Gout is an inflammatory rheumatism causing pain and swelling in the joints, due to the accumulation of uric acid crystals. Resulting from the degradation of dead cells and from our diet, uric acid is normally eliminated through the urine, a mechanism that does not always occur in obese, diabetic or renal failure patients.
British and South African researchers set out to find a solution to prevent gout attacks, and found that the juice of cherry taken daily could lower the level of uric acid in the blood, and thus prevent gout attacks.
The study was conducted on 12 volunteers with an average age of 26, in good health and without gout problems. These participants were subjected to a precise diet, excluding any other intake of anthocyanins (colored pigment) apart from that coming from cherries. They then drank either 30 ml or 60 ml of concentrated cherry juice diluted in water each day.
The researchers then measured their rate ofUric acid in the blood up to 48 hours after taking cherry juice.
The results showed that a drop in blood concentrations of uric acid took place for two doses of ingested cherry juice, and that uric acid was mainly eliminated through the urine two to three hours after intake.
On the other hand, the researchers found that a marker of arterial inflammation was less present in the blood after taking it.
Published in the scientific journal The Journal of Functional Food, these results are consistent with a study conducted in 2012, which showed that the taking cherries reduced the risk of seizures by 35% in patients with gout.
It is the anthocyanins contained in the cherries which would influence the elimination of uric acid, by their significant antioxidant effect.
Other complementary studies on a larger scale will be necessary to confirm these results and to calculate more precisely the dose to be consumed to obtain significant effects.
