Gout

Treatment

For an acute attack, there is no better remedy than a fast. The patient should undertake a fast for five to seven days on orange juice and water. Sometimes the condition may worsen in the early stages of fasting when uric acid, dissolved by juices, is thrown into the bloodstream for elimination. This usually clears up if fasting is continued. In severe cases, it is advisable to undertake a series of short fasts for three days or so rather than one long fast. A warm water enema should be used daily during the period of fasting to cleanse the bowels.

After the acute symptoms of gout have subsided, the patient may adopt an all-fruit diet for a further three or four days. In this regimen, he should have three meals a day of juicy fruits such as grapes, apples, pears, peaches, oranges and pineapple. After the all-fruit diet, the patient may gradually embark upon the following diet :

Breakfast : Fruits such as oranges, apples, figs, apricot, mangoes, whole wheat bread or dalia and milk or butter-milk.

Lunch : Steamed vegetables such as lettuce, beets, celery, water-cress, turnips,squash, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage and potatoes, chapattis of whole wheat flour, cottage cheese and butter-milk.

Dinner : Sprouts such as alfalfa and mung beans, a good-sized salad of raw vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, whole wheat bread and butter.

The patient should avoid all purine and uric acid producing foods such as all meats, eggs, and fish. Glandular meats are especially harmful. He should also avoid all intoxicating liquors, tea, coffee, sugar, white flour and its products and all canned and processed foods. Spices and salts should be used as little as possible.

The cherry, sweet or sour, is considered an effective remedy for gout. This was discovered by Ludwig W. Blan Ph.D. some 35 years ago. Himself a gout sufferer, Blan Ph.D. some cherries to be miraculously effective in his own case and published his own experience in a medical journal. Subsequently, many people with gout used this simple therapy with great success. To start with, the patient should consume about 15 to 25 cherries a day. Thereafter, about 10 cherries a day will keep the ailment under control. While fresh cherries are best, canned cherries can also be used with success.

Foods high in potassium such as potatoes, bananas, leafy green vegetables, beans and raw vegetable juices are protective against gout. Carrot juice in combination with juices of beet and cucumber, is especially valuable. 100 ml. each of beet and cucumber juices should be mixed in300 ml. of carrot juice to make 500 ml. of combined juice.
The juice of French or string beans has also proved effective in the treatment of gout. About 150 ml. of this juice should be taken by the patient suffering from this disease. Raw potato juice and fresh pineapple juices are also beneficial.

The feet should be bathed in Epsom salt foot bath twice daily. Half a pound to one pound of salt may be added to a foot bath of hot water. Full Empsom salt baths should also be taken three times a week. The baths may be reduced to two per week later. Cold packs at night, applied to the affected joints, will be beneficial. Fresh air and outdoor exercise are also essential. The patient should eliminate as much stress from his life as possible.