Go beyond the classic “cherry juice trick” to treat your gout

If you’ve been diagnosed with gout, you know it’s no walk in the park. Your joints can be hit with an excruciating gout attack at any time — resulting in sudden stabbing pains, swelling, tenderness and redness in your joints.

I’m willing to bet your doctor suggested you start drinking cherry juice or eating cherries to lower the amount of pain-triggering uric acid in your bloodstream. And that’s great!

Even conventional doctors feel comfortable recommending this treatment that’s widely thought of as “folk” medicine.

But there’s another lesser known, non-drug gout treatment your doctor should also be recommending to you: Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is highly effective in the prevention and treatment of gout and all other forms of arthritis. That’s because it controls the uric acid buildup that crystalizes into razor-sharp shards in the soft tissue of joints — that is, if the dose is sufficient…

Aim high for big results

A few years ago, results from a recent study made the rounds with the health news outlets, with headlines like: “Vitamin C does not lower uric acid levels in gout patients, study finds.”

For many gout patients, I’m sure that headline was enough to convince them that it was pointless to take vitamin C. And that’s a real shame because I’m sure a lot of those people overlooked the one crucial flaw in this study: The dosage.

Researchers at New Zealand’s University of Otago tested a dose of 500 mg daily vitamin C supplements in 40 gout patients. After eight weeks, they concluded that vitamin C didn’t curb uric acid.

Now, I know 500 mg might seem like a lot — especially compared to the puny recommended daily allowance of less than 100 mg per day. But 500 mg is not a therapeutic dose. In fact, according to doctors who are aware of the vast benefits of vitamin C and how our bodies metabolize it, 500 mg is about half the minimal amount that the average person needs each day.

In fact, one of the researchers alluded to the fact that they may have aimed too low on the dosage. In a press release he said, “Further investigation of the urate lowering effects of a larger vitamin C dose in those with gout is warranted.”

When considering that fact, it’s mind-blowing that this study got as much media attention as it did. In my view, the media’s blatant disregard of these study details is one the major reasons why so much of the American public is misinformed and clueless as to what they should or shouldn’t be doing to protect their health.

Higher dosage equals lower risk 

Dr. Marc Micozzi also agrees that larger doses of vitamin C are needed to effectively treat gout.

In his Arthritis Relief & Reversal Protocol, he cites an Archives of Internal Medicine study: “In a 20-year study of nearly 47,000 men, those who took 1,000 to 1,499 mg of vitamin C daily had a 34 percent lower risk of developing gout.

“In this case, more was merrier for joints: Those who took 1,500 milligrams or more had a 45 percent lower risk.”

According to Dr. Micozzi, the significantly higher, therapeutic vitamin C dosages most likely reduced levels of gout-causing uric acid. And that’s confirmed by another trial with 1,400 men at the Harvard University School of Public Health. In that study, participants with a higher intake of vitamin C also had lower uric acid levels.

The message seems crystal clear: Gout patients who wish to reduce frequency and severity of gout attacks should take an ample dosage of vitamin C right along with their daily cherry juice.

Ease the burning pain of arthritis   

For those who suffer from gout, Dr. Micozzi recommends 500 mg of vitamin C, twice daily.

But he also advises all his arthritis patients to use this level of C supplementation as well. He says, “While vitamin C is strengthening your immune system, it’s also strengthening your bones and connective tissue.

“In fact, research shows that people with arthritis have high levels of oxidative stress, a kind of internal rust of joints and other organs — and that antioxidants such as vitamin C can stop or even reverse that oxidative process.”

Dr. Micozzi says that vitamin C targets joints so effectively that it may even prevent polyarthritis — a condition where four or more joints are inflamed. He says, “When researchers in England looked at vitamin C intake in people with or without polyarthritis, they found a low intake more than TRIPLED the risk of developing the disease.”

In another study, Danish researchers gave 1,000 mg of vitamin C per day to more than 130 people with knee or hip osteoarthritis. Just two weeks later, patients reported that C “reduced pain significantly” compared to placebo.

So it’s settled — the case for C supplements in gout and arthritis patients couldn’t be clearer.

And vitamin C isn’t the only nutrient that can help alleviate your gout or arthritis pain. In fact, there’s an array of interventions you can make — especially when it comes to your diet, supplementation regimen, and lifestyle — that will prevent, treat, and even reverse arthritis and joint pain. You can find all of these drug-free strategies in Dr. Micozzi’s Arthritis Relief & Reversal Protocol. Simply click here to learn more about it, or to enroll today.

SOURCES

“Vitamin C does not lower uric acid levels in gout patients, study finds” Science Daily, 5/16/13, (sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516063734.htm)