Want to know How to Prevent Gout?: Cherries Are Handful to Reduce Gout Attacks. Patients suffering from gout who have consumed cherries for just 2 days reduce their risk of gout attacks by 35% compared to those who have not consumed cherries. These results published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology also suggest that the risk of gout attacks is even reduced by 75% when cherry intake is combined with allopurinol, a treatment that reduces excess uric acid in the blood. (We mostly recommend dealing with gout naturally).
Gout is both inflammatory rheumatism and metabolic disease. Although its name “sounds” like an “old” disease, its incidence is on the rise. Among the most common inflammatory rheumatic diseases (arthritis), gout can lead to the destruction of the joints – hands and fingers, elbow, knee, foot – and disability. Gout, today’s hyperuricemic, is a multi-risk patient: hypertension, heart attack, diabetes, kidney failure. The study indicates that 8.3 million adults in the United States suffer from gout. And while there are many treatment options available, any preventive approach, especially natural ones are highly recommended.
Previous studies suggest that cherry products have anti-inflammatory and reducing effects to Prevent Gout. However, no studies have yet evaluated whether and how the consumption of cherries can reduce the risk of gout attacks. Here, lead author Dr. Zhang Yuqing, Professor of Medicine at Boston University, and his colleagues recruited 633 patients with gout and followed them for one year. Participants were asked about the date of onset of gout, symptoms, medications, and risk factors, including the intake of cherry extract and cherries in the two days prior to the onset of a gout attack. (A serving of cherries is half a cup or 10 to 12 cherries). Among cherry consumers, 35% consumed fresh cherries, 2% consumed cherry extract and 5% consumed both fresh fruit and extract. 1,247 gout attacks were recorded during the one-year follow-up period, 92% localized at the base of the big toe.
Our results indicate that consumption of cherries or cherry extract reduces the risk of gout attacks by 35%, Dr. Zhang concludes. “The risk of a gout attack also decreases with increasing consumption up to 3 servings over 2 days”. The protective effect of cherry consumption persists after other risk factors have been taken into account. However, while these results are encouraging, the authors do not go so far as to advise abandoning drug treatment.
The Gout Punishment
A study showed that the anti-inflammatory power and antioxidant action of cherries helped reduce gout attacks by 35%.
Gout is a very painful form of inflammatory arthritis that is caused by an abnormally high amount of uric acid in the blood. Recent observations indicate that the consumption of cherries has a preventive effect against this disease.
As early as the 5th century B.C., the Greek physician Hippocrates observed that people who regularly ate copious and well-watered meals were often struck by severe pain in the joints, especially in the big toe.
Metabolic overload
This condition, known today as gout, was long considered a “kings’ disease” because the abundance of food that favored its onset was a privilege reserved exclusively for the upper social classes.
This link between food and gout is due to the presence of purines, a group of molecules present in several commonly consumed foods (red meat and seafood, in particular) as well as in several alcoholic beverages (beer, whiskey, rum, and gin). During digestion, these molecules are broken down into uric acid, a poorly soluble metabolic waste product that is normally eliminated by the kidneys; when the amount of purines is too high, the excess uric acid in the blood forms crystals that are deposited in the joints, causing an inflammatory reaction and the development of severe pain.
Gout increasing incidence
Gout incidence has increased significantly in recent years in several regions of the world. For example, a recent study in New Zealand indicates that in just 10 years (1999-2009), hospital admissions for gout complications increased by 90% and a significant proportion of these patients had diabetes, hypertension, or kidney failure that could have serious health consequences.
It is suspected that major changes in the population’s eating habits during this period, as well as increases in overweight and obesity, both play an important role in this incidence increase. The high consumption of sugar (sucrose-fructose), for example in the form of soft drinks, is certainly to blame, as the metabolism of fructose leads to the production of uric acid. The excess calories associated with a high intake of sugary foods, on the other hand, promote overweight and makes the body less sensitive to insulin action. This insulin resistance interferes with the kidneys’ excretion of uric acid, thereby increasing blood levels and the risk of gout. Gout is therefore not only a disease associated with purine-rich foods and alcohol abuse but also a consequence of metabolic imbalances associated with excess sugar and calories.
Cherries against gout
Cherries are one of the fruits that contain the highest amounts of anthocyanins, molecules with a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action. Researchers have examined the correlation between cherry consumption and the frequency of gout attacks affecting 633 people with the disease. They found that people who had eaten cherries two days before the period when they were most likely to have a gout attack were 35% less likely to have an attack than those who did not eat cherries. When combined with allopurinol, a drug commonly used to reduce uric acid levels, the protective effect of cherries even reaches 75%! (we recommend favoring natural gout prevention measures unless it is necessary to deal with drugs).
If for any reason you have faced a sudden gout attack, we recommend Dr. Elix gout pain relief expert lotion to get fast gout pain relief and remove uric acid crystals joint deposit so as to gain enough time to deal with gout internally and so to control the frequency of gout attacks.
Gout is, therefore, another example of a disease whose development is strongly influenced by our lifestyle habits. Maintaining a healthy body weight, avoiding excessive sugar consumption as much as possible, and eating a diet rich in plants, including cherries, is a good way to avoid the torment imposed by this disease.
You May Also Like to know about : Milk and Gout
Leave a comment