Struggling to get a good night’s sleep?
If you want an extra 84 minutes of a slumber every night, it’s time to ditch the cocoa for a different drink altogether.
It turns out drinking Montmorency tart cherry juice an hour before bedtime will help you sleep for longer, according to a scientific review.
The trial on a group of insomniacs, carried out by Louisiana State University, found that swigging the tasty drink can extend sleep by one hour and 24 minutes.
The juice, contains procyanidin and anthocyanins, was found to stop the build-up of brain chemicals linked to poor sleep and decrease inflammation.
The health benefits of a good night’s sleep are well known, with insomnia linked to cancer, diabetes, dementia, heart disease, stroke and depression.
Between 50 and 70 million adults in the US suffer from some form of sleep disorder, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The eight subjects of the trial struggled to sleep at least three times a week.
Each one had blood tests and answered a survey on their sleep patterns and were then randomly assigned to drink either 240ml of cherry juice or given a placebo that looked and tasted similar.
Volunteers drank the juice twice a day, once in the morning and once in the hours running up to their bedtime.
After two weeks, the groups answered the questions again and switched over.
The study, published by American Journal of Therapeutics, revealed that sleep efficiency increased in those who drank the cherry juice twice a day, but no other significant differences were recorded.
Blood samples showed that cherry juice reduced levels of kynurenine, which contributes to sleep disturbances.
It also increased the amount of tryptophan in the blood, an amino acid that helps to induce sleepiness and inhibited the production of indoleanmine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which can slow down the release of tryptophan.
It also slowed the build-up of PGE2, a biomarker of inflammation, which has been linked to sleep problems in recent years.
Research professor Jack Losso said: “Insomnia is quite common among older adults and it can lead to a range of health issues if left untreated.
“However, many people are hesitant to resort to medications to help them sleep. That’s why natural sleep remedies are increasingly of interest and in demand.”
Although common in the US, Montmorency tart cherry juice can be bought in concentrated form in health food stores and some supermarkets, including Waitrose.