Recruiting

Tart Cherry

Sponsor:

United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

Code:

NCT07063173

Conditions

Bioavailability

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 17 - 39

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Fruit Bar

Powdered Drink

Commercially available 100% tart cherry juice

Placebo beverage

Study Details

Brief summary:

To determine how consuming food items containing shelf-stored tart cherry impacts your body's ability to absorb and use the compounds within tart cherry.

Conditions

Bioavailability

Study ID

NCT07063173

Start date

Jun 14, 2024

Status verified date

Dec, 2025

Completion date

Dec 31, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 17 - 39

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Active duty military personnel and civilians will be invited to participate in the study if they:

  • Are between the ages of 18 (or 17 for military personnel) and 39.
  • Are willing to participate in all study procedures and comply with all study instruction.
  • In good health as determined by OMSO (Office of Medical Support and Oversight).
  • Supervisor approval for federal civilian employees and non-HRV active-duty military personnel stationed at NSSC

Exclusion Criteria:

  • • Unable to understand verbal or written instructions or testing materials in English.

  • Have a bleeding disorder (e.g., von Willebrand Disease, hemophilia) or are being treated with medication that will impair blood clotting (for example, coumadin)
  • Have a history of GI-related conditions that may impact macronutrient absorption (e.g., Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, Celiac's disease or gluten sensitivity, bariatric surgery or gastroparesis, short bowel, inflammatory bowel disease, etc…);
  • Any use of antibiotics or antifungal, except topical antibiotics/antifungals within 3 months of study participation.
  • Colonoscopy within 3 months of study participation.
  • Regular (i.e., weekly or more frequent) use of over-the-counter medications (including antacids, laxatives, stool softeners, and antidiarrheals) unless approved by OMSO and study PI.
  • Are habitually taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., Advil, aspirin), corticosteroids (e.g., prednisone) or immunosuppressants (e.g. Humira);
  • Have an allergy or aversion (extreme dislike) to any of the test foods(e.g., cherry flavored beverages or bar). Allergy symptoms may include anaphylaxis, hives or eczema, tingling/itching in the mouth, dizziness or fainting, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat).
  • Have donated blood within the past 8 weeks of the first test session or plan to donate blood during the study.
  • Are not willing to abstain from tobacco products and vigorous exercise for at least 24 hours" before each trial and consume a low-polyphenol diet two days prior to each test session and on the day of the test session.

Study Design

Enrollment

15 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Tart Cherry Juice

The commercially available tart cherry (TC) drink contains 100% concentrated Montmorency cherry juice (CherryActive, Sunbury, UK) as a "gold standard". Participants will consume 60 mL of the concentrate diluted with 500 mL of water, which delivers \~120 mg of anthocyanins.

active comparator: Fruit Bar

The fruit powder is incorporated into a snack bar, which delivers \~120 mg of anthocyanins.

active comparator: Powdered Drink

The fruit powder is incorporated into a powdered drink, which delivers \~120 mg of anthocyanins..

placebo comparator: Control Beverage

A control powdered drink will be formulated with similar organoleptic qualities to the TCP-containing powdered drink without containing any polyphenol-rich ingredients.

Interventions

Fruit Bar

Tart Cherry N185

Powdered Drink

Vita Cherry Sport N1244 (FutureCeuticals, Momence, IL)

Commercially available 100% tart cherry juice

100% concentrated Montmorency cherry juice (CherryActive, Sunbury, UK)

Placebo beverage

Placebo beverage

Primary outcome measure

  • Postprandial concentrations of polyphenols in plasma [ Time Frame: Baseline and postprandially @ 30-minutes, 60-minutes, 120-minutes, 240-minutes, 360-mins, 24 hours ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Tracey J Smith, PhD

5082062390tracey.smith10.civ@health.mil

Robert Roussel, PhD

robert.r.roussel.civ@health.mil

Locations

USARIEM

Recruiting

Natick, Massachusetts, United States, 01760

Contacts

Tracey J Smith, PhD

508-206-2390treacey.smith10.civ@health.mil

More Information

Sponsor

United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

Last update posted

Dec 29, 2025

Last verified

Dec, 2025

Keywords

  • military
  • tart cherry
  • muscle recovery
  • polyphenols

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine on 2025-12-29.