteers were told not to take anti-inflammatory drugs or pain-relieving drugs during the study.
Each volunteer participated in 2 groups of the trial, each lasting 8 days.
4 days before eccentric elbow exercise, volunteers started taking a 12-oz bottle of either cherry juice or placebo twice daily for 8 days.
Volunteers performed a bout of eccentric elbow contractions on the fourth day and on each of 4 successive days following this.
Pain, muscle tenderness, relaxed elbow angle, and strength in that arm were assessed for 4 days after the eccentric exercise.
2 weeks after the initial baseline testing, the experiment was repeated using the remaining type of juice (cherry or placebo).
The cherry juice blend consisted of freshly prepared tart cherry juice with commercially available apple juice pasteurized by heating to 85ºC. One bottle of 12 oz of juice provided at least 600 mg of phenolic compounds in 50 to 60 cherries.
The placebo was prepared by mixing unsweetened black cherry Kool-aid soft drink mix with water and sugar added to match that in the cherry juice.
The exercise regimen on the fourth day consisted of 40 (2 x 20) maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors using a curl apparatus. The subject was asked to apply maximal resistance through use of his elbow flexor, while the investigator forced the subject's elbow into full extension.
Subjects rated their overall discomfort by rating it 0 (for no discomfort) to 10 (maximal discomfort).
Muscle tenderness was rated using a muscle myometer, and tenderness was subtracted from baseline scores.
Elbow range of motion was assessed using a plastic goniometer.
Isometric strength of the elbow was tested at 3 different elbow flexion angles: 130º, 90º, and 30º.
Changes in symptoms of muscle damage were noted at baseline, 24, 48, and 72 hours.
Strength loss was significantly greater in the placebo trial than in the cherry juice trial (P < .0001), and this effect was not different between test angles.
Strength loss was 22% during 4 days after the placebo trial, and 4% for 4 days after the cherry trial (P < .0001).
Pain values tended to be higher in the placebo trial (3.2) vs the cherry juice trial (2.4; P = .051).
In the cherry juice trial, pain declined after 24 hours, whereas in the placebo trial, pain peaked at 48 hours.
Loss of range of motion with the relaxed elbow angle measurement was not different between cherry juice and placebo trials.
Muscle tenderness was not different between cherry juice and placebo trials.
Pearls for Practice
Use of cherry juice for 8 days vs placebo is associated with less strength loss and pain during 4 days after eccentric elbow exercise.
Use of cherry juice for 8 days compared with placebo is not associated with less motion loss and muscle tenderness.
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