Can tart cherry juice help with ulcerative colitis?

I wanted to share the findings from a randomised controlled trial which asked this exact question.

Background

Ulcerative colitis (UC) significantly impacts individuals’ self-perception, body image, and overall quality of life. These challenges highlight the necessity for complementary therapeutic strategies with reduced adverse effects to support conventional medical treatments. Among natural interventions, Montmorency tart cherries are thought to be helpful because they contain anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory properties.

Aim of the study

To investigate the effects of Montmorency tart cherries compared to placebo in patients with mild to moderate UC.

Who was studied and what did they do?

35 patients with mild to moderate UC were randomly assigned to drink placebo or 60ml Montmorency tart cherry juice daily (split into 2x 30ml servings) for 6 weeks.

Researchers looked at health-related quality of life, measured via the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (IBDQ), and other health-related questionnaires, blood biomarkers, and faecal samples, which were measured before and after the intervention.

What did they find?

  • Health-related quality of life (the primary outcome) improved in the tart cherry juice group, compared with the placebo. This improvement was clinically significant.

  • Disease activity and faecal calprotectin improved in the tart cherry juice group, compared with the placebo group. But blood markers for inflammation did not differ between the groups.

  • However, tart cherry juice increased dietary sugar intake and serum glucose levels.

Take Aways

  • 60ml tart cherry juice daily may help improve IBD-related quality of life as well as disease activity.

  • It seems to be safe.

  • Anyone looking to try tart cherry juice on a long-term basis should modify their daily dietary intake of sugar from other sources to account for the increase in daily sugars from the juice.

  • We can also get anthocyanins from other foods including blueberries and blackberries (or any purple or red fruit or veg).

Limitations

  • Patients weren’t split into groups based on their medications just on a 1-1 basis.

  • The treatment group had higher mean faecal calprotectin levels at the start compared to the placebo group (251.65 vs 55) so potentially there was more improvement to be had in this group which could have skewed the results.

  • It was only for 6 weeks so we don’t know the long term benefits or drawbacks of supplementation.

Reference

Sinclair J, McLaughlin G, Allan R, Brooks-Warburton J, Lawson C, Goh S, Desai T, Bottoms L. Health Benefits of Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice Supplementation in Adults with Mild to Moderate Ulcerative Colitis; A Placebo Randomized Controlled Trial. Life (Basel). 2025 Feb 17;15(2):306. doi: 10.3390/life15020306. PMID: 40003718; PMCID: PMC11857002.

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Clemmie Macpherson