Home remedies for gout
What is gout? Gout is is caused by uric acid crystal deposits in your joints, which causes pain and inflammation to occur. The pain can be sudden and intense for a few days, and then go away again. The periods with pain are called gout. The joints swell up and the area may turn reddish and be very sensitive.
How to avoid getting gout
People who eat a lot or who drink lots of alcohol are more likely to get gout later on.
Weight gain is a large factor involved in getting gout. So try to eat less meat and protein rich foods, and get lots of exercise. People who don't get enough exercise are more likely to develop uric acid crystal deposits in their joints.
Some medical conditions can cause gout as well, for example people with kidney problems. Hypertension is another possible cause.
Home remedies for gout
These are remedies that people have used for gout, and that they have reported to work:
- Apply some mustard paste to the affected area. To make mustard paste, mix mustard seed powder with ground whole wheat with water in a 1:1 ratio.
- Apply ice packs to the area. Put an ice pack directly on the painful area. Leave it there for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Inbetween sessions of ice, you can use the mustard paste mentioned above.
- Eat lots of apples. The malic acid contained in apples is believed to neutralize uric acid and help to make the gout go away faster. You should generally eat one apple for each meal you have.
- Drink lots of water. This is the same advice doctors always give people to generally do, but hardly anyone takes it seriously. You really should drink 8-10 glasses of water a day. This will help with the gout and is generally very healthy anyway. If you add some lemon juice to the water as well, it can help to break down the crystal deposits too.
- Eat lots of strawberries - they're also good for breaking down the deposits.
- Eat raw garlic regularly to reduce gout episodes.
- Raise the joint - for example if you have gout in your ankle area, keep your leg up. This will relieve some of the pressure and can help you feel better.
- Eat lots of bananas, they are known to help relieve gout because they contain phosphorous, which helps to break down the uric acid deposits.
- Drink raw veggie juice, like carrot juice, French bean juice and beet and cucumber juices can help with gout. Try to drink about 500ml of these juices every day.
- Eat berries, cherries, lime, tomatoes, green peppers, and lots of leafy green veggies. Basically, eat anything that's rich in Vitamin C and bioflavonoids that help to reduce inflammation.
- You can soak the affected area in Epsom salt, but that'll only work if it's relatively easy to get the affected area into a bowl or bucket of some kind.
A few home remedy recipes for gout
2 tablespoons of organic vinegar apple cider, mixed with 2 tablespoons of organic honey. Mix this with a glass of water, and take this mixture twice a day. This should help with the pain. Be careful however because the vinegar can mess with the enamel on your teeth, so you can either drink it through a straw or be sure you rinse your mouth out immediately after taking it.
You can also soak a cloth in this apple cider vinegar mixture, and wrap it around the affected area and leave it on for at least 15 minutes.
Mix 2 cups of apple juice, 2 cups of white grape juice, 2 cups of concord grape juice, and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar. Take 1/4 of a cup in the morning and another cup in the afternoon with meals.
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About The Author:
I'm a student in Canada. I like learning new things on my own, but don't like to be told how to learn. I also like writing. Interests: fitness, martial arts, writing, photography, games, psychology, alternative education... and more.
(Read more posts by Logan)
Posted in: Health by Logan on October 15, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
Tags: gout home remedies, gout natural cures, home remedy for gout, natural cures for gout
Here is my story.
It was the middle of the night. I opened my eyes and was awakened by earth shattering pain.
My big toe was throbbing. In fact it felt like a towering inferno.
I turned on the light and was startled to see that my great toe was 3 times its normal size.
It was bright red and red hot, just like a firecracker and the pain was the most severe that
I've ever experienced by far.The suffering that I had to endure was almost unbelievable.
That was over ten years ago.
At the beginning I was having attacks every 6 months. Then gradually I was getting them
every 3 months, then every month and eventually every week.
It started at my big toe and then it was moving sometimes in my knees,and generally all
around my joints, in my feet.And the pain was agonising.
I have tried all the cures you can imagine.I tried ACV, lemons, drinking a lot of water, but
to no avail.I tried water fasting, juice fasting,baking soda, again without success.
I almost gave up meat, limiting it to only once a week ,gave up alcohol completely,again
no success.
I was living on vegetables, lots and lots of fresh fruit, milk ,cheese beans and so on .My
eating habits could not be healthier ,or so I thought.But my gout was worsening.
Then I decided to increase the amount of fruit I was consuming, thinking that if some fruit
is healthy, more fruit will be more healthy.Some days I was eating fruit only ,others over 10
portions a day.
And alas my gout instead of improving it became chronic ,it was there all the time.
I was desperate I did not know what to do.
And then one day accidentally I read an article about fructose,which is contained in fruit in
large quantities.It said that it increases uric acid, in a matter of minutes.
Fructose is also present in table sugar, and in HFCS, which is used in soft drinks.
I put two and two together and realised what I was doing wrong.
I stopped eating fruit and all other sugars, for a period of 3 weeks,and by magic I saw a
dramatic improvement.Pain was gone, swelling was gone, I was fine.
I re introduced fruit again in my diet but reducing them to 1 or 2 a day, and my gout completely
disappeared.
I do eat more meat now, and occasionally have an alcoholic drink, and thank God everything
seems to be fine.
Fructose was my enemy.