I was visiting with a patient the other day, she told me her and her husband had been drinking tart cherry juice in the evening, which had helped them sleep much better. Later, a guy at the grocery store was getting a 12 pack of beer, along with a large container of tart cherry juice, saying with a smile 'takes care of my gout!' I had to read up and research the medical literature on this one.
Tart cherry juice has antioxidant and significant anti-inflammatory properties, lower uric acid (controlling gout flares). Cherry skins have the highest antioxidant activity, with Montmorency tart cherry skins having the total phenolics and antioxidant activities among cherries tested. The real actor is in what's called anthocyanins, found abundantly in cherries. Tart cherry juice concentrate has the highest oxygen radical absorbance capacity, followed by dried cherries, frozen cherries & canned cherries.
One 8 oz bottle of tart cherry juice blend is equivalent to 50 cherries. Taken regularly, this will give you the most bang for your buck. I recommend incorporating 8-12 oz of tart cherry juice daily, especially if gout has been an issue for you.