How to Treat Gout Naturally Through Diet

How to Treat Gout Naturally Through Diet

Gout is a painful, hereditary form of arthritis that appears to be caused by faulty metabolism of purines, substances found in high-protein foods. Purine metabolism produces uric acid, which is normally excreted in the urine, but with gout, it is kept in the blood, where it forms crystals that are deposited in the joints and cartilage. Seventy percent of the time, the joint that suffers is that of the big toe. This becomes swollen, inflamed and too painful to walk on. After a few days or weeks, the symptoms subside, but they come back, and as the disease progresses, the attacks come more frequently and last longer. Gout can be treated medically, and sufferers are told to avoid high-purine foods such as organ meats, sardines, and gravies. But adding something to your diet — cherries — might help clear up gout for good.

Over 30 years ago, Ludwig Blau cured his gout by eating six to eight cherries each day (Texas Reports on Biology and Medicine). He didn't get the idea from a herbalist, though. Looking for something to eat one evening, he snacked on a bowl of cherries. The next day, the pain in his gouty big toe — pain so intense he used a wheelchair — was gone. And it never came back as long as he ate cherries, but if he stopped even for a few days, gout returned. In his article, Dr. Blau mentioned 12 other people who cured their gout by either eating cherries or drinking cherry juice.

Since Dr. Blau's story was first printed in the early 1950s, many readers have written to the US magazine Prevention to say that they have successfully treated their gout with cherries. A man who had suffered from gout for 15 years got almost total relief by eating cherries every day. A woman whose gouty, swollen knee ached and throbbed for two years cured herself in a week by eating cherries. Canned, frozen or fresh do the trick, readers say. And it doesn't matter whether the cherries are the sweet or sour variety.