 Delayed-onset muscle soreness is the discomfort that starts the day after a particularly grueling workout. Micro tears in the muscle lead to inflammation, and so the leading pharmaceutical intervention is over-the-counter NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, provided people are offered a reasonable guidance on the dangers of their use. The use of NSAIDs is associated with serious upper and lower gastrointestinal side effects including upset stomach, stomach ulcers, stomach and intestinal bleeding, and perforation. Of all the NSAIDs, ibuprofen is probably safest, significantly safer than naproxen. Still, there may be about a 100 chance we'll end up at our doctors with some problem, and up to about 1 in 500 chance we could end up in the hospital because of taking simple over-the-counter ibuprofen. And that's mostly for the stomach. NSAID drugs also can damage the small intestine. Within hours of taking ibuprofen, it can make our gut leaky, and within days inflame our bowels. Up until the mid-80s, we thought the small intestine was relatively unaffected by these drugs, but now we know they may disrupt our intestinal barrier function. There's got to be a better way to deal with muscle soreness. Previously, I reviewed the role cherries may play in reducing muscle soreness, thought to be because of anti-inflammatory flavonoid nutrients. Interestingly, while the absorption of these phytonutrients can help with exercise, exercise may help with the absorption of these phytonutrients. Here's the absorption of fruit phytonutrients and sedentary volunteers. Compare that to how much triathletes get from the same amount of fruit. If you look at each of the individual phytonutrients they looked at, they were all significantly better absorbed by the athletes. The thought is that elite training may modify the activity of the good bacteria in our gut, which then boosts my availability. But back to muscle soreness. Any other fruit that may help? Watermelon. Researchers in Spain had a group of men engage in intense physical activity after drinking two cups of fresh blended watermelon, or watermelon-free placebo drink. And the next day, those that pre-loaded with watermelon were significantly less sore, around 1 on a scale of 1 to 5 compared to closer to 2 after placebo. They conclude that functional compounds in fruits and vegetables can play a key role in the design of new natural products by the food industry instead of synthetic compounds from the pharmaceutical industry. But why design new natural products when nature already designed the products we need?