Cherry Juice May Ease Muscle Pain

Researchers at the University of Vermont in Burlington studied 14 volunteers who exercised for a period of seven days. Participants drank either a cherry/apple juice combination drink or a drink with no cherry juice for three days before they exercised, and for another four days after they exercised.

Exercises consisted of arm muscles that were flexed and tensed 20 times in only one arm. After two weeks, the process was repeated, with participants who previously drank cherry juice -- which contained the juice from about 50-60 cherries -- switching to the other drink mixture and vice-versa. The arm muscle exercised was also switched.

The participants were asked to identify the pain and soreness in their muscles on scale of one to 10, and the researchers also analyzed muscle strength and range of motion.

Participants who drank the other juice mixture experienced a 22 percent loss in muscle strength, while those who drank the cherry juice mixture only lost 4 percent of their muscle strength. Their reported pain rating was also much lower, at 2.4 percent compared to 3.2 percent for those who drank the other juice. After 96 hours, the cherry-juice drinkers even gained some muscle strength.

Unlike the cranberry situation, however, the recent attack on cherries is aimed at statements made on websites not linked to labels. Since the FDA has no authority to dictate website content-which is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission-I asked the agency by what authority it was threatening to seize property and stop people from selling cherry products. The agency responded that websites are part of the legal definition of "label." A reading of the legal definition, however, reveals that a label is, well, a label-something stuck to a product or its package. The definition also allows Food and Drug to regulate things that come with the product, such as a package insert. But no mention is made of websites.*