New research: drink lemon juice for gout

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A new research paper has just been published (peer reviwed). Extracts from the paper abstract: ..... In the present study, the role of the lemon fruit juice and/or the water soluble extracts in lowering the blood uric acid level was evaluated in both human subjects and mice. Fresh lemon fruits, excluding the peel and seeds, were used to prepare the juice and/or water soluble extracts. Human subjects with hyperuricemia were given the freshly squeezed pure lemon fruit juice daily at 30 mL/day (equivalent to a lemon a day) for 6 weeks. ........ At the end of clinical study, fasting blood samples were collected for blood tests.  .......... The results showed that the lemon fruit juice and/or the water soluble extracts significantly lowered serum uric acid levels in both human subjects and mice. Neither renal nor liver dysfunction was observed.  The results lay a foundation for the future development of dietary treatments of hyperuricemia in humans.

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22 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Mark

    Thanks for this as it is potentially very interesting. Do you have the full paper? I have applied to get the full paper. My only feeling at the moment is that these results have been published in a horticultural rather than a medical journal, second that there has been no academic interest in the paper at all. Anyway, once I get the paper in full I ll give my opinion and get it checked out. Thanks for the heads up. In the meantime I don't see what harm it can all do us to eat a couple of lemons a day and see if it helps?

    • Posted

      I eat & drink home made lemonade, all the time and I must say that the only time I feel it helps with hyperuricemia is when I eat finely chopped parsley with lemon. It cleans out the kidneys. It also neutralizes your pH in your body. As for gout I never gave it a second thought. Will pay closer attention. Thanks.

  • Posted

    The following is very interesting and counter intuitive - that drinking a quite strong acid acid (citric ph 2) will reduce acidity. The following indicates a mechanism.

    One way to improve the body's acidity and remove it is by alkalinizing the urine and lemon juice stimulates the formation of calcium carbonate, which neutralizes acids like uric acid. Many gout sufferers drink freshly squeezed lemon in a glass of water after meals to prevent a gouty attack.

  • Posted

    Didn't find this particular article but I did find a lot of people claiming that lemon juice "cures" gout. Also found a reference to a book, Return to Eden - Jethro Kloss which claims that lemon juice is also beneficial in the treatment of rickets, tuberculosis and MALARIA. I must admit I've never tried lemon juice but I have tried oranges, cherries and various other remedies, some mentioned in previous threads on here and have yet to discover any benefit from any of them.

    • Posted

      When I get a tingling feeling of gout, I drink cherry juice, which usually does the trick, where I avoid getting a gout attack. So in essence, while it may not work for some it works for others.
    • Posted

      My own trick when I get that tingling feeling, which inevitably seems to occur when I go to bed, is to stay up all night and sip water throughout whilst keeping the affected area moving regularly. Can't say it ALWAYS works but it seems to mostly.

  • Posted

    While many people believe that drinking something acidic like Apple Cider Vinegar, Baking Soda water or lemon juice alkalizes in your body and helps lower uric acid levels, most of what I have read says that since the first stop is your stomach, most of these concoctions turn to water before being absorbed into your bloodstream and therefore have very little power in reducing uric acid. Although I would like for this to be medically incorrect, I don't think it is. Those that *feel* these drinks working are probably just felling a placebo, or are already making other adjustment in diet and water intake to counter the onset of gout, which inevitably combine to have a stronger effect on fighting ensuing gout attacks than the aforementioned acidic drinks.

    • Posted

      You are right - but it's not placebo - placebo has real physiology effects - this is just self delusion for the most part.

      However there does seem to be preliminary research backing up the lemon juice.

    • Posted

      I'm fairly dubious about this, wine is pretty acidic but that's how I generally get gout. OK, I know it's the alcohol but how come the acidity isn't a preventative then?

    • Posted

      Different acids (Malik and tartataric with just a hint of citric in wine), and about 50x weaker than the citric acid in a lemon.

      Wine triggers gout by dehydration.

  • Posted

    Though my blood urate level has been below the recommended level of 5 mg/dl for more than 6 months now, (reduced and maintained by 400mg allopurinol per day) I am still getting gout attacks in my ankles/feet and knuckles, I am told that attacks may continue for more than 12 months until all the gout crystals disappear or dissolve. Therefore I am still looking for other cures and lemon juice has been recommended quite widely. Maybe it will act in a different way to the allopurinol? Cherry pills which I also take regularly have had no noticeable effect, I agree that taking an acidic drink to reduce acidity is strange but so are the causes and remedies for gout!
    • Posted

      I thought the recommended level was below 300. Maybe this is why your still getting attacks. My level was 331 and my Dr increased my dose to 300 mg per day to get it under the recommended 300.
    • Posted

      You are correct, the recommendation is <300. The most common dose of allopurinol  to achieve that blood urate level at least during the first few years, is 300mg. I must say your doctor is exceptionally dilligent: hang on to them. (300mg also has the advantage of being just one tablet instead of two.)

    • Posted

      As Paul says in the next comment: your blood urate level is about double where it would be in an ideal world, hence your attacks. You *may* find it helps to split the dose, as the half life of the active ingredient of allopurinol and it’s biologically active oxidation product is 17 hours combined. (I only recall seeing one paper that recommended that).
    • Posted

      Thanks for the comments but 5mg/dL is the same as 300mmol/dL. It's just a matter of which unit system you use.

      In fact in recent measurements, my urate level has been around 250 mmol/dL and I am still getting gout 6 months after the measurements dropped below the 300 line (5mg/dL) Of course occasional measurements are higher but the trend is well below the recommended level.

    • Posted

      Forgive me for not reading carefully.

      In that case it’s skmply the crystals which are under lawyers if pritein being gradually unveiled.  In my personal experience I had these attacks for a time. I controlled them with colchicine.  As I’m sure you know, they will gradually ease off. If you can find your personal triggers - with me it used to be sardines....several years down the line I can eat them without any problem. 

    • Posted

      Recently saw a rheumatology specialist and his conclusions coincide with yours. "He is likely to get ongoing attacks for the next 3 to 6 months as tissue levels of uric acid are likely to be high (even though serum level is below 300mmol/L). Therefore I think colchicine prophylaxis would be reasonable."

      He recommended 1 or 2 tablets of 500mgm per day.

      I have started to take 1 per day as I have had unpleasant reaction from larger doses of colchicine previously.

      I am also trying to identify possible gout triggers. In your experience is it one particular item or just the general diet?

    • Posted

      Yes, its standard that the tissues are saturated and this slowly exposed goes into solution, and is then eradicated by the kidneys. But before it is dissolved the immune system reacts = gout. The thing about colchicine is that just because you had a reaction doesn't mean you will always get a reaction if stop and start again a few days later. I have also read that cutting the pills in two and taking them 6/8/12 hours apart helps for those that are super sensitive to it. (Why they don't make the pills bigger or with lower dose version is a mystery).I was told to use them two a day, but I found that if I just take one (or half when I can be bothered to cut them in two) if I felt a little twinge, worked perfectly ok. 

      Fundamentally this is a genetic problem combined with male sex and age. The body is destroying its own tissues at the rate of about 2 kg per day as natural housekeeper of old tissues. Therefore, unless you have the dietary habits of a Bengal tiger, you get massive doses or purines anyway. I think therefore that for most of us it's not our general diet, its specific triggers. As I said the only thing I ever found that could cause it was sardines (and crab meat). My experience (and there seems to be a variety of experience) is that I just took the colchicine when needed, and ate what I liked. Gradually the allopurinol just sorted it all out. I have read also that like all forms of arthritis it is worse in the colder winter months, and that is my experience too. I pass a part of the year in the tropics and as long as I drink more water I never have a problem there.  

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