Good foods for gout - some more tasty and helpful berries

ELDERBERRIES

Elderberries are one of the little known good foods for gout. Try to get them into your gout diet as juice.

Herbalists have said for centuries that elderberries can relieve gout. But who would imagine that the tiny black (or red) elderberry, found in clusters at the tip of purple stalks on white elderflowers, would be good for gout? Not many.

But of all the berries in the USDA database, they score highest for one key anthocyanidin - elderberries have a whopping 758mg per 100 grams of the berry, of cyanidin. That’s 10 times the amount in cherries, but it should be said that cherries contain peonidin, which elderberries do not. Elderberries also contain a significant amount of quercetin, much more than the other berries discussed here and on the other berries page. Elderberry juice concentrate also has very high amounts of cyanidin and quercetin. (For quercetin in foods for gout see the quercetin page).

Elderberries are not widely touted as one of the good foods for gout probably because they aren’t used much as a food. Home recipes sometimes include them in apple and blackberry jams and there are elderflower cordials made from the flowers, but the antioxidants are in the fruit. Don’t go rushing out to pick them. The red ones should not be ingested in any way and either colour should not be eaten raw. The best way of taking elderberries is as extracts in dietary supplements and by drinking elderberry juice, which should be one of your foods for gout.

RASPBERRIES (red and black)

Raspberries are quite good foods for gout. Red raspberries have useful amounts of the anthocyanidins cyanidin and pelargonidin. Other berries have more, but if you have an availability problem raspberries can fill a temporary shortage. Black raspberries are very high in cyanidin.

Strawberries’ flavonoids are another inhibitor of the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX), the same enzyme that is inhibited by the flavonoids in cherries and by NSAIDs such as ibuprofen. Of these flavonoids, strawberries are high in pelargonidin and contain small amounts of the cyanidin, delphinidin and petunidin. Pelargonidin is the substance which makes strawberries red. Strawberries also contain a high amount of Vitamin C. Studies have shown that it can reduce uric acid levels, by improving its excretion

Click here for much more about why strawberries are one of the good foods for gout.

THE VALUE OF BERRIES' SUMMARY

Anthocyanidins work together, in ways that are not fully understood, to maximize their healing power. And the six anthocyanidins discussed here are not the only ones. There are others, for example 25 have been found in blueberries and still more probably remain to be discovered in most, or all, berries.

And much remains to be learnt about how these amazing substances work. You should eat a variety of berries to get a balanced amount of all the anthocyanidins in your gout diet.

The top berries for gout sufferers are bilberries, strawberries, blueberries and elderberries.

This conclusion has been reached by adding up the total anthocyanidin score of all the berries and also taking into account the balance of anthocyanidins in each.

Bilberries and blueberries are best for overall balance since both have five out of the six in significant amounts. But they don’t contain any, or very little, pelargonidin. Therefore strawberries are included because they contain more pelargonidin than any other berry in the USDA database.

Elderberries are included because they contain such a large amount of cyanidin. That said, all these berries are good foods for gout, except cranberries because of their high acidic score.

These berries are ahead of just about all other fruit in antioxidant levels. They also score well for another class of flavonoids, namely proanthocyanidins. They are good for gout and are certainly part of a natural gout remedy.

Jams and preserves made from berries

Are the jams,preserves, conserves and fruit spreads of these berries a satisfactory way of eating them? The answer is yes, but with the proviso that there will be fewer flavonoids than in the raw fruit. The berries themselves and their juices should be among your regular foods for gout, and think of jams, preserves and spreads as useful additions.

Ideally purchase products that are organic, with a high fruit content and which are preferably sweetened with grape juice. If they are sweetened with red grape juice they will also have some quercetin. Low glycemic index (GI) jams and preserves are also a good choice. So check food labels carefully.

Berries in season are the best, wild berries even better. When berries are not in season, buy them frozen, buy canned, or take their dietary supplements. Freeze as many as you can. Drink their juices of course.

Fruit juices Make you own fruit juices.

Buy a real juicer (not the same as a blender). Even if you prefer commercially made ones there will be times when you run out or can’t find the exact one in the shops.

If you make your own juice how do you ensure you’re getting the recommended amount of the fruit as if you were eating the fruit? The answer is to make the juice from the same amount of fruit. Thus if 8 ounces (227g) of berries is recommended, make the juice from 8ozs (227g) of berries. Your own juices from fresh fruits will give you more of the flavonoids and other vita nutrients, than most commercially prepared ones.

Click here to read why cranberry juice is probably NOT one of the foods that help gout

For good tips on juicing fruits visit: www.happyjuicer.com

If you can take delivery in the U.S. we recommend the berry raspberry product below from Swanson Vitamins. Standard shipping within the U.S.is $4.95 on any size of order. Swanson also ship internationally. For more details about Swanson shipping rates -click "$4.95 shipping", top right corner of the swansonvitamins.com home page.

Click on the buy button does not commit you. It takes you to the prodict page at Swanosn Vitamins.

Swanson Premium BrandFull-Spectrum Black Raspberry Rich in anthocyanins A natural source of flavonoids and vitamin C Full-spectrum whole-herb form of Rubus + occidentals

Clicking on the buy button does not commit you. It takes you to the product page at MotherNature.com

Natural Source Elderberry Concentrate - 8 oz We use the finest fruit available and process it at low temperatures to retain as much of the natural goodness as possible.

Dynamic Health Elderberry Extract Liquid - 8 oz Natural Black Elderberry 100% Juice Concentrateis a Non-Alcoholic source for the health benefits of Elderberries. A medically proven strong anti-viral and immune system enhancer, elderberry is recommended as part of a health maintenance program.

Return from more top berries to best-gout-remedies.com home page