Science Behind Tart Cherries

Content

• Study: Eating Cherries Lowers Risk Of Gout Attacks By 35%
• What Is The Purine Level Of Cherry? Is It Good For Uric Acid Levels?
• Possible Side Effects
• Gout And Natural Home Remedies
• News For Health & Healing®

For some people, cherries and cherry juice may be complementary treatment options for gout symptoms. However, a more recent 2020 study suggests that cherry concentrate does not appear to lower the amount of uric acid in the body. It also seems to have no effect on uric acid levels in the urine. A 2012 pilot study suggests that consuming cherry juice concentrate for a period of 4 months or longer may reduce the number of acute gout flare-ups a person experiences. According to the study, cherries reduce uric acid because they contain anthocyanins, which is what gives cherries their color.

Study: Eating Cherries Lowers Risk Of Gout Attacks By 35%

Cherry supplements are available as extracts, juice, tablets and capsules. If buying in liquid form, extracts and concentrates have more potency. If taking in tablet or capsule form, opt for a product that allows you to consume at least 1,500 mg of cherries a day. If you’d prefer to eat the whole fruit, this equates to 1 ½ cups of cherries a day.

What Is The Purine Level Of Cherry? Is It Good For Uric Acid Levels?

People who ate cherries and took the anti-gout medication, allopurinol, had the lowest risk of a gout attack. Cherry products may have therapeutic potential as sleep aids. Cherries—particularly the Montmorency variety of tart cherries—contain melatonin.

I picked up a kilo and have been eating about each day split into twice a day for the last three days. I must say, not having taken any other painkillers, there is a definite easing of pain within about 45min – 1 hour after I eat them each time. I can’t say if they’re breaking up the crystals or clearing out the attack fully , but they’re definitely helping with some much welcomed pain relief. I’m on prednisone for a week now and that’s started to really punch out the inflammation and pain.

My friends have gotten me black cherry juice, almonds, and salad. My meals the last four days have been a handful of almonds with salad. For the salad it’s just romaine lettuce with some pieces of carrots and I top it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Best to take tart cherry capsules and skip the sugar intake. The researchers hope to get funding for a more robust clinical trial in which some people with gout eat cherries and others do not.

Further, drug therapies may not always be appropriate for some patients and may cause bothersome side effects for others. Dr Gelber, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said the study also shows that a patient's activities influence their risk of a gout attack - not just their medication. His group's preliminary investigation, published in the Arthritis & Rheumatism, is just the first step in understanding the link between eating cherries and gout risk, he said. Obviously, patients should still stick with their current gout medications, according to the lead author. "They can go out and eat the cherries, but they shouldn't abandon their medical treatment at all," said Dr Yuqing Zhang of Boston University School of Medicine.

So anything, like cherries, that adds fiber to your diet is great for you. The average American eats 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day, while the standard for women is 25 grams and for men is 38 grams, Stacey said. We host blogs from some of the leading voices in natural health and wellness. The opinions and advice expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of Taste For Life Magazine.

An intervention trial found that by switching participants to a vegetarian diet, participants saw a 93% decline in the risk of uric acid crystallization… in only a matter of days. First, the small number of included studies calls into question the reliability of the findings and the strength of the conclusions. Second, it was difficult to conduct effective meta-analysis due to considerable heterogeneity in the design of the studies, the outcome variables, and the biomarkers used to assess the risk of bias . Third, the study subjects enrolled in our review may have differed in terms of health status. Fourth, there may be interference from age-dependent factors, due to the wide age range of participants . Finally, all of the included studies were conducted in Western countries .

For consistent benefits, I recommend cherry fruit supplements that are standardized for anthocyanins. Freeze-drying is a good method because heat drying and extractions can damage the antioxidant value of the cherry. Another option may sound a little silly, but it has scientific support. Consider tart cherry supplements, either as juice or extract in capsules. A systematic review of six trials found that people taking tart cherry juice or extract had fewer gout flare-ups and lower uric acid (Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dec. 4, 2019).

The first is increasing your intake of water to at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day. Adding more water dilutes the blood and makes it less likely that uric acid will stick in the joints and crystalize. A recent study showed that increasing water intake can reduce gout attacks by as much as 50 percent. I am not aware of any prescription drug that can reduce gout attacks to this degree, and without serious side effects. This data was uncovered in a study of 633 patients with confirmed gout who were prospectively enrolled and followed for 1 year. When a patient experienced a gout flare up, investigators asked about the onset date of the flare up, signs and symptoms, medications, and potential risk factors during the 2 days before the attack.

Patients with gout who consumed cherries over a two-day period showed a 35 percent lower risk of gout attacks, as compared to those who did not eat the fruit. Findings from this research project also suggest that the risk of gout flare-ups was 75 percent lower when cherry intake was combined with the uric-acid reducing drug, allopurinol. While there are many treatment options available, gout patients continue to be burdened by recurrent gout attacks, prompting patients and investigators to seek other preventive options such as cherries. For this particular study, Yuqing Zhang, professor of medicine and public health at Boston University and colleagues recruited 633 gout patients who were followed online for one year. Participants were asked about the date of gout onset, symptoms, medications and risk factors, including cherry and cherry extract intake in the two days prior to the gout attack. A cherry serving was one half cup or 10 to 12 cherries, according to a Boston statement.

This trial included 20 female participants between 40 and 70 years old who experienced at least moderate osteoarthritis pain. They consumed two 10.5-ounce bottles of either tart cherry juice or a control beverage every day for three weeks. The patients who consumed the tart cherry juice experienced a significant decrease in inflammation, shown by reduced C-reactive protein levels. That's the question professional athletes were asking McHugh shortly after they started drinking it. "The athletes were experiencing better sleep and were themselves attributing it to the tart cherry juice," says McHugh, who has been a consultant for the New York Rangers NHL hockey team since 2000. That observation led to multiple studies showing a positive connection between regular use of tart cherry juice and longer, better rest with less insomnia.

Can drinking water flush out uric acid?

DO: Drink Water
And if you're having a flare, increase your intake to 16 glasses a day! The water helps to flush uric acid from your system.

We separately evaluated the studies using assessment tools, and it appears that we covered most of the articles dealing with the relationship between cherry consumption and gout. The studies included in our review demonstrate the influence of time in the relationship between gout attacks or plasma uric acid levels and cherry intake. Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between cherry and gout or uric acid; however, the focus has been on the anti-inflammatory effects of IL-1 β and TNF-α, which are used as biomarkers in monitoring acute gout flare ups . Despite the availability of effective urate-lowering therapy and anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of gout, there is considerable interest in novel treatment approaches. Patients with gout often have a multitude of comorbidities, leading to concern over drug–drug interactions and medication adverse events. The cherry is a small nutrient-rich fruit that has garnered a great deal of attention in recent years as a nonpharmacologic option for the treatment of a multitude of disease manifestations.

News For Health & Healing®

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A glass of orange juice contains about 10.5 grams of fructose. A glass of tart cherry juice made by diluting concentrate contains even more fructose, about 12.5 grams.10,11 Considering this fructose information, one could argue that cherry juice is not suitable for gout patients to drink frequently. Fructose-free cherry extracts might be more appropriate and effective for gout patients than juice concentrates. In this study, 20 healthy people consumed either the juice concentrate of tart Montmorency cherries or a placebo for seven days.