Cherries were first officially mentioned as being capable of treating gout by a scientist in the 1950s.  Since then numerous studies have been performed to see whether these claims held any merit.  Most the recent ones in the past decade appear to confirm some of these claims.  But cherries and gout pain relief have been thought to work by regular people for centuries.  One of the main questions people ask nowadays is which cherries are the best?

This is at best a subjective question as well as who are the best suppliers.  I live in Northern Michigan which many believe to be the cherry capital of the world.  At least in the United State only California can even begin to argue with this claim.  I also happen to have been a gout patient for twenty years and have witnessed the miracle that comes from using cherries as one of my main gout treatments.  Here are the suppliers I am familiar with and those that I’ve used their cherry products personally.

1. Brownwood Acre Farms®.  This cherry producing company is located in Atwood, Michigan approximately thirty five miles from where I live.  They have been in business since 1945 and are family owned.  They sell Montmorency tart cherries and you can purchase their products in several different ways.  You can purchase cherry capsules, cherry juice or cherry juice concentrate.  If you live nearby you can buy fresh cherries in the familiar cherry fruit stands in Norther Michigan when they are in season.  I highly recommend them.  They have their own website.

2. Michelle’s Miracle®.  Michelle’s Miracle is the first cherry juice concentrate I ever used.  It also is a Montmorency tart cherry juice.  It was unique in that you could actually pour the amount of concentrate you needed into a separate section of the bottle so you knew exactly how concentrate you were getting.  You could do this without opening the bottle.  This company was originally Leland Cherry Company® in 2001 and is located in Leland, Michigan just northwest of Traverse City on the Leelanau Peninsula.  Excellent product!  They also have their own website.

3.  Friske Orchards® is who I use now.  Not that the other products don’t work.  They do!  I really do not find any lack of quality between any of them.  It is simply a matter of convenience.  Friske Orchards® cherry juice concentrate is another Montmorency tart cherry juice and the local grocery store where I shop on a regular basis carries it right by the door.  Doesn’t get much easier than that! Friske Orchards is family run and is much more than a cherry farm.  They also specialize in other fruits.

One thing of note regarding these products.  If you buy cherry juice make sure you get it in concentrate form.  When I go to the store I have to pay attention to that because they are in the same package, but the price is much higher for the concentrate.  That is okay as the regular juice lasts a couple days while the concentrate lasts a month and overall is much more economical than the regular cherry juice.

All three of these cherry companies have their own website and have high quality cherry products.

One of the ways cherries provide relief is vitamin C.  There is more to vitamin C than helping our immune system.  Vitamin C is also vital in preventing gout.  In England, they performed a study which showed when patients who had chronic gout took 500 milligrams of vitamin C daily their uric acid levels went down by almost half.  This is an astonishing figure which supports using this vitamin as an integral part of your treatment plan.  According to the study, it took 6-8 weeks to achieve these numbers.

Another way cherries provide relief is potassium.  Potassium is crucial for treating this condition when your uric acid levels start to get out of control.  Potassium helps keep uric acid levels under control by helping the body process the acid.  It does this by turning the uric acid into a liquid form making it easier for the kidneys to excrete the acid.  Without proper levels of potassium, the extra acid will crystallize and cause a gout attack.

Cherries also contain gout fighting properties called anthocyanins.  There are a couple ways anthocyanins help treat this disease.  One study showed that anthocyanins were beneficial in blocking nerve pain receptors.  This is definitely useful during a flare up.  A second benefit is the antioxidant factor.  Antioxidants are thought to assist in repairing damage from free radicals that can destroy your joints.  The darker the variety of cherries you choose, the higher the level of antioxidants you will consume.

Vitamin C, potassium, and anthocyanins are very important properties that make cherries essential in helping you get the pain relief you need by either reducing the severity of a gout attack or by helping reduce the number of gout attacks you receive. Cherries and gout pain relief go hand in hand.