Do you struggle to sleep for hours or do you wake up in the middle of the night and ends up wide awake until it's already time for you to get up?
Insomia is a usual problem that takes its toll to one's general health, mood and energy. Chronic Insomia could even lead to more health problems. According to Delta Sleep Labs, 1 in 3 people experience Insomia in their lifetime while more than 70 million Americans are affected by the sleeping disorder.
During the Annual meeting of the American Society of Nutrition coinciding with Experimental Biology 2014 meeting, a new study was proposed in May suggesting that drinking two glasses of Tart Cherry Juice daily can help increase your sleeping time by about 90 minutes at night. The study was conducted by team of researchers from Louisiana State University (LSU).
The researchers had seven older adults suffering insomnia drink eight ounces of Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day for a period of two weeks. It was followed by a washout period when they didn't drink any juice for two weeks and a two-week period of consuming a placebo drink.
Results showed that drinking cherry juice resulted in an increase average of 84 minutes of sleep time each night as compared to placebo. According to coauthor Frank L. Greenway, director of the outpatient research clinic at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at LSU, Cherry juice is a natural source of melatonin and amino acid tryptophan.
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid needed for the production of serotonin that induces sleep. "Proanthocyanidins, or the ruby red pigments in tart cherry juice, contain an enzyme that reduces inflammation and decreases the breakdown of tryptophan, letting it go to work longer in your body," Greenway added.
As one-third of the Americans aged 65 and above are suffering from insomnia, it is considered a sleeping disorder especially if its occurrence happens more than three nights each week. Cherry juice is a safer alternative to get better sleep than taking over-the-counter sleep pills, says Greenway.