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Gout home remedies:
8 effective strategies
This page covers eight gout home remedies that you can use to stop or lessen gout attacks. (Click here for basic information on the disease.)
I know how painful gout can be, my mother ended up in the hospital last year with a swollen, hot and extremely sore wrist. The redness travelled from her wrist up her arm. The doctors initially thought she had an infection but antibiotics did nothing. After 3 days, they withdrew fluid from the joint, tested it for gout and the test came back positive. My mother told me this gout attack was the worst pain she'd felt in her 68 years.
I originally researched gout home remedies for her but I hope they can be helpful for others suffering from this condition.
Gout Home Remedies: Stop drinking
sugar-sweetened soda drinks
In February 2008, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published findings from a study that involved more than 46,000 men aged 40-75 years with no history of gout. They were periodically given food consumption and health questionnaires and were followed for 12 years. During that time, 755 men developed gout.
Men who drank five or six servings of sugar-sweetened soft drinks a week had a 29 percent greater chance of developing gout compared to men who drank less than one serving of sugared soda a month. Men who consumed one serving a day had a 45 percent higher chance of coming down with gout and men who consumed two of these drinks a day had an 85 percent higher risk for gout. There was no connection between drinking diet soft drinks and gout.
Based on these findings, some experts are recommending stopping the consumption of sugar-sweetened soda, fruit juices with fructose and limiting intake of foods and beverages with high-fructose corn syrup.
Gout Home Remedies: Increase intake of water
Drinking adequate amounts of water (at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day) can help the body flush out uric acid from the system. Gout occurs when too much uric acid builds up in the body. The buildup of uric acid can lead to sharp uric acid crystal deposits in the joint fluid and joint lining, which causes the intense pain and can lead to joint damage. Water can also help lubricate joints and prevent stiffness.
What causes gout? Find a plain English answer by clicking here.
Limit how much seafood and red meat you eat
An article published in 2004 in the New England Journal of Medicine focused on findings from the study of 46,000+ men referenced above. The 2004 article reports that men who ate the most seafood (fish and shellfish) were 51 percent more likely to develop gout compared to men who ate the least seafood. For example, the study found that eating canned tuna more than once a week increased gout occurrence risk by 28 percent.
Meat was also linked to gout. Men who consumed the most beef, pork and lamb had a 41 percent higher incidence of gout than the men who ate these foods the least often.
To see a full list of foods to avoid if you have gout, click this link.
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Gout Home Remedies:
Avoid drinking alcohol, especially beer
According to the 2004 New England Journal article, the likelihood of developing gout rose 30 percent when one alcoholic drink a day was consumed, as compared to individuals who drank no alcohol at all. When two drinks a day were consumed, the risk increased to 50 percent and at three alcoholic drinks a day, the risk for gout jumped to 100 percent.
Not all types of alcohol impacted gout equally. Two glasses of wine a day did not increase the risk for gout compared to drinking no wine. Alcohol other than beer or wine increased the chance for developing gout by 15 percent per daily serving. Consuming beer increased the risk for gout by 49 percent for each daily serving.
Looking for tasty gout-friendly recipes? Click here.
Eat more low-fat dairy products
Men in the study who consumed the most low-fat dairy (defined as frequent intake of lowfat yogurt and skim milk) had a 42 percent lower rate of developing gout that the men who ate the least low-fat dairy. If you are going to reduce consumption of seafood and red meat to help prevent gout, you can make up for some of the protein in these meats through low-fat dairy products, which are usually rich in protein.
Gout Home Remedy:
Eat cherries
Women who ate a bowl of bing cherries for breakfast experienced lower levels of urate (the precursor to uric acid, which causes gout) in the five hours after they ate the cherries, according to a 2003 study conducted in Davis, California.
Adding a cherry extract supplement to your daily routine may also be helpful. Individuals who have tried this inexpensive cherry supplement have reported their gout attacks have vanished; read the product reviews to see for yourself.
Click here to learn more about gout and cherries.
Gout Remedy: Eat foods that contain vitamin C
This is probably the most delicious of our gout home remedies. A study that was conducted from 1986 to 2006 and was published in the March 2009 Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that vitamin C prevents gout by reducing levels of uric acid in the blood. This research project involved 46,994 men who completed questionnaires on their daily dietary habits.
Results indicated that men who consumed 1,500 milligrams or more of vitamin C had a 45 percent lower risk of developing gout compared to those who ingested less than 250 milligrams daily. The men obtained vitamin C through diet and/or supplements.
Top foods for vitamin C are:
Papaya, bell peppers (yellow, red and green), broccoli, Brussel sprouts, strawberries, oranges, cantaloupe, kiwifruit, cauliflower (boiled), kale (boiled), grapefruit, tomatoes and raspberries.
Gout Home Remedies: Exercise regularly, lose weight if necessary
Experts recommend maintaining a healthy body weight for treating gout. The 12-year study of 46,000 men found that a man with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more was almost three times more likely to develop gout than a man with a BMI of 21. Obesity is also tied to gout in women. At the 2005 American College of Rheumatology meeting, doctors heard about a study of 10,000 women who were followed for 24 years. Women who were overweight (BMI of 25.0 to 29.9) were three times more likely to develop gout than thinner women. Obese women (BMI of 30 to 34.9) had a six times greater risk for gout and women with a BMI of 35 or more were 10 times more likely to have gout than women at a healthy weight. Want to know what your BMI is?
Click here to get more information about BMI Index and to access a BMI calculator.
Exercising is key to weight loss, and it also keeps the joints lubricated and helps prevent stiffness. For people with gout, crash dieting is not recommended because it can trigger a gout attack. Slow, steady weight loss is recommended.
High blood pressure was also linked to gout in the study of 46,000 men. Individuals with high blood pressure had a 231 percent higher risk for developing gout. Exercise can be useful in lowering blood pressure. All in all, exercise and weight loss seems a prudent gout home remedy.
If one of the gout home remedies you'll be pursuing is losing weight, see these tips on weight loss from a huge Consumer Reports survey.
Return to www.foods-that-heal.com home page.
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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