Us, humans are slowly but surely moving thousands of steps closer to the pinnacle of innovation. That is, actually if the innovation has a peak at all. In spite of the advancement of the technology, there is a multitude of times that we choose to take the path of our mother nature. No, we do not climb on trees, swing on vines, just like Tarzan did. As a matter of fact, we prefer using natural products, most especially when it comes to medicine.
Gout, all throughout its own unforgiving pain, has already triggered a sequence of landslides of thousands of self-proclaimed and natural treatment methods. Some, actually work, but most do not. The question here now is that if this natural method really helps in treating gout. Does it really work at all?
This article wishes to explain a certain natural treatment for gout. Well, I am referring to the small, red, and delicious fruits of cherry. Cherries for gout, how real is this? Read on to know it!
Cherries for Gout: Does it work?
If you are going to Google anything that relates to cherries and gout, you’ll certainly come along the following claims:
- There are tons of studies that showed cherries lower the frequency of gout attack.
- Cherries have anthocyanin, a flavonoid that’s supposed to act as an antioxidant.
- Cherries are rich in vitamin C, and vitamin C helps a gout sufferer.
- Cherries are rich in flavonoids. Therefore, it has the potential to act as a Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitor, the same as the allopurinol.
- Cherries acts synergistically with allopurinol.
Now, let us discuss these claims one by one objectively.
Cherries Are Rich In Flavonoids Like Anthocyanin
One more undeniable fact. The cherries are really rich in anthocyanin. Anthocyanin as we know, is a pigment in plants, which gives them the red hue in their color. The redness that cherries have to speak on its own. A lot claim that the anthocyanin is a good antioxidant, and that it is capable of inhibiting the Cox-1 and Cox-2 enzymes. In human language, the anthocyanin is thought to stop the fever, pain and inflammation.
Cherries Are Rich In Vitamin C
There is no denying that the cherries are rich in vitamin C. There’s actually no hype in here. However, can the vitamin C really help? The answer, NO!
Now to answer why. Vitamin C was basically thought to reduce the uric acid by flushing it out over urine excretion. Furthermore, vitamin C will not be able to reduce the uric acid, contrary to what most of the bloggers claim. Maybe it may, yet in order to make such effect, you may need to eat hundreds of baskets of cherries.
If you want something that will help you lower the uric acid, you may try ionic calcium.
Cherries Act Synergistically With Allopurinol
This is one of the most unclear and most indefinite claims out there. So, what do they really mean by synergistic?
Looking back at the potential of the flavonoids to act like allopurinol, one may conclude that the cherries may help the allopurinol in doing its own job. However, here’s something you must know: the flavonoids may inhibit aldehyde oxidase too. If the cherries inhibit AO, there’ll be tons of probable side effects, just like the toxic parts of the chemicals that seep into the body, or it may even render drugs completely worthless as they cannot get a clearance to get into the bloodstream and do their own job.
Cherries Act As Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors
Theoretically, cherries is though to reduce the uric acid by acting like a xanthine oxidase inhibitors. This just means that it may react with the xanthine oxidase. The sad truth here is that, this particular functionality of the cherries depend on the anthocyanin too. Consequently, this will only be true in vitro.
Conclusion
As of today, there is actually no tangible evidence of the effectiveness of the cherries in treating gout. There is not even a logical explanation behind it, except its own capacity as Xanthine Oxidase inhibitors, which is very light since as mentioned above, about 95% anthocyanin is flushed out.
