Comparison of Acute Tart Cherry Supplement Formulation and Dose on Inflammation and Oxidative Capacity

Participants will be randomly allocated to a group: one tart cherry capsule daily, two tart cherry capsules daily, one 8oz. bottle of tart cherry juice daily, two 8oz. bottles of tart cherry juice taken 8 hours apart, one placebo pill, and one 8oz. bottle of placebo. Participants will arrive to the lab at 8 am after an overnight fast of 10 hours. They will provide a blood sample and then ingest their study treatment. Participants will stay in the lab for a further 2 hours for additional blood draws then return to the lab in 6 hours for another blood draw. At this time if they are in a twice daily group they will receive their second treatment for the day. All participants will come back to the lab 24 hours later where they will give a blood sample and receive their next treatment. If they are in the twice daily group they will be provided with their next dose and given instructions to consume it in 8 hours. Participants will arrive 24 hours later for a final blood draw with no supplementation.

Blood samples will be measured pre-ingestion, 1 hour, 2 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours post-ingestion. Samples will be analyzed for plasma oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), uric acid (UA), and C-reactive protein (CRP).