Cherries are sometimes lumped in with purported “superfoods” (not a term I like, but that’s a rant for another day!) due to their high polyphenol content. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds are why tart cherry juice is used as a performance supplement.
When we exercise it cause oxidative stress and inflammation. That’s not in of itself bad. We need to stress the body to elicit adaptations, and improve strength and/or endurance. For this reason if you are in a building phase and looking for maximal adaptations, cherry juice would not be recommended as it can blunt them.
The time when it can be beneficial is to help recovery. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects have been seen to help lessen muscle damage, reduce levels of pain and improve recovery in athletes.
To give you an example lets look at footballers. When they start pre-season they want to maximise their conditioning, to set them up before it kicks off. During this phase it wouldn’t be use. But when they get into the season the games come thick and fast, and it’s about maximising recovery, minimising injuries and maintaining the strength and endurance they built up. Here with recovery being a higher priority than adaptations, cherry juice can be beneficial.
DOMS is the acronym for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Anyone who has trained hard, especially after a break, has likely experienced this. The aches after trying a new class, or on a new training block! The anti-inflammatory properties of cherry juice here help as they have been shown to inhibit inflammation-induced pain. This allows athletes and people training in the gym to return to training more quickly.
Lastly, cherry juice may aid sleep due to natural melatonin content. Knowing the importance of sleep this may be of consideration to people with a disrupted sleep cycle.
References: Mac Nutrition Uni, Vitale et al 2017, Howatson et al 2012, Connolly et al 2006