[Mari]

Hi,

Tart cherry juice can help one fall asleep and fall back asleep after waking up according to this study:

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs.../jmf.2009.0096

Abstract

This study ascertained whether a proprietary tart cherry juice blend (CherryPharm, Inc., Geneva, NY, USA) associated with anecdotal reports of sleep enhancement improves subjective reports of insomnia compared to a placebo beverage.
The pilot study used a randomized, double-blind, crossover design where each participant received both treatment and placebo for 2 weeks with an intervening 2-week washout period. Sleep continuity (sleep onset, wake after sleep onset, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency) was assessed by 2-week mean values from daily sleep diaries and disease severity by the Insomnia Severity Index in a cohort of 15 older adults with chronic insomnia who were otherwise healthy.
The tart cherry juice beverage was associated with statistically significant pre- to post-treatment improvements on all sleep variables. When compared to placebo, the study beverage produced significant reductions in insomnia severity (minutes awake after sleep onset); no such improvements were observed for sleep latency, total sleep time, or sleep efficiency compared to placebo. Effect sizes were moderate and in some cases negligible.
The results of this pilot study suggest that CherryPharm, a tart cherry juice blend, has modest beneficial effects on sleep in older adults with insomnia with effect sizes equal to or exceeding those observed in studies of valerian and in some, but not all, studies of melatonin, the two most studied natural products for insomnia. These effects, however, were considerably less than those for evidence-based treatments of insomnia: hypnotic agents and cognitive-behavioral therapies for insomnia.

Also here:
http://www.physorg.com/news198166844.html

The researchers suspect tart cherries' natural benefits could be due in part to their relatively high content of melatonin -

"When consumed regularly, tart cherries may help regulate the body's natural sleep cycle and increase sleep efficiency, including decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep," says Reiter. "And, because cherries are so rich in other antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, you get other important health benefits."
Apparently the cherry industry has invested money in ways to sell itt products. Still, cherries are generally healthy anyway.

M.

[DiMarie]

I am glad I just read this, I was going to try an ativan to sleep, but we have Cherry juice in the fridge....give it a try.
I only have 4 hrs until I have to be awake. Nite nite...

[BlueMajo]

I think pineapple juice helps sleep too... Anybody kows anything abut this or has experienced it ?

[waves]

Originally Posted by BlueMajo

I think pineapple juice helps sleep too... Anybody kows anything abut this or has experienced it ?

Mari and Majo,

hadn't heard re: either one of these regarding sleep...

i do know pineapple helps with digestion due to its high content of the enzyme bromelain.

Bromelain also effective anti-inflammatory and natural decongestant but best if fresh, i don't know what happens when you can it or even flash-freeze. the problem is not the freezing or whatever, it's when it is defrosted ... dunno what those temp changes do to the poor enzyme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromelain

but, we digress... nice find Mari. thank you. i love cherries. especially good, fresh ones. conversely i despise cherry flavoring. they haven't figured out how to find a simil-cherry flavored ester that doesn't also taste "mediciney" in my opinion.

~ waves ~