How to Use Home Remedies to Prevent Gout

Gout is a form of arthritis that occurs when there is too much uric acid in the blood stream. Uric acid is naturally produced by the body and is supposed to be excreted out by the kidneys and urine. If we have normal amounts of uric acid and our body doesn't get rid of it like it should or if we have too much uric acid that has built up, gout occurs. Gout can happen in any joint but usually effects the big toe. There are natural ways to prevent gout from occurring and there are ways to relieve the pain if you already have gout.

Things You'll Need

• Cherries
• Powdered charcoal
• Any kind of herbal tea

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Instructions

Preventing Gout

• 1

  Eat 10 to 30 cherries a day. If you already have gout, eating cherries can relieve the pain from gout. If you have never had gout or have had it before and want to prevent it from reoccurring, eating cherries can help prevent gout. As long as you keep eating cherries, this will prevent gout altogether.

• 2

  Avoid eating certain foods such as anchovies, brains, heart, liver, kidneys, meat extracts, gravy, meat containing mincemeat, mussels, sweetbreads and sardines. These foods are high in purine and eating too much will cause gout.

• 3

  Drink herbal teas. Herbal teas can flush out the excess uric acid from the blood stream. Also drinking plenty of water can flush out your system and keep uric acid levels normal.

• 4

  Stay away from alcohol. If you have a history of gout then you should stay away from alcohol altogether since it can cause gout just as much as foods with high purine in them. Beer and wine are the main kinds of alcohol that will keep the uric acid from exiting our body. If you do drink alcohol make sure to eat crackers, cheese, or fruit along with it.

Relieving Pain from Gout

• 5

  Mix 1/2 cup of powdered activated charcoal with a few teaspoons of flaxseed. Ground charcoal and flaxseed together in a blender and add enough warm water to make a paste. Apply this paste to the infected area and cover with a cloth. Change this every 4 hours or leave it on overnight but be careful because the charcoal stains and can ruin your bed linens.

• 6

  Mix 1/2 cup of charcoal to warm water to make a paste. Soak the infected area for 30 to 60 minutes. Make sure you use a tub or basin you won't use again because the charcoal will stain and ruin it.

• 7

  Take 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of activated powdered charcoal by mouth 4 times a day, as soon as you wake up in the morning, midday, mid-afternoon, and before bedtime to prevent gout. The charcoal taken by mouth this way can help reduce uric acid levels in the blood. Yeah it sounds gross but it is one way to prevent gout from happening in the first place.

• 8

  Keep the infected joint elevated. Gout is very painful and the person suffering from gout will have a hard time relaxing but by relaxing and elevating the infected joint, you can ease the pain.

• 9

  Take a pain reliever that reduces inflammation. Pain from gout is caused by inflammation around the joint. The best over the counter pain reliever would be ibuprofen because it helps reduce inflammation.

• 10

  Apply ice to the infected area. If the infected joint is not too tender to the touch you can use ice without causing more pain. The ice will numb the area and ease the pain. Try to keep the ice on for ten minutes each time and change as needed.