Tart cherry, sleep, and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

When it comes to wellness choices, we often face decisions without a ton of data at our disposal. We might have some anecdotal evidence, or some results from small studies, but often the jury will still be out on whether something really works.

Tart cherry fits this description. And yet we've still chosen to put it into Sleep/3. Let's discuss.

Meaningful reports of tart cherry's effectiveness as a sleep aid first arose from scientific studies looking at health outcomes other than sleep. In one such study, participants were given tart cherry vs. placebo to reduce stress and inflammation following a marathon run." In another, elderly participants in a strength training program were looking to aid recovery using tart cherry." Both studies found positive effects for cherry juice against placebo, but participants in the tart cherry juice groups reported something else as well: improved sleep.

Serendipity of this sort happens often in drug discovery. You set out to test a heart disease therapy and end up getting anecdotal reports of improved sex-lives. Voila: Viagra.

Reports of effects under trial conditions are great, but do we have actual trial data on tart cherry for sleep? Pilot studies have found tart cherry reduces insomnia symptom against placebo," as well as increased time in bed, total sleep time and sleep efficiency." A systematic review (an approach that pulls a number of studies together in an attempt to synthesize their information) noted gains in sleep time and efficiency, declaring "Tart cherry may be the next frontier of sleep medicine and warrants further research."

This all sounds pretty good, but we still need evidence from large clinical trials before we can say, with confidence, it works for sleep. We're left with this interesting combination of anecdote and pilot data. We're left with uncertainty.

Scoutwell leans into decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. Tart cherry shows some promise when it comes to sleep, and so it makes perfect sense to try it, collect data on it over time, and see if it might fit our sleep needs. Can tart cherry improve sleep? Let's find out together.