Drug & supplement interaction

Sweet Cherry + Tofacitinib

Tofacitinib brand names: Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Tofacitinib and Sweet Cherry in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

Worth understanding: our licensed dataset holds no drug-interaction record for Sweet Cherry at all — not against Tofacitinib, and not against any other medication we track. This verdict therefore rests on the absence of any recorded data, not on research that looked at this combination and found nothing. We cannot rule an interaction out.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Sweet Cherry safety at a glance

Sweet Cherry overall Generally safe Sweet cherry is widely eaten as food and is generally well tolerated for most people.
Pregnancy Likely Safe When the fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of sweet cherry when used i... Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When the fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of sweet cherry when used i... Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Tofacitinib and Sweet Cherry? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib May Share a Side Effect

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • An allergic reaction Worth acting on Additional detail

    Sweet Cherry

    “Orally, sweet cherry can cause allergic reactions in sensitive patients. These reactions can range from mucosal irritation to urticaria, angioedema, dyspnea, cough, and gastrointestinal symptoms.”

    Sweet Cherry · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cough.

    1 source cited
    1. 14057. Ballmer-Weber BK, Scheurer S, Fritsche P, et al. Component-resolved diagnosis with recombinant allergens in patients with cherry allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002;110:167-73. PubMed

    Tofacitinib

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Tofacitinib. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Reported for Sweet Cherry but not commonly for Tofacitinib: a severe allergic reaction, hives, shortness of breath and cough.

Effects for Tofacitinib come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Sweet Cherry come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 185,980 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Tofacitinib that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Special populations

Sweet Cherry in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Safe

When the fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of sweet cherry when used in medicinal amounts during pregnancy or lactation.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Tofacitinib

This page covers Sweet Cherry only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Tofacitinib page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Grapefruit (major), St. John's Wort (major), Acacia Rigidula (moderate) and Active Hexose Correlated Compound (ahcc) (moderate).

By severity: 3 major · 143 moderate · 38 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Tofacitinib page

“Supplements deserve genuine care alongside tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), a medicine that deliberately dials down the immune system to control conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Most of the interactions on this page run through the liver enzymes that clear the drug, meaning an herb can push its blood level…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Tofacitinib interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Sweet Cherry as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 493 real supplement products containing Sweet Cherry, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Sweet Cherry. Even though Sweet Cherry itself has no known interaction with Tofacitinib, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Sweet Cherry
Top half

#578 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Tofacitinib
Top half

#1,277 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Sweet Cherry reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Supplement

About Sweet Cherry

What is Sweet Cherry?

  • Joint pain and gout
  • Exercise recovery and muscle soreness
  • Sleep support
  • General antioxidant support
  • Inflammation

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) is a popular fruit rich in antioxidants and natural plant pigments, and it is sometimes used as a supplement for gout, sore muscles, and sleep. The research that exists is mostly small or uses tart cherry rather than sweet cherry, so benefits are not well proven. Eaten as food, cherries are very safe, but talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using concentrated supplements.

Prunus avium · Rosaceae · Fruit (and fruit juice or extract); stems are used traditionally · Fresh or dried fruit, juice, juice concentrate, capsules, powders, and extracts

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Sweet Cherry is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Sweet Cherry record says about it on its own.

Sweet Cherry: dosing

There is no official or standardized dose for sweet cherry as a supplement. Studies have used different forms and amounts, and most used tart cherry, so the right dose for sweet cherry is not established.If you use a cherry juice, concentrate, powder, or capsule, follow the directions on the product label. Do not assume more is better.

From our Sweet Cherry monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Sweet Cherry monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Tofacitinib

What Is Tofacitinib Used For?

Brand names: Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR

  • Tofacitinib is used alone or with other medications to treat rheumatoid arthritis (condition in which the body attacks its own joints causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in adults who are unable to take or did not respond to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor medication(s). It is also used to treat psoriatic arthritis (a condition that causes joint pain and swelling and scales on the skin) in adults who are unable to take or did not respond to or tolerate one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). Tofacitinib is used to treat ulcerative colitis (a condition which causes swelling and sores in the lining of the colon [large intestine] and rectum) in adults who are unable to take or who did not respond to one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). It is also used to treat polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA; a type of childhood arthritis that affects five or more joints during the first six months of the condition, causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in children 2 years and older who are unable to take or who did not respond to one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). Tofacitinib is in a class of medications called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. It works by decreasing the activity of the immune system.

See full Tofacitinib drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Sweet Cherry

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Sweet Cherry — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
0Moderate
0Minor
2,829No known interaction
No interaction 2,829 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Sweet Cherry References

The 3 references that drive our Sweet Cherry monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Serrano M, Guillen F, Martinez-Romero D, et al. Chemical constiuents and antioxidant activity of sweet cherry at different ripening stages. J Agric Food Chem 2005;53:2741-5.
  2. Ballmer-Weber BK, Scheurer S, Fritsche P, et al. Component-resolved diagnosis with recombinant allergens in patients with cherry allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002;110:167-73. PubMed
  3. Goncalves B, Landbo AK, Knudsen D, et al. Effect of ripeness and postharvest storage on the phenolic profiles of Cherries (Prunus avium L.). J Agric Food Chem 2004;52:523-30.

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Sweet Cherry with Tofacitinib?
We do not list a known interaction between Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Do Sweet Cherry and Tofacitinib have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to one of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
Does Tofacitinib interact with any supplements?
Yes. Tofacitinib has documented interactions with 184 supplements in our database — Sweet Cherry is not one of them. The Tofacitinib interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Tofacitinib and Sweet Cherry?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.