Gout and cherries:
Treating gout naturally
If you are looking for information about gout and cherries, you must have heard or read somewhere that cherries can be useful in treating gout.
What exactly is the research connecting gout and cherries? Over the last 45+ years, there have been several small studies showing that cherries can relieve gout sypmtoms.
The first study, which took place in Texas in 1950, involved 12 individuals with gout. They consumed about a pound of cherries a day and their uric acid levels dropped and their gout symptoms subsided. Some of these patients also reportedly experienced increased movement in their gout-affected small joints after eating the cherries.
Is there any more recent research about gout and cherries? In 2003, researchers from the Agricultural Research Service in Davis, California explored the effect of fresh Bing cherries on urate levels. Plasma urate in blood is important because urate is a precursor to uric acid crystals, which cause gout attacks. Ten healthy women, aged 22 to 40, ate 45 fresh, pitted Bing cherries for breakfast. The volunteers were instructed to not eat other fruits for two days before their cherry breakfast so the antioxidants in any other fruits would not impact the study. Did you know cherries are near the top of the list in antioxidants?
After eating the bowl of Bing cherries, researchers measured the levels of plasma urate in the volunteer' blood. Plasma urate levels decreased significantly during the five hours after the volunteers consumed the cherries. At the same time, the levels of urate in the volunteers' urine increased, meaning more gout-inducing urate was being removed from the body.
The USDA's Agricultural Research Service website describing the study says: "These urate results strongly suggest that cherries can play an important role in fighting gout."
One inexpensive cherry extract supplement is helping individuals stop their gout attacks. Check out the product reviews to see how two cherry pills a day have eliminated gout attacks!
One last note on cherries and gout. Renowned natural health expert and author Dr. Andrew Weil recommends that gout sufferers "eat tart cherries in all forms-- fresh, or as cherry juice or in the form of tart cherry extract." He quotes the findings of a University of Michigan study that discovered eating 20 tart cherries or the equivalent has a similar effect as ingesting anti-inflammatory drugs. These Michigan researchers speculated that eating tart cherries on a daily basis can relieve pain related to gout and arthritis.
You may also be interested to know that cherries are one of the top 10 fruits for preventing cancer.
Traverse Bay Farms is a supplier of tart cherry juice, dried cherries and cherry supplements. Some of their cherry products are available for free shipping.
Now that you've read about the link between gout and cherries, take a minute to see 8 gout home remedies.
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The information on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace medical advice or diagnose or treat any health condition. The statements on this site have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
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