3 Ways Cherries Provide Gout Pain Relief
Waking up in the middle of the night with an acute gout attack can be one of the most frustrating and irritating experiences a person can have. Gout is an agonizingly painful disease, and the people who have it try their best to find ways to get rid of it quickly. While there is no real quick solution to this problem, there are things you can do to help your situation. Take cherries, for example. Here are three benefits of using cherries to help prevent and get rid of this arthritic condition.
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.