Dave’s Diary: A Good Night Toast to Tart Cherry Juice

My fixation with sleep continues, but this latest discovery could help the valley’s economy… really! Researchers in England say to forget warm milk or wine as a sleep aid. Instead they say your night cap should consist of tart cherry juice. Here’s what they found: An international team of researchers has concluded that adults who consume two glasses of tart cherry juice daily sleep notably longer and have significantly less non-sleep time in bed, compared with drinking a non-cherry fruit cocktail. Not bad huh, and it’s good for preventing gout! The research took place at Northumbria University in New Castle, England. Twenty healthy adults were randomly assigned to drink either two servings of tart cherry juice concentrate diluted in water or a non-cherry fruit drink for seven consecutive days. Not exactly a massive study but check out the results.

One serving was consumed when they woke up, while the other was consumed before bed. Those who drank the cherry juice slept, on average, 39 minutes longer and enjoyed 6 percent less non-sleep time in bed, which is known as sleep efficiency. Not bad. Ol’ George Washington might have thought twice before chopping down the cherry tree if he knew then what you know now!