A healthy gut isn’t just helpful in making sure you have regular bowel movements (although that’s a definite perk). It also helps you better absorb nutrients from your diet, supports your immune system, and can even impact your brain and mental health.
So it stands to reason that gut inflammation doesn’t just make you feel bad, but also raises your risk of a slew of health conditions. Of course, there are lots of ways to improve your gut health, and some exciting new research is now suggesting that adding a very specific type of juice to your morning routine could help boost your gut health by tamping down gut inflammation. For the roughly 60 million Americans who struggle with gastrointestinal diseases, these findings could even prove life-changing.
Here’s what the study found, plus what gastroenterologists want you to keep in mind when interpreting the results.
Meet the experts: Ashkan Farhadi, MD, a gastroenterologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA; Ellen Stein, MD, a gastroenterologist and associate professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
What did the study find?
The study, which was published in the journal Life, focused on patients with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder that causes stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea.
For the study, researchers randomly assigned 35 patients between the ages of 18 and 65 to take either a 130 milliliter tart cherry drink made with 100 milliliters of water and 30 milliliters of concentrated tart cherry juice or a placebo drink (that had a similar look and taste) twice a day for six weeks. The participants continued to take their usual ulcerative colitis medications during this time.
The researchers took a bunch of measurements during the study, including looking at the participants’ physical and mental health, and ulcerative colitis symptoms. The participants also gave regular blood and stool samples, and kept food diaries.
The researchers discovered that people in the tart cherry drink group had a 40 percent reduction in calprotectin, a protein that’s released when there’s inflammation in the gut. Participants in the tart cherry drink group also reported a 9 percent improvement in their quality of life.
“This trial indicates that twice-daily tart cherry supplementation can improve irritable bowel disorder-related quality of life as well as the severity of symptoms and therefore may be important in the management of ulcerative colitis,” the researchers wrote in the conclusion.
How does an inflamed gut affect your health?
Gut inflammation causes more than just intestinal discomfort, says Ellen Stein, MD, a gastroenterologist and associate professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
In fact, it can cause lots of issues with your overall health, including joint pain, feeling tired or fatigued, dysbiosis [an imbalance of gut bacteria], or malabsorption, she says. It can also lead to worse symptoms of lactose intolerance or fructan sensitivity, Dr. Stein says.
“Treating the underlying cause of the disease is important— avoiding gluten for Celiac disease patients, calming inflammation with medication for irritable bowel disease patients, and eating a healthy diet and avoiding unnecessary antibiotics for those with gut [imbalance],” she says.
Ultimately, it’s really important to take care of your gut, says Ashkan Farhadi, MD, a gastroenterologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. “When the gut is inflamed, there’s a lot of inflammation throughout the body,” he says. “It causes a lot of trouble.”
How does tart cherry juice help reduce inflammation?
It’s important to point out that this study was only done on a small group of people, and it was also funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute, a non-profit group that represents American cherries. (However, the organization didn’t influence the design of the study or the results.)
That said, there are a few theories on why this drink may help.
Tart cherries have polyphenols, which are naturally occurring plant compounds that act as antioxidants, and which may help tamp down on inflammation, Dr. Stein says. “Some other theories suggest that there is a prebiotic effect of this substance,” she says.
“We can also just take these findings at face value, because there is a lot of information to show that the juice reduces inflammation in the group that took it compared to the placebo,” Dr. Farhadi says. “But we really have to take this with a grain of salt because there were only a few participants.”
Dr. Stein stresses that, at this point, more data is needed to prove this connection, since most studies on tart cherry juice are small and results have been mixed. “There is nothing truly convincing that this particular food is the key to all health,” she says. “That said, it probably tastes good and in moderation is a healthy food to consume.”
How much would I have to drink to see the positive effects?
Not much. This particular study had people drink 130 milliliters of a tart cherry drink twice a day, which is a little less than 4.5 ounces.
What else can I do to reduce gut inflammation?
While research into the potential impact of tart cherry juice on the gut is ongoing, doctors say there are a few things you can do to lower levels of inflammation in your gut.
Dr. Stein suggests having a regular exercise routine, eating a healthy diet with fiber from natural sources, getting plenty of good quality sleep, trying to reduce chronic stress, and focusing on your overall health. “Eating a balanced diet with healthy foods and less processed foods also seems to help, like the Mediterranean diet,” she says.
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