Tart cherry supplementation improves recovery from strenuous exercise

Objectives:
Does tart cherry (TC) supplementation improve recovery following strenuous exercise?

Study design:
This review article included 14 studies.

Results and conclusions:
The investigators found tart cherry supplementation had a small significant beneficial effect in reducing muscle soreness [effect size (ES) = -0.44, 95% CI = -0.87 to -0.02].

The investigators found a moderate significant beneficial effect was observed for recovery of muscular strength [ES = -0.78, 95% CI = -1.11 to -0.46] for tart cherry supplementation.

The investigators found a moderate significant effect was observed for muscular power [ES = -0.53, 95% CI = -0.77 to -0.29] for tart cherry supplementation.
A further subgroup analysis on this variable indicated a large significant effect of tart cherry supplementation on recovery of jump height [ES = -0.82, 95% CI = -1.18 to -0.45] and a small significant effect of tart cherry supplementation on sprint time [ES = -0.32, 95% CI = -0.60 to -0.04]. 

The investigators found a small significant effect was observed for both C-reactive protein [ES = -0.46, 95% CI = -0.93 to -0.00] and Interleukin-6 [ES = -0.35, 95% CI = -0.68 to -0.02] for tart cherry supplementation.

The investigators found no significant effects were observed for creatine kinase and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) for tart cherry supplementation. 

The investigators concluded that tart cherry supplementation improves aspects of recovery from strenuous exercise.

Original title:
Tart Cherry Supplementation and Recovery From Strenuous Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Hill JA, Keane KM, […], Howatson G.

Link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33440334/

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