Today, I began my quest for gout natural remedies, to bring the Gout Home Remedy Research pages up-to-date, as part of the Gout Treatment section makeover.

It surprises me how many natural products contain substances that can lower uric acid. However, I must emphasize that these are all very experimental, and are often only at the animal testing stage (or not even that).

I have to admit, I nearly fell at the first hurdle when I read

N-substituted cyclic imides of phthalimide, 2,3-dihydrohalazine-1,4-dione, and diphenimide were shown to reduce the serum uric acid levels in normal and hyperuric mice at 20 mg/kg/day I.P. for 14 days.

I have no idea what substituted cyclic imides are or where I can find them, and the abstract[1] I read gave no answers. However, it did give me some pointers to investigations of products I do understand – flavonoids, cassia oil, and orange juice.

Gout Natural Remedies: Flavonoids

Flavonoids take several forms (over 200) including catechin, citrin, eriodictin, hesperetin, hesperidin, nobiletin, quercetin, rutin, sinensetin, and tangeretin. I will be developing more information on flavonoids, including food lists, but now I look at quercetin and rutin.

Chinese scientists have used flavonoids compared with herbal extracts of Biota orientalis to show that quercetin and rutin can reduce uric acid in hyperuricemic mice to normal levels[2]. Clearly, this is far from showing how these natural products can fix gout in humans, but it is a strong indicator of the potential for lowering acid through better diet, or supplements.

Gout Natural Remedies: Cassia Oil

A later Chinese study has shown that cassia oil extracted from Cinnamomum cassia can be as effective as allopurinol at reducing uric acid in the blood[3]. Again, the study looks at artificial hyperuricemia in mice, as opposed to human gouty arthritis. There is no indication that it is safe to use in humans at doses that might be effective, so it is really a candidate for further research.

Gout Natural Remedies: Orange Juice

My final report in this article looks at something you can easily research for yourself – orange juice. A study into the potential of orange juice as a natural gout remedy, also includes hesperetin, which is one of the flavonoids[4]. The study finds orange juice more effective at lowering uric acid than hesperetin, though this might simply be a dosage issue, as different doses were not included in the study.

Gout Natural Remedies: Next Steps

Now that you can see the potential of gout natural remedies, you might be tempted to rush off and try these. Be warned – using natural remedies for gout is no different from pharmaceutical treatments. You must have a clear treatment plan, discuss it with your doctor, and arrange frequent uric acid testing.

Leave Gout Natural Remedies to check new Gout Home Remedy research

Gout Natural Remedies: References

  1. Title: Substituted cyclic imides as potential anti-gout agents. Authors: Hall IH, Scoville JP, Reynolds DJ, Simlot R, Duncan P. Published: Life Sci. 1990;46(26):1923-7.
  2. Title: Effects of Biota orientalis extract and its flavonoid constituents, quercetin and rutin on serum uric acid levels in oxonate-induced mice and xanthine dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase activities in mouse liver. Authors: Zhu JX, Wang Y, Kong LD, Yang C, Zhang X. Published: J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Jul;93(1):133-40.
  3. Title: Effects of cassia oil on serum and hepatic uric acid levels in oxonate-induced mice and xanthine dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase activities in mouse liver. Authors: Zhao X, Zhu JX, Mo SF, Pan Y, Kong LD. Published: J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Feb 20;103(3):357-65. Epub 2005 Sep 22.
  4. Title: Orange Juice and Hesperetin Supplementation to Hyperuricemic Rats Alter Oxidative Stress Markers and Xanthine Oxidoreductase Activity. Authors: Haidari F, Ali Keshavarz S, Reza Rashidi M, Mohammad Shahi M. Published: J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2009 Nov;45(3):285-91. Epub 2009 Oct 28. Full text: Orange Juice and Gout.

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