Tart cherries are rich in bioactive components (i.e. flavonoids) that have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Inflammation and lipid peroxidation causes damage of skeletal muscle membranes during intense exercise. The damage of muscle increases the amount of time for muscle to recover from intense exercise, and can cause muscle strength to be reduced for days. When tart cherries in a concentrated form (i.e. as juice or powder) are consumed in the days leading up to intense exercise, there is a protective effect against inflammation, and lipid peroxidation . This theoretically prevents damage to the lipid component of muscle fibre membranes and helps to preserve muscle function - when muscle is damaged by intense exercise (i.e. either repetitive aerobic activity or high-force muscle contraction), consumption of cherry juice enhances the rate of muscle strength recovery following exercise compared to when a placebo (i.e. non-cherry) beverage is consumed . Muscle damage may be protected by cherry juice consumption; however, all studies evaluating the protective effect of cherries have assessed muscle damage by measuring muscle proteins in the blood. This rather indirect measure of muscle damage is highly variable and not always an accurate assessment of muscle damage; this may be why some studies indicate a reduction in markers of muscle damage with cherry juice consumption while others do not.