Hippocrates, or to some the “father of medicine,” accurately described gout as early as 400 BC. His counterpart Thomas Sydenham, or to some the “English Hippocrates,” later systemized gout as a disease homogenous with arthritis in the 17th century. History is full of bygone medical practitioners, but today doctors understand that gout, indeed, is a form of arthritis that can be controlled with
proper diet and exercise. The central inquiry gout sufferers have today is simple: Is there an effective natural remedy for gout?
In 2007, the National Institute of Health in the United States approximated that the number of people who suffer from gout at just over 2 million. More prevalent with men in their 40s and 50s, gout also affects a lower percentage of women, but rarely before menopause. Caused by the buildup of uric acid or hyperuricemia in the joints, gout (a.k.a. crystal arthritis) typically affects the big toe, but can affect any of the major joints, such as the ankle, knee, wrist, hand, elbow, or foot; however, gout is usually limited to one joint attack at a time and does not spread but agitates one locale at a time.
This proliferation of uric acid is caused when the body naturally breaks down wastes, also called purines. During normal function, uric acid dissolves in the blood and is filtered by the kidneys, then excreted through the urine. Gout sufferers, nevertheless, have such high levels of wastes that the uric acid crystallizes and deposits in joints and tissues. Joints, then, become inflamed, reddened, tender, often warm and remarkably painful. Over several years, these crystals can build up and form hard deposits called tophi, protruding later like lumps or appearing as protrusions under the skin.
One way in which people control the pain associated with the onset of gout is through medication, either prescribed or over-the-counter. However, some of these medications can have worse side effects than the gout itself. NSAID—or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs—simply, by name, combats the inflamed joint or tissue. These are only a temporary fix and cannot, in any way, lower the uric acid causing the gout. And, coupled with the severe side effects of stomach ulcers, pain, bleeding, and diarrhea, it may not be the cure-all drug you were expecting.
The two other common medications prescribed by doctors are either a corticosteroid or colchicines. The former helps relieve some minor pain and inflammation and is only a temporary remedy with such side effects as loss of bone density, loss of ability to battle common infections while destroying the body’s natural healing processes. The latter, on the other hand, is prescribed as the preeminent and formidable drug for gout. The side effects, nonetheless, are stomach cramping, nausea, diarrhea and occasional vomiting.
Unlike the days of Hippocrates and Sydenham, doctors now know alternatives to relieve and cure gout without taking medications. One of the most elemental reasons older individuals suffer gout is because of poor diet. In light of this, there must be an
effective natural remedy for gout. Though no natural remedy is magic, by enacting a proper diet plan, one can manage and prevent gout.
One of the most effective ways to naturally manage gout is to cut out foods high in purines and design an eating style to eliminate the needs for those aforementioned disagreeable medications. For example, cutting out some meat such as anchovies, brain, kidneys, mackerel, scallops, wild game meat, beef, liver and sweetbreads, while eating poultry, fish, oatmeal, wheat bran and wheat germ with temperance best controls problems of gout. Interestingly enough, a study in The New England Journal of Medicine (2004) suggests that peas, beans, cauliflower, spinach and mushrooms do not have any grounds in causing or exacerbating gout as previously suggested.
Since doctors now realize how diet aggravates gout, can diet effectively and naturally mitigate the pain and inflammation triggering gout? One of most effective natural remedies against the onset of gout according to a study by the Agricultural Research Services (ARS), are cherries. According to the study printed in Agricultural Research (2004) magazine, participants ate a fixed number of Bing cherries and then were given blood tests for plasma uric acid levels. In intervals of 1, 3, and 5 hours, doctors measured the uric acid levels in blood plasma and urine before and after cherry consumption. The results suggested that over the course of 5 hours, levels of uric acid were lower and eating cherries could therefore play an important role in aiding the body’s removal of uric acid waste.
The American Medical Association advocates eating a diet high in complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, while eating a low protein diet and, if possible, keeping ingestion of animal fats to less than 10% of your daily diet. This diet monitoring also encourages eating unrefined foods and eating natural foods such as strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, cabbage, parsley, celery, bananas, pineapple, tangerines, mandarins, oranges, potatoes, or even fruit juice and purified water. Poultry, soy, tofu, flaxseed, nuts and seeds have also been found to provide the body’s needed protein and are not associated with triggering or worsening gout.
Although a proper diet has proven to effectively and naturally manage and prevent gout, surprisingly enough, doctors and gout sufferers have recently advocated natural supplements. B Complex, for example, helps transform uric acid to nontoxic chemicals, while L-glutathione helps increase renal uric acid cleansing. Bromelain and Fish Oil, too, can help relieve chronic inflammation, and coupled with L-glycine and L-methionine acts as an antacid and thereby detoxifying the build up of purines. Moreover, various doses of Vitamin C lowers uric acid levels while Vitamin E supplements replenish the body’s natural depletion of the vitamin when restricted to a low purine diet. Shark cartilage capsules, furthermore, benefit the body’s natural joint recovery, lubing joints for easy range of motion. Such natural remedies should be taken with regards to personal diet, weight, lifestyle and gout progression.
Seeking out a diet plan with controlled use of supplements could help relieve drug dependency for problems associated with gout. The medicines available can only do so much to relieve gout pain, inflammation and progression. By adhering to a dietary lifestyle which incorporates these effective and natural steps, you’ll not only improve your health and rid yourself of drug dependency, but give your self a chance to live free of gout and all its discomforts.
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