Will Cherry Juice Gout Treatment Work For You?

The gout forums are full of discussions about cherry juice gout treatments.

The discussions often end up being an exchange of opinions, as for every gout sufferer who finds relief in cherry juice, another claims that cherries have no effect.

As I reorganize the cherry juice for gout guidelines, I was struck by one interesting discussion about one gout patient’s personal cherry juice gout treatment experience.

Cherry Juice Gout Treatment Background

The contributor to the gout forum, esabogal from Bogotá, Colombia, had bought his own uric acid test meter so that he could keep track of uric acid as he tried to control gout through diet.

This is an admirable plan, though I believe a more thorough approach is required, as I explain below.

The forum contribution contains two fascinating charts of uric acid movement: one whilst trying to control with diet; the other after switching to allopurinol.

Cherry Juice Gout Treatment Forum Post

The post starts with a chart showing a history of uric acid test results over 6 months.

2010 was my worst gout year.
An attack started after the SUA [SUA = Serum Uric Acid, i.e. the uric acid level from a blood test result] spike on March 16 which lasted up to May 25, it involved both knees and index finger. First I tried blueberries and then cherries, the graph shows there was a lowering effect in both cases but the SUA raised again after some days, still I had the SUA too high. On June 16 I had a knee surgery, the graph shows a high spike after it.

This is wonderful data to see, though I would have liked to see the results after one month and then three months of each fruit. Also, I would have liked to know how much of each fruit was consumed. My advice to anyone planning similar self experimentation is to try a set amount of one fruit each day and continue with that for one month, then vary the amount for different months to see if a pattern emerges.

It is interesting to see the similar responses to blueberries and cherries. Some general research included in the guidelines includes various berries and other fruit. If you are interested in trying different fruits, please share your thoughts and experiences in the gout forum.

This gout patient has a particularly high starting uric acid level. Though his results show remarkable response to cherries, it is not really sufficient or sustained enough to be relied on as adequate gout treatment. Especially after the trauma of surgery, which is renowned for triggering gout attacks, our gout patient switches to allopurinol.

The same day of surgery I started with allopurinol 300 mg and two days later the level was under 7. The last 10 days I also started taking Losartan.

Cherry Juice Gout Treatment: Will It Work For You?

Cherry juice for gout does not suit everyone, but if you are tempted to try it, I say go for it.

Ask about cherry juice gout treatment

If you are not sure how to go about it, please ask about cherry juice for gout. If you do go ahead with your own cherry juice gout treatment plan, please share your experience in the gout forum.

The gout patient in this report had his own uric acid meter. You can get one, or you can rely on monthly uric acid tests from your doctor or a local lab uric acid testing service. You should approach cherry juice gout treatment in a similar way to allopurinol. If uric acid does not reach safe levels, then increase the dose. Unsweetened cherry juice concentrate is probably the best option, but note the natural sugar content, and ensure you stay well within recommended daily sugar intake.

Safe uric acid level is 5 mg/dL (0.30 mmol/L). If you can only get down to 6, this is acceptable, but monitor carefully, as you have little margin for daily fluctuations. As you can see from the results above, uric acid does fluctuate naturally, though some variations might be because of the difficulties of consistent home testing.

Whether you choose 5 or 6 as your target level, please consider switching to allopurinol after 3 months if you are not making sufficient progress. Every day over 6.5 is another day of joint destruction and kidney risk. Once you get uric acid under control, you might find that cherries allow you a lower allopurinol dose.

Also remember that cherries may not work for everyone. Despite their effectiveness in some people for many years, nobody knows how cherries help gout, and they may not work for you.

For further information read the cherry juice for gout guidelines and the allopurinol guidelines.

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