Treating Gout With Cherries
Cherries have been show to lower uric acid for gout sufferers naturally.
The first published study on treating gout with cherries was in 1950. The author was Dr. Ludwig W. Blau.
You see, the good doctor experienced a terrible gout attack and was confined to a wheelchair.
It was during this time, a friend told him the old wives tales of treating gout with cherries. Wanting to get rid of the gout flareups, Dr. Blau polished off a large bowl of fresh cherries and drank Concentrated Cherry Juice.
To his amazement, after a few days his gout pain was gone. He was so excited about his gout pain disappearing, he began to wonder if other people could treat gout with cherries, too.
Within a short time treating his gout with cherries, he put together a study involving 12 people with gout. Each individual ate one-half pound of cherries or drank the equivalent of cherry juice. Dr. Blau wanted to prove you can eat cherries to treat gout pain. The results of his study was published in Prevention Magazine. This simple study lead to a number of other studies on the cherries and gout.
In 2003, the Journal of Nutrition published the results of a study conducted by ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California. This was the first study to test the main inflammatory indicators in blood samples by seeing if gout can be treated with cherries.
The Davis research had healthy participants eat a bowl of 45 fresh cherries for breakfast (equivalent to drinking tart cherry juice). The 10 female volunteers ranged in age from 22 to 45. Each participant was asked not to eat any other fruit or vegetables for two day prior to the beginning of this tart cherry study. According to chemist, Darashan S. Kelley, “Our main focus for this study is gout” Darashan continued, "During gout attacks, crystals of a naturally occurring chemical, uric acid, accumulate in joints—commonly in the toes—and cause pain. Urate in blood plasma is a precursor of these uric acid crystals. So, we closely measured volunteers' levels of plasma urate.”
In addition, the research also measured how much uric acid was removed from the body during urination. To achieve this goal, the researchers measured blood plasma and urine sample before they ate the cherries and are intervals throughout the day. According the published study, the plasma urate levels in the body decreased significantly over the 5 hours after the cherry meal. This simply means cherries can play a major role in fighting gout pain and greatly reduce the risk of a gout attack.
The reduction of the urate levels, along with other indicators, show how cherry consumption attacks inflammation and helps to maintain a healthy immune system. Other markers monitored in this study included nitric acid and C-reactive protein.
The C-reactive protein is produced by the liver. This naturally increases during time of inflammation in the body, for example, during a gout attack. Another marker of inflammation is an increase in nitric acid. This biomarker is believed to have an affect on the joints and can damage joints.
According to the study, 3-hours after the eating the tart cherries, both the nitric oxide and C-reactive protein were significantly lower when compared to when amounts at the beginning of the study.
In a second study, the research center conducted another study on how people can treat gout with cherries. This second study on gout and cherries included 18 woman and 2 men with an age range between 22 and 40. Unlike the first cherry gout study that last only a few days, this study lasted 64-days.
This study is both longer in length, involve more participants and the volunteers where asked to eat cherries or drink cherry juice throughout the day. The results gave great results for those wanting to fight gout pain with cherries.
Check out just these great tasting cherry products made with Montmorency, Michigan cherries offered by Traverse Bay Farms:
- Tart cherry juice concentrate - Helps ease arthritis and gout pain
- Dried tart cherries
- Fresh, Michigan-grown tart cherries – Available during the summer cherry harvest.
- No-added sugar dried cherries
- Cherry concentrate
- Cherry capsules
- Tart cherry powder
- Maraschino cherries
- Traverse Bay Farms Home Page
Make sure to check out our website to see all of the Montmorency, Michigan cherry products we offer. Learn how to buy 100% pure tart cherry juice.
Learn more about Cherry Juice Health Benefits Ranked