Treating Gout With Cherries — Experiments on Battling Gout

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!

Posted by Spiro Koulouris

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