Naturally Rid Your Body of Joint Pain and Gout

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Chances are very good that you know someone, or perhaps you have experienced it yourself, who has suffered from gout, a type of arthritis. Although gout mainly affects men, it does affect women as well. Gout can lead to other painful conditions such as kidney stones. Gout, joint pain, and kidney stones are all caused due to a buildup of uric acid in the urine or bloodstream.

In the past, gout was actually laughed about as being a rich man’s disease, because in those days it generally affected those who had the money for rich foods and liquor. If you or anyone you know has experienced gout, you know that there is nothing funny about it. Some people describe it as being burned, while others say that they feel as if someone is piercing their joints with a hot poker.

With or without treatment, most episodes of gout will disappear on their own within 3 to 10 days. Another attack may not happen for months, or even years. However, if several attacks occur, they tend to become problematic since they increase in frequency, become more severe, and last longer each time. When this happens, gout can damage your joints and the surrounding tissue.

For this reason, you want to end a gout attack as quickly as possible and avoid them from recurring, before they cause real damage to your joints. Using natural means is always better than using drugs and they are more effective in the long run.

Gout usually happens after years of high levels of uric acid in the blood. Although this acid usually dissolves harmlessly into your blood and then out through the kidneys, sometimes the body makes too much uric acid or it excretes too little through the urine. This build up eventually forms crystals that are similar to needles in shape and they settle in the joints, causing intense pain.

This is why you don’t have any symptoms until you wake up in the middle of the night and your big toe is killing you! Why it generally starts there is a mystery, but that is just the start. Elevated levels of uric acid in the blood can lead to numerous other health conditions including:

Heart disease
High cholesterol
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Kidney disease

Although gout is usually blamed on the over consumption of alcohol and too many high-purine foods, such as asparagus, mushrooms, herring, anchovies, and organ meats, there is another culprit rarely mentioned: high fructose corn syrup. There have been numerous studies that show that HFCS is linked to a wide variety of health problems, including gout. In fact, one study done by a joint effort of Canadian and American researchers show that men who drank two or more sodas each day has an 85 percent high risk of developing gout than those who drank one soda a month or less (read more about dangers of drinking soda). It’s believed that this occurs because fructose inhibits uric acid from leaving the body. Another risk factor is obesity. Half of all gout patients are overweight.

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If you should be hit with a gout attack, read on to find out the best strategies that can help lessen your pain and help rid your body of excess uric acid.

1. Tart Cherries

Not sweet cherries, like Bing, but tart or sour cherries. If you can’t find them fresh, you can usually find cherry juice. These cherries have two powerful compounds, bioflavonoids and anthocyanins, which slow down the enzymes that help prevent and relive arthritis and gout. In fact, drinking just one 8 ounce glass of tart cherry juice every day can help stop gout attacks from happening. Other berries are also good for preventing gout, such as strawberries and blueberries. Besides stopping uric acid from forming in the joints, cherries and berries can help to heal the damage to the tissue surrounding the affected joint.

2. Alfalfa Supplements

It’s unknown why these work and there are no known studies, but numerous people claim that these supplements help. Try taking one or two alfalfa tablets with each meal. There are no side effects so this is a safe method to try.

3. Watch Your Diet

Eating food high in animal protein, alcohol, and high fructose corn syrup only aggravate your gout symptoms. So stop drinking alcohol, sugary drinks or foods, and drastically limit your meat consumption. Find out top 5 ugly truths meat industry hopes you will never find out.

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4. Ice

Putting ice packs on affected joints will help to reduce both the pain and the inflammation.

5. Go Naked

Well, not in public, but when gout hits, take off pajamas, night gowns, socks, even sheets, as just the touch or weight of even something as light as a sheet will only add to your pain.

6. Stay Hydrated

To help flush the excess uric acid crystals from your body, be sure you drink plenty of water.

7. Eat a More Alkaline Diet

To avoid acid buildup in the blood, it only makes sense to eat a more alkaline diet. This generally means a diet that is mainly plant based, with some healthy fats, and very little meat or sugar. Foods that increase your alkalinity would be green leafy vegetables, pumpkins, cucumbers, yams, walnuts, cabbages, kiwis, and pineapples.

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8. Exercise

Now you don’t want to exercise when you are having a gout attack, in fact the opposite is true and you should get plenty of bed rest to help relieve gout pain. But once the attack has passed, exercise should be incorporated into a healthier lifestyle. Exercise increases blood circulation and this will help to remove uric acid from the blood.

9. Try Capsaicin Cream

If icing the joint does not relieve pain, you might want to try some capsaicin creams, which are sold over the counter. Capsaicin is the active ingredient in Cayenne pepper and other types of peppers. These creams work by depleting your body’s supply of a chemical that sends pain signals to your brain. Capsaicin cream works very well for many people with joint pain.

Try this super alkalizing drink to help eliminate an acidic environment in the body.

Fruity Ginger Iced Tea

Ingredients

¼ Cup organic grapefruit juice
2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon or lime juice
Organic ginger tea

Instructions

Make your ginger tea as you normally would, letting it steep for at least 5 minutes
Stir in the lemon or lime juice, and then add this mixture to the grapefruit juice.
Add ice and enjoy!
If you prefer your tea hot, you can always enjoy it that way as well.