Cherry and cranberry juice may lower blood pressure
What it found
In people, drinking cherry juice lowered systolic blood pressure by about 3.11 mmHg in two small trials.
Cranberry juice also lowered blood pressure, but other fruits showed no clear effect.
What they found
Studies in people
Cherry juice and blood pressure
Two cherry juice trials, with 36 people in treatment groups, lowered systolic blood pressure by 3.11 mmHg. One used 30 mL for 20 days and the other 330 mL for 6 weeks.
Cranberry juice and blood pressure
Cranberry juice trials, with 149 people in treatment groups, lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 1.52 mmHg each. The average dose was 432 mL for 8 weeks.
Other fruits and blood pressure
Berries as a whole lowered systolic blood pressure by 3.68 mmHg and diastolic by 1.78 mmHg, but this was driven by cranberry and cherry juice. Other fruits like blueberry, grape, pomegranate and orange showed no clear effect.
Blood vessel function
There was no improvement in flow-mediated dilation or pulse wave velocity, which are measures of blood vessel function.
Blood fats and inflammation
No significant changes were seen in triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, or inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein and nitric oxide. One marker, sVCAM-1, increased by 14.57 ng/mL with berry interventions, but the authors say this may not be clinically relevant.
What the authors conclude
“These findings suggest that supplementing cranberry or cherry juice might contribute to an improvement in blood pressure.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that supplementing cranberry or cherry juice might contribute to an improvement in blood pressure.
- They note that no other significant improvements were observed for other specified fruits.
- They call for more research comparing different classes of fruit and exploring how fruit processing affects heart-protective effects.
How it was done
The authors wanted to compare how different fruits, and different forms of fruit like juice or powder, affect heart and blood vessel risk factors. They noted that the best type and form of fruit for heart protection was not clear.
They pooled 45 randomised controlled trials in adults, lasting at least one week, that gave berries, citrus or cherries. The trials included 1130 people in treatment groups and 1109 in control groups, with an average treatment duration of 57 days.
What it can’t tell you
- The cherry juice finding comes from only two small trials, so it is not strong evidence.
- The studies used different populations and doses, and many had high variability, so the results should be treated with caution.
- This review cannot show whether these blood pressure changes would last or reduce heart disease risk over time.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- There is no conflict of interest in this review.
- Authors work at
- Northumbria University, UK
The paper
- Title
- Effects of chronic consumption of specific fruit (berries, citrus and cherries) on CVD risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
- Type
- Systematic review and meta-analysisThe authors follow a set, published method to find every relevant study, then combine the numbers from them into one result.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Wang Y, Gallegos JL, Haskell-Ramsay C, Lodge JK (2021). Effects of chronic consumption of specific fruit (berries, citrus and cherries) on CVD risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. European journal of nutrition. doi:10.1007/s00394-020-02299-wFree full textPubMed 32535781DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error