When you think of treatments for gout, ginger is probably one of the last things you’d think of. It’s not very commonly known, but ginger is actually a really effective treatment for people with gout, for a number of reasons.
Here’s how to use ginger to relieve the symptoms of gout, naturally.
Ready?
Introducing Ginger!
Ginger is a root which is found in many dishes as a flavoring agent. It’s a natural root that can be bought very cheaply at almost any shop, and it’s much cheaper than any other gout medication or treatment!
People also take ginger for travel sickness, and it’s used as an anti-inflammatory treatment for many conditions, aside from gout. Because gout is an inflammation of the joints, ginger is very effective at relieving the symptoms of gout.
Ginger also has a number of other health benefits and is a great general anti-inflammatory agent.
That being said, there are some things you should know before you try ginger.
Here’s How It Works
Ginger contains anti-inflammatory agents called ‘gingerols’ and ‘shogaols’.
These help to relieve inflammation in your body. These can either be ingested directly by simply eating ginger, or indirectly by drinking ginger tea (more on this later) or using a hot soak/compress.
Before you try any of these ideas you should consult your doctor because ginger has been known to sometimes interact with other gout medications, and sometimes it can cause a bad reaction.
Make sure that before trying ginger to treat your gout, you ask your doctor what he/she thinks.
Who Should Use Ginger?
Anyone suffering from gout can use ginger as a natural cure but you should be more wary if you’re taking lots of other medications.
If you have any sort of heart conditions, heart bleeding trouble or other heart disorders, don’t use ginger as it’s been to known to cause a bad reaction and could make things worse.
Also, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid using ginger.
This isn’t because it’s very bad for you, but rather that there just isn’t a huge amount of research that’s been done on ginger and gout.
It’s safer to avoid it if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, but if you really want to try it and think it will work for you, consult your doctor first.
Ginger has also been known to interact badly with blood thinners as well, so if you’re using these at all, avoid using ginger as a treatment for now.
Generally, ginger will be fine as it’s a very natural treatment but it’s better to be safe if you don’t know for sure.
4 Ways to Use Ginger to Treat Gout
It’s really easy to use ginger for gout and there are a number of different ways you could use it. You could try one of these, or all of them, it’s up to you!
Here are the most common ways:
1. Drinking ginger tea
Boil the root for about half an hour or so, and then filter it to remove all the annoying little bits of ginger. You’re then left with a pure ginger water/ginger tea mix that you can drink.
You can then flavor it with honey or sugar if needed, as it might taste quite bitter just drank on its own. You could even mix it with other things like lemon (boil the lemons in the same water) or vinegar.
Vinegar is also said to be an excellent treatment for many conditions!
Enjoy the ginger and lemon tea just before bed, when symptoms are likely to cause a problem. The ginger and lemon mix is a great way of falling asleep better and faster at night by the way!
2. Cooking with ginger
Another way to treat your gout with ginger is to cook with it! Many dishes taste better with ginger, so start looking up recipes involving ginger. You can use ground up ginger or just chop the root up and cook it.
Some great dishes you could make with ginger are:
– Stir fries with chicken or lamb (and fresh vegetables)
– Fish dishes
– Cakes or sweet baked goods
– Chicken wings and great fillets
– Soup
3. Take a sucking sweet
There are many different brands of ginger sucking sweets available now. You can get a packet of crystallized (coated in sugar or flavoring) ginger to suck on during car journeys.
This will not only help treat gout but also reduce symptoms of travel sickness.
It’s an easy way to ingest ginger as well because you don’t need to think about it or prepare anything. Just grab a piece of crystallized ginger and start sucking on it!
Make it a habit of chewing on 2-3 pieces a day, and you’ll notice a difference within just a few days/weeks!
4. A hot compress/soak made with ginger
Ginger can also be used topically for gout on the physical limb that you’re treating.
The best way of doing this is to boil lots of ginger roots in some water, and then soak a towel in the hot ginger water.
Then, wrap the hot ginger-soaked towel around the inflamed limb, and leave it there to compress the joint/muscle for half an hour or so.
When it starts to get cold, soak the towel again and start the process from the start.
Here’s the best part:
You can do this as often as you like, to relieve symptoms. This would actually help relieve the symptoms of gout even without soaking the towel in ginger water. Using ginger water is an added bonus!
Here are some things to keep in mind
Side effects and warnings:
As mentioned before, it’s important to not use ginger if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, taking blood thinners, or have heart disorders and problems. It’s also important to not rely on ONLY ginger, as there’s not a huge deal of evidence to support it being used as a treatment for gout.
That’s not to say it doesn’t work because there are countless reports of ginger working really well for gout but you should include it as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle, along with any medicines and treatments you doctor has suggested.
Other than ginger, there are other herbal remedies that may help people suffering from gout. You can read the article here.
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