Magnesium vs Tart Cherry for sleep
Short answer: For sleep, more users report improvement with Tart Cherry — 94% of 35 reports, versus 88% of 430 for Magnesium.
Magnesium has 82 meta-analyses and 210 randomized trials on PubMed; Tart Cherry has 15 and 51.
Based on 2,391 reports about Magnesium and 102 about Tart Cherry. Not medical advice.
| Magnesium Supplement | Tart Cherry Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 73%helped956 reports · high confidence | 75%helped45 reports · medium confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 82 / 210 | 15 / 51 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 88% (430) | 94% (35) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 90% (289) | 50% (2) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 82% (118) | — |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 75% (83) | 50% (2) |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 93% (44) | 86% (7) |
| Common side effects | diarrhea, drowsiness, stomach issues, vivid dreams | headache, vivid dreams, anxiety, prolonged erection |
| Typical dose reported | 500 mg / daily | 1000 mg / before bed |
This review confirms that the quality of literature is substandard for physicians to make well-informed recommendations on usage of oral magnesium for older adults with insomnia. However, given that oral magnesium is very cheap and widely available, RCT evidence may support oral magnesium supplements (less than 1 g quantities given up to three times a day) for insomnia symptoms.
BMC Complement Med Ther, 2021 ↗“after supplementing with 400mg of Magnesium daily. Winter blues hit me hard and my multivitamin wasn't doing any justice, but once I began supplementing Magnesium, everything changed.”
No significant effects were observed for creatine kinase and tumor necrosis factor alpha. These results indicate that the consumption of a TC supplement can aid aspects of recovery from strenuous exercise.
Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2021 ↗“Tart cherry juice increases melatonin levels and is supposed to improve sleep quality. It worked surprisingly well for me when I tried it.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate