Tart Cherry for Exercise Recovery
Tart cherry appears to genuinely help muscle strength recover faster after hard exercise and lowers some inflammation markers, but it does not reliably reduce muscle soreness or muscle-damage markers, so the evidence is rated preliminary and disputed rather than strong.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
Three independent meta-analyses pooling roughly 600 athletes point the same way on one outcome: faster recovery of muscular strength. The 2021 review of 14 studies found a moderate strength benefit (PMID 33440334), the 2025 analysis of 10 trials reported a significant 9.13% gain in maximal isometric contraction (PMID 40110326), and the 2026 review of 19 trials saw strength effects that grew over 72 hours (PMID 41945263). Each also reduced inflammatory markers such as CRP and IL-6/IL-8.
The grade stops at B because the benefit is narrow and partly inconsistent. Reduced muscle soreness was significant only in the 2021 review and disappeared in the 2025 and 2026 pooled analyses. Creatine kinase, a direct marker of muscle damage, was not lowered and was paradoxically higher with tart cherry in the 2025 analysis (PMID 40110326). Trial quality is only very-low-to-moderate, doses and formulations vary widely, and several primary studies were industry-funded.
The disputed flag reflects a regulatory-versus-clinical split, not proof of failure. The FDA treats disease claims for cherry products as unapproved drug claims and the EU EFSA has not authorised any health claim, so no official endorsement exists. Yet Cleveland Clinic and a sports-nutrition society position stand are supportive, while Harvard remains skeptical of evidence quality. Net: a plausible, modest aid for competition-phase strength recovery, not a soreness cure.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.679
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高品質 SR/MA 顯示 positive (2 篇 > 0 negative)
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 1 個 hard + 0 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status