Ingredient Evidence Review
Tart cherry concentrate
Prunus cerasus (Montmorency)
Last updated 2026-05-19 · 4 primary citations
Mechanism
Tart cherries contain naturally occurring melatonin (in nutritional, not supplemental, amounts) plus anthocyanins — the deep red pigment compounds that reduce muscle inflammation. The combination supports both sides of recovery at once: sleep architecture and muscle-soreness reduction.
Why we use it
This is the rare ingredient with strong evidence for two endpoints (sleep + muscle recovery) at the same dose. For a recovery formula in a contact-sport population, that's exactly what you want.
How we dose it
Hericea uses 480 mg per serving (per PM packet). The clinical trial range that anchors this dose is 480 mg/day.
480 mg of Montmorency tart cherry concentrate — the dose validated in the sleep-lab study that added 84 minutes of total sleep, and the same dose used in athlete-recovery trials.
Quality & sourcing
CherryPure® 1:60 concentrate. NSF-CFS clean.
Montmorency tart cherry concentrate.
Cautions
- consult physicianMild antiplatelet at higher doses.
Primary literature
Losso JN et al. (2018)
Am J TherSleep-lab RCT (crossover) · 8 people · 2 weeks
Tart cherry juice added 84 minutes of measured sleep time in adults with insomnia, validated by polysomnography.
Anchors the sleep side of the dual-purpose use case — gold-standard sleep-lab measurement, not just self-report.
PMID 28901958
Howatson G et al. (2010)
Scand J Med Sci SportsAthlete RCT
Tart cherry juice accelerated recovery of muscle function and reduced inflammation and oxidative stress after marathon running.
Anchors the muscle-recovery side — at the same brand/dose as the sleep trial.
PMID 19883392
Burkhardt S et al. (2001)
J Agric Food ChemAnalytical chemistry
Confirmed natural melatonin content of Montmorency tart cherries.
Documents the mechanism for the sleep effect — the cherry actually contains the sleep hormone, in small amounts.
PMID 11600041
Stretton B et al. (2023)
Curr Sleep Med RepSystematic review + meta-analysis
Pooled all tart cherry sleep trials — confirmed consistent benefit on sleep across studies.
Most recent systematic review — confirms the effect is robust across the literature.
DOI 10.1007/s40675-023-00261-w