Fight Back with Cherries

Besides being a good source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber, cherries possess powerful antioxidants that are responsible for most of their effects. Drinking Montmorency cherry juice provides a wide range of health benefits, from improving muscle recovery to reducing inflammation in the body.

Reduces Muscle Damage

During exercise, muscle fibers are damaged and often produce symptoms such as delayed onset muscle soreness and pain. Cherries' anti-inflammatory properties might help reduce muscle damage associated with resistance exercise. Participants received cherry juice or a placebo for three days before performing resistance exercise-induced muscle damage and for four days afterward. Scientists observed that the cherry juice group had fewer muscle damage symptoms compared to the placebo group, according to a study published in the June 2006 issue of the "British Journal of Sports Medicine."

Aids Muscle Recovery

Cheery juice may aid exercise recovery. Researchers from Northumbria University in the UK studied the impact of cherry juice on inflammation and muscle damage in marathon runners. Subjects consumed cherry juice or a placebo five days before and for 48 hours following the marathon event. Scientists found that the cherry juice group had lowers levels of inflammation and muscle damage, both of which aid muscle recovery, compared to the placebo group, according to findings reported in the October 2009 issue of the "Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports."

Combats Arthritic Conditions

Cherry juice might combat arthritic conditions, such as osteoarthritis, by suppressing inflammatory pain. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Hospital examined the effects of cherries, which contain the antioxidant anthocyanins, on inflammatory pain. They found that rats receiving cherry extracts had less inflammatory pain compared to rats without cherry extracts, according to research reported in the August 2004 issue of the journal "Behavioral Brain Research."