5 Affordable and Proven Home Remedies For Gout

Because of the pain that you experience from gout, you would want to know if there is anything that could help manage or relieve the pain brought about by gout. Some of these home remedies for gout could just be lying around in your kitchen cabinet or could be in your backyard for years. Let us check and learn.

1) Water 

Water is considered to be the most affordable and a widely available remedy for gout. When excess uric acid is not flushed from the body, it will be accumulated in the joints which would form uric acid crystals and eventually would start the inflammation and pain.  Water flushes the excess uric acid and prevents it from building up in the joints or other organs in the body. An intake of at least 8-10 glasses a day would be good to keep yourself hydrated.

2) High fiber food

A high fiber diet is good to have when you have gout as it also helps broom out or flush out the uric acid out of your body.  Fruits and vegetables are fiber rich foods that are also good sources of antioxidants as well as Vitamin C which will help boost your immune system for your overall wellness.

Fruits like cherries and berries are considered to be an effective remedy for gout. It lowers the level of uric acid in the blood. They have a compound called Anthocyanin which may possess analgesic properties and anti-in?ammatory effect that could help relieve gout.

3) Potassium supplements

Potassium supplements are good for gout, but should be taken moderately and monitored medically to avoid heart problems. Potassium is a good urine alkalizer which aids in the flushing of excess uric acid in the kidney out of the body. Good sources of potassium in people with gout are bananas and potatoes, especially sweet potatoes.

4) Add baking soda on your fluids

Baking soda is a well-known alkalizing agent. Mixing ½ teaspoon of baking soda in 8oz of water will help lower uric acid level and reduce the pain caused by gout. The baking soda mixture is taken four times a day. But take note that baking soda can raise blood pressure.  You might want to refer to your doctor before starting this home remedy. 

5) Low impact exercise

 

Low impact exercises should be done by people with gout. They are easy and wouldn’t strain the joints that can add up to the sometimes-unbearable pain. Tai chi, yoga and a bit of brisk walking can be helpful. These exercises would not just reduce and maintain an ideal body weight but they also promote blood and oxygen circulation and keep a healthy immune system. 

There might be other home remedies for gout that are not mentioned here, but these are so far the most common, effective and proven. Moreover, they are readily available, doable and affordable. All you have to do is learn and practice living that much needed lifestyle. And if it’s not too much of a burden, try to change some of your old habits. Some of them may actually be causing your unwanted chronic pain.

3 Groups Of Foods To Avoid With Gout

There are foods to avoid with gout and there are foods that are good for those who suffer gout. If you’re one of those who are in constant search on what food to avoid gout attacks, then pay particular attention to these 3 key food elements that are commonly seen in one’s dining table.

1. Meats that are rich in purine

          

Purines are substances found naturally in almost every cell of a body. Foods high in protein such as kidney, yeast, sardines are also high in purines. But why should you limit foods that are high in purine?  

When cells get recycled, it breaks down the purine along with it. And when purines are entirely broken down, uric acid is formed. Though uric acids are good for our body as they are good antioxidants, high levels of such could be detrimental. When your kidney could hardly keep up in getting rid of them, it could eventually result to gathering of uric acid in different parts of the body. That’s when the problems occur. Too much cell breakdown can also lead to building up of uric acid. When uric acid starts to build up, uric acid crystals would start to form which can directly hit the joints, kidneys, and other organs. The build-up is simply referred to as “gout”. In some cases, inflammation of joints such as the big toe, fingers, elbows and the like can be experienced. That’s primarily the reason why you should limit the intake of foods high in purine.

Meats rich in purine that need to be avoided are:  Lobster, Shellfish, Crab, Oysters, Tuna, Codfish, Carp, Ham, Bacon, Beef, Chicken, Duck, Goose, Lamb, Turkey and animal internal organs (brain, intestines, kidney, liver, and the lungs). 

2. Alcoholic beverages

There are a couple of reasons why alcohol consumption can lead to gout.

1) Alcohol is rich in purine. Beer approximately contains 100mg uric acid/100g and less.

2) Alcohol slows down the removal of excess uric acid from the body which could build up and form uric acid crystals in the joints or in the kidney.

3. Foods with high fructose

Fructose or fruit sugar found in many plants is a simple form of sugar that cannot be further broken down to simpler sugar through hydrolysis. It goes through the bloodstream directly during digestion.

In a research made from observing more than 50,000 health specialists, there was an increase of chances of having gout from an increase consumption of fructose in their diet. It was observed that two cans of sodas a day have almost doubled the risk of gout, just like two glasses or cups of fruit juice. Fructose most probably gives people a greater risk of having gout than that of alcohol.

There may be a degree of difficulty in avoiding or minimizing the consumption of the diet you are used to having, but following what is advised especially on your diet will be of great help in combating the condition called gout. Complications brought about by gout are something you wouldn’t want to have. Since the beverages and foods to avoid are accessible by men (and women) with gout online or offline, the best thing one with gout can do to reduce the chances of its recurrence and gout’s further complications is to avoid or take them very moderately.

Which fruit is a must in any gout sufferer’s diet

How cherries have proven to lower uric acid for gout sufferers

I love cherries, it is one of my favorite fruits, I can have an entire bowl of them and I usually have to control my portions cause sometimes I can’t seem to stop and not because I have gout; but for my passionate desire and deep love of cherries! Thank God they are actually good for us gout sufferers! So what is so special about this fruit? Cherry nutritional facts and health benefits point to the fact that the cherry is very high in vitamins both C and A. All cherries contain Vitamin C and fiber. Studies show that consistent intake of Vitamin C can help reduce uric acid levels by up to 50 percent, and control inflammation of gout-ravaged joints, which is a primary cause of severe gout pain. The cherry is also a very low calorie fruit, only 63 calories for 100g, pigment rich food that have powerful anti-oxidant properties and anti-inflammatory agents helping reduce heart disease risk. In addition, cherries help the human body to fight against cancers, aging, jet lag and neurological diseases and can even calm down the nervous system which helps relieve neurosis, insomnia, headache conditions even depression. Furthermore, they don’t only help us gout sufferers but can help people with fibromyalgia, a painful muscle condition and sports injuries.

What is the correlation between cherries and gout?

Now to the evidence that it helps us gout sufferers, the first study on cherries for gout appeared in medical literature in 1950 (Texas Reports on Biology and Medicine). A study published in 2003 in the Journal of Nutrition found that among 10 healthy women eating two servings of Bing cherries, uric acid fell by 15%.  A Journal of Nutrition study from 2006 found that 18 healthy adults who ate 280 grams of Bing cherries each day for a month had a significant reduction in blood levels of substances associated with inflammation and immune cell activity. A Journal Arthritis & Rheumatism study of 633 patients with confirmed gout and followed for 1 year, found that patients with gout who consumed cherries (1/2 cup serving or the equivalent of 10-12 cherries) or cherry based extract for 2 days were less likely of a subsequent gout attack by 35%. Those patients who ate more cherries, up to three servings in two days, had an even lower, 50 percent reduction in risk. Even more, the risk for gout attacks was decreased by nearly 75% when cherry intake was combined with allopurinol use.

How does a gout sufferer consume cherries?

Eating cherries in their many forms and varieties, like canned, frozen, raw, cooked, tart, pill, sweet and black are thought of been beneficial to treat gout. Consuming dried cherries, fresh or juiced are all good. Eating about 25 cherries are ten times stronger than aspirin and other ordinary pain-relievers. But if you get a gout attack or flare up, how many cherries should you eat? Some suggest that 30 to 40 every 4 hours is advisable during a gout attack and the same amount daily for prevention reasons; or simply eat minimum a cup of fresh or dried cherries after each meal, which is very effective for the pain treatment. About 20 cherries equal 25 milligrams of anthocyanins, the daily dose that should be taken, either in juice or eating the fruit for preventative measures. You can even drink a cup of cherry juice, black cherry juice or tart cherry juice twice a day or 2 tablespoons of concentrated cherry powder with one cup of water. You can easily find cherry juice in your local health food store or online. It might seem strange that cherries would lower your risk of gout, as this condition is often associated with sugar, fructose and fruit juice consumption. But you only need to eat a small amount of cherries to get the benefit, meaning the sugar contribution is small. 10 sweet cherries or 1 cup of sour cherries contain about 4 grams of fructose, 25 cherries would put you at 10 grams of fructose. Berries, apples, pineapple, oranges, bananas and grapes have way more sugar per 100g than cherries. You would need to eat more than 60 cherries to put you over the limit where the fructose of the cherry might start affecting you negatively and produce higher uric acid levels. I think eating 12 to 25 cherries daily is ideal. Limiting fructose/sugar in your diet is one of the most important parts of managing and preventing gout attacks. If you have gout, it’s imperative to restrict your fructose/sugar intake to below 25 grams a day, including from fruit, as fructose/sugar drives up uric acid levels in your body. Remember treatments vary according to different people; you should adjust the dose accordingly. For example, regular cherry concentrate is very sweet and thick. One tablespoon equals to about 45 to 60 cherries. On a side note, whenever looking for cherry-based products it would be better if made of tart cherries, because they are the ones more effective among all other cherries to fight arthritis, working better in the prevention and treatment of this painful condition, by reducing the levels of uric acid and breaking up the crystals that are responsible for the joint pain. Generally, tart cherries have been found to have higher concentrations of phenolics and anthocyanins than sweet cherries. Tart cherries are also slightly lower in sugar.

There you have it folks, make sure to add the cherry in your daily diet in whatever form and/or method you prefer, it is a must for the gout sufferer. Until next time!