Home Recipes For Gout Relief

Gout Home Recipes

One of the main treatments for gout is making a few healthy dietary changes. Changing the way that you eat can be tough, but with home recipes for gout relief you can fit in the foods that you need to control gout. Adding in fresh fruits and vegetables nature’s own anti-inflammatories, while lowering your intake of foods that raise uric acid can help reduce your symptoms quickly.

The symptoms of gout are caused by excess uric acid in the blood. This is a by-product of purines in the diet. Normally, you flush uric acid out through your kidneys. In gout, excess uric acid turns into sharp, painful crystals that lodge into the joints. This causes symptoms like; swelling, severe pain, redness and heat in one or more joints. Gout can come on suddenly and be very disabling during an acute flare.

When you are diagnosed with gout, one of the first things your doctor will explain is that you will need to lower your intake of purine foods. These include; red meat, sardines, beer, and organ meats. Also increase your daily intake of water from 8 to 12 glasses of water each day. This can help flush out uric acid from your body. Below are some home recipes for gout relief:

Home Recipes For Gout Relief

4 Carrots, 1 ounce Strawberries (fresh), 1 slice Pineapple, 1 Lime, 1 Mango, 1 small Cucumber. Cut up and place in juicer or smoothie maker and drink twice daily. This can help lower inflammation and swelling and prevent future gout attacks.
1 ounce Cranberries, 1 Qt Cold Water. Boil together for 3 minutes. Pour through a strainer. Drink 3 glasses a day to help flush uric acid from your body.
Tomato Juice. Drink 3 glasses a day to help flush out uric acid.
Baking Soda and water. Mix just enough water into baking soda to make a paste. Rub onto affected joints. Baking soda is a natural anti-inflammatory.
3 drops Rosemary Oil, 1 tbsp. Soy Oil. Mix together and rub onto affected areas to help relieve pain naturally.
1 tbsp. Vinegar, 1 tbsp. Wheat Bran, 2 Garlic Cloves (crushed). Mix together into a poultice and apply to swollen joint(s).
Oil of Elder. Use full strength on a cotton ball or pad and lay on affected area.
Bananas, Parsley, Cherries, Watermelon and Citrus Fruits. Include generous amounts of these in your diet each week. They can help the body get rid of the excess uric acid in the blood. Vitamin C rich foods can break down uric acid. Bananas have potassium, folic acid, and vitamin C to help reduce gout symptoms. Parsley is a low purine garnish that has vitamin C and folic acid. Watermelon is a great anti-oxidant and cleans the blood.

Helpful Tips for Gout

In addition to the home recipes for gout relief above, use the following tips to help reduce your discomfort:

Try to stay off your feet during an acute gout flare. Pressure to the affected joints increases inflammation and pain. Elevate painful swollen joints on pillows.
Use a wrap. Compression and immobilization can help keep your painful joints stable.
Avoid ice or heat. Heat increases blood flow to the area and can make swelling worse. Ice can cause more irritation to the affected area.
Wear properly fitting shoes. If you have an inflamed toe or ankles, shoes that are too tight will increase irritation and discomfort. You can add special insole pads to help cushion and decrease friction.

Gout E-medicine

Gout and Emedicine

Emedicine sites are a great source of information for medical questions. Gout sufferers often have trouble finding good information on gout that can be trusted. Family and friends may be hesitant to talk about gout, or no very little about it. You may want to talk to your doctor, but they often seem rushed. Gout emedicine is one way you can learn all you need to know about gout. There are many websites that outline what gout is, the symptoms, treatments and prevention.

When you find a gout emedicine site where the information is highly researched and supported by doctors, scientists, and pharmacy experts, then you know that you have found a good source of information. When you see reviews about gout studies and new treatments, that is an even better sign! Best of all, most of these sites are free of charge and there is no obligation to read and learn what you need to know. This helps you find current information that can help you find the best treatment for your gout attacks.

Educating yourself with gout emedicine prior to consulting with a doctor will help you know which questions to ask your doctor once you arrive at the office. You will also understand the available gout treatments, the side-effects, and what they do.

This way, when your doctor explains your options, you will be better able to decide on which one works best for you. Gout emedicine sites also help you learn about all the safe, effective and all-natural treatments, there are available.

Emedicine sites are also backed by research, doctors, pharmacy professionals, and consumers who have had positive experiences with them. They can also give you diet and lifestyle tips to help you increase your healing. Many have Q and A sections where you can ask common questions about gout treatments actually answered by doctors and pharmacy experts.

Some have boards where you can meet other gout sufferers. They can help you understand which gout treatments worked for them and which ones did not work so well. While everyone is not the same, it does help to get some input from others.

Keep in mind that not all gout emedicine sites are reputable. They may only have their own best interest in mind. Some message boards may only be hosted by fellow gout sufferers with little medical education. They may mean well, but information may not always be accurate. Make sure you look for a doctor’s endorsement for the best websites.

If you think you have symptoms of gout, always consult your doctor for diagnosis and to discuss treatment. Using gout emedicine can help you understand the disease and maybe encourage you to get help. This way you can recover faster and enjoy your life again!

Foods To Prevent Gout

Types of Foods that Prevent Gout

Of the many home remedies for gout, one of the easiest is changing your diet. Since gout is a type of arthritis caused by excess uric acid levels in the blood, eating foods lower in purines can help lower uric acid levels naturally. There are also many good foods to prevent gout that may be right in your very own kitchen already!

Cherries

Cherries have long been one of the best natural home remedies for gout. They contain a natural anti-inflammatory, anthocyanin’s that help reduce inflammation levels and pain. Eat at least ½ pound of cherries daily or try drinking cherry juice. They can help any type of arthritis including gout and help you get back on your feet faster.

Vegetables

Eating fresh raw vegetables and drinking vegetable juices can help relieve gout symptoms. Try making a juice out of beetroot, carrots, and cucumbers to increase healing from gout flares. Use 100 ml of beetroot juice, 300 ml carrot juice, and 100 ml cucumber juice every day. Use a variety of colors on your plate when choosing vegetables to get the most anti-oxidants.

French Bean Juice

French bean juice has been found to have gout relief in many people. You can drink a glass every day to help reduce gout pain.

Apples

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” holds true with this one. Apples have the chemical malic acid that neutralizes uric acid and can reduce the pain and inflammation of gout flares. Better yet, finish off each meal with an apple to help relieve your pain.

Bananas

Many people who suffer from gout have tried the “banana diet.” This consists of eating only bananas for about 3 to 4 days. You can then eat a banana a day as a type of gout prevention. Bananas are also high in potassium and other vitamins to strengthen your body while healing from gout.

Lime, Orange, and Lemon

Eating fruits rich in vitamin C can help break down uric acid for the body in order to excrete it through the kidneys. Vitamin C can also help rebuild collagen in the joints. Oranges can be eaten or you can drink orange juice. For lemon and lime juices squeeze them into a glass of water to make them more tolerable and drink them twice daily.

Activated Charcoal

Make a paste with activated charcoal and place on the affected joints. Use about ½ cup activated charcoal with just enough water to make a paste. You can also place some in water and use as a foot soak.

Herbal Remedies

There are herbs that can help reduce inflammation in the body. These include devil’s claw, ginger root, and white willow bark. These can help relieve pain and inflammation, but you should consult with your physician and an herbal practitioner before using them.

Ginger

As listed above, ginger has remarkable anti-inflammatory properties and is one of the better home remedies for gout. Use it as a soak by putting 1/3 cup ground ginger in warm water and then soak your feet for 30 minutes. It can even pull uric acid out via the sweat glands. Make sure you wash off any ginger residue to prevent skin irritation.

Safflower

Safflower oil can help improve your blood flow, clean out your blood, and relieve gout pain. Use safflower oil capsules a little stronger than safflower cooking products. Check your natural or health foods section in the drug store.

Any of these gout home remedies are safe and effective to help relieve gout pain and inflammation naturally. Always check with your physician before choosing the best one for you.

Gout Medicines

There are numerous gout medicines on the market today and each has a specific role in managing gout symptoms. Because there are so many types, this article can help you understand what they do and possible side-effects. This way you can make an informed choice or even better understand ones you may already be using.

Gout medicines each serve a specific purpose for treating gout. From reducing inflammation to lowering uric acid levels, it is important to understand how they work. Here is a list of commonly used gout medicines and what they do:

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAIDS) Gout Medicines

The role of NSAIDS is to reduce the inflammation in the body. Anti-inflammatory medications stop certain proteins and enzymes in the body from causing them to react as inflammation or bleeding. One commonly used NSAID aspirin, is contraindicated in gout because it can actually raise uric acid levels. Examples of NSAIDS used for gout include; ibuprofen or naproxen.

It is important to check with your doctor before using an NSAID medication because there can be adverse effects with other diseases such as; heart, liver or kidney disease. They can cause bleeding ulcers, low iron counts and other bleeding issues.

Colchicine

Colchicine is often prescribed for gout to stop the inflammation caused by uric acid crystals. This gout medicine does not lower uric acid levels, but helps stop the body from becoming inflamed because they are there. Colchicine can reduce the severity and frequency of gout flares and can either be taken for short periods at a high dose or longer periods at low doses.

There are side-effects including; liver complications, bone marrow complications, nausea, diarrhea, and kidney problems.

Corticosteroid Medications

Corticosteroids are cautiously used to lower the inflammation in the body. They help in treatment for one single joint and are used as little as possible because of the large risk of side-effects. They are only considered as a gout medicine when other methods of treatment have failed such as; NSAIDS or colchicine.

When more than one joint is affected, it is usually given via intravenous route in the hospital.

They are given in the lowest dose and shortest time possible for relief because they affect the adrenal glands and the body’s normal steroid production. Side-effects include; weight gain, fluid gain, moodiness, bone loss, poor wound healing, increased infection, acne, cataracts, increased blood pressure, and glaucoma.

Corticosteroids cannot be given for a long period of time because they have serious side effects, such as osteoporosis, mood swings, fluid retention, weight gain, and increased risk of infection, difficulty in wound healing, glaucoma, acne, cataracts, and high blood pressure. These are all good reasons to avoid steroid gout medicines if at all possible.

Uricosuric Agents

Uricosuric agents are gout medicines for actual uric acid removal. They stimulate the kidneys to filter out uric acid from the bloodstream. They can help to prevent gout flares in the future. The side-effects include; stomach issues, headaches, rash, and kidney issues.

Allopurinol

Allopurinol is one of the gout medicines that can be used on a long-term basis. This medication helps stop the production of, xanthine oxidase. Xanthine oxidase increases uric acid in the blood, so allopurinol used over long periods of time can help to lower how much uric acid your body produces. This medication also has side-effects including: liver inflammation, rash, and problems with the bone marrow.

Discuss gout medicines with your doctor to see which one will be a good fit. You should let your doctor know about your health history, medications, and if you experience any side-effects from the medications for gout to prevent serious complications.

Gout Prevention

The Best Ways to Prevent Gout

Gout Prevention is one way to try and keep your body healthy and ward off gout attacks. It has been found that diet and lifestyle are major factors in the onset of this disease. If you are at risk, you can practice gout prevention right away to reduce your risk for this disabling and painful disease.

When we say gout prevention, it means that you can make necessary changes to lower your risk. When you suffer from gout, it is caused by increased uric acid levels in the body. Uric acid is a waste product of purines. Purines come from foods including: red meats, some seafood, organ meats, and beer. When uric acid levels get too high, they form crystals that deposit in the joints and the soft tissues around them. This causes your body to increase inflammation to try and fight off the disease resulting in severe pain.

If you are predisposed to getting gout with a lot of the risk factors, there is a very high chance that you will get this disease sometime in your life. If you make the necessary gout prevention type changes, you may be able to decrease your chances or lessen the severity of gout attacks. Researchers have put together a list of risk factors and found successful strategies for gout prevention to help you.

Risk Factors

Scientists have found the actual risk factors for developing gout. It is a known genetic condition, higher in males, higher in those with a family history and influenced by your lifestyle, diet, and environment. The risks increase with age and can affect some women after menopause. Here is a list of some of the risk factors you can greatly influence and reduce yourself:

Obesity/Overweight
Eating a diet high in purine foods
Alcohol consumption
High cholesterol levels
High blood pressure
Uncontrolled blood sugar in diabetes
Medications including; aspirin, niacin, vitamin, cyclosporine, cancer drugs and diuretics

Gout Prevention Tips

Restrict Purine Foods. Lower or cut out foods that are high in purines. These foods include; red meat, organ meat, sardines, herring, asparagus, seafood, and mushrooms. Limit your intake to a few servings weekly 6 ounces or less and substitute foods like; turkey, chicken, cod, tuna, and beans for proteins.

Increase Dairy. You can get needed protein and calcium from dairy foods such as: yogurt, cheese, skim milk, and cottage cheese. Try to eat 2 servings of dairy daily.

Choose Beverages Wisely. Drink lots of water with gout. Increase from 8 glasses a day to 10 to 12 glasses a day to help flush out uric acid and support your kidneys. Coffee is okay if your blood pressure is stable, but beer is a very high purine beverage and should be avoided. A 5 ounce glass of wine daily may be okay. And try to avoid any soft drinks that contain any high-fructose corn syrup, which puts you at risk for gout.

Take vitamin C. Take at least 500 mg of vitamin C each day to help reduce the risk of gout. Vitamin C helps to break down uric acid and flush it through the kidneys.

Lose Weight or Try Not To Gain. Losing weight can help take strain off your body and your joints. Try not to gain too much weight if you are stable to lower your risk of gout. If you are overweight, try to lose weight slowly and do not starve yourself of nutrients.

Keep Your Health In Check. If you suffer from chronic health issues, try to keep them in check. Keep your blood pressure in normal limits, keep your cholesterol in normal limits, and remember to take your medications. See your doctor regularly to make sure your numbers are on target.

Discuss Medications With Your Doctor. If you are on a medication that puts you at risk for gout, ask your doctor if there is another safer medication that lowers the risk for gout. There may be instances where you need to take that medication. If so, practice all other tips above to help lower your risk.

Gout prevention is one way to reduce your risk of getting gout and reducing the severity if you do get this disease. Always talk to your doctor about any concerns you may have.