Effects of Cherry Consumption on Metabolic Health

August 27, 2025 updated by: Luis Manuel Lopes Rodrigues da Silva, Instituto Politécnico da Guarda

Effects of Cherry Consumption on Metabolic Health: A Pilot Clinical Study on Healthy Adults

This study is designed to evaluate the effects of daily sweet cherry consumption on markers of metabolic health in adults. Cherries are rich in bioactive compounds, such as anthocyanins and phenolic acids, which may help reduce oxidative stress, inflammation, and early risk factors for conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Participants will consume 280 grams of fresh sweet cherries every day for 42 consecutive days. Blood and urine samples will be collected at four time points: before the intervention (baseline), at day 21, at day 42 (end of the intervention), and two weeks after stopping cherry consumption.

The study will measure changes in blood sugar regulation, markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, liver and kidney function, and immune response. Waist circumference and body mass index will also be recorded.

The aim of this study is to test whether daily cherry consumption can support metabolic health in healthy adults and to provide data that may inform larger and longer clinical trials in the future.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Metabolic Health

Intervention / Treatment

Dietary supplement: Sweet cherries, 280 g daily for 42 days

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Phase

Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Portugal
- - Guarda, Portugal
    - Instituto Politécnico da Guarda

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

Adult
Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Age 18-65 years old
Healthy individuals with no known metaboli disorders

Exclusion Criteria:

Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Adverse or allergic reaction to cherries
Use of antibiotics, anxiolytics, or dietary supplements
Pregnancy or lactation
Weight changes greater than 10% in the previous year.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: N/A
Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Daily Sweet Cherry Consumption Participants in this arm will consume 280 grams of fresh sweet cherries (Prunus avium, "Prime-Giant" variety) every day for 42 consecutive days.	Dietary supplement: Sweet cherries, 280 g daily for 42 days Participants will consume 280 grams of fresh sweet cherries daily for 42 consecutive days. Cherries are provided in pre-weighed portions to be consumed in the morning on an empty stomach

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Changes in fasting glucose Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in HbA1c Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in estimated average glucose Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in insulin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in IL-6 Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in AGP-1 Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in C-reactive protein Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in gluthatione peroxidase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in gluthatione reductase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in glutamate dehydrogenase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Instituto Politécnico da Guarda

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 14, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 23, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

July 23, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 20, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 27, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

September 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 4, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 27, 2025

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

PRR-C05-i03-I-000143

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Changes in aspartate aminotransferase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in alanine transaminase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in gamma-glutamyl transferase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in total bilirubin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in conjugated bilirubin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in unconjugated bilirubin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in lactate dehydrogenase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in total proteins Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in albumin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in urea Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in creatinine Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in microalbumin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in uric acid Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in iron Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in TIBC Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in transferrin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in ferritin Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in amylase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in lipase Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in IgA Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in IgG Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in IgM Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in total IgE Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in rheumatoid factor Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in antistreptolysin O Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in triglycerides Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in total cholesterol Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in HDL cholesterol Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in LDL cholesterol Time Frame: Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention	Baseline, Day 21, Day 42 and 2 weeks post-intervention
Changes in waist circumference Time Frame: Baseline and Day 42	Baseline and Day 42
Body Mass Index Time Frame: Baseline and Day 42	Baseline and Day 42

Effects of Cherry Consumption on Metabolic Health