re: Gout
Just an FYI, a good friend of mine gets gout from time to time, and swears that getting a jar of maraschino cherries, drinking the juice and then eating the cherries gives some pretty quick relief.
Some people use cherry extract, some use celery extract, some use Sodium Bicarbonate, but believe me those are like a BB compared to a 45 caliber of the pharmaceuticals. Actually, the best anti-acute-gout-attack (as opposed to attack prevention) drug is colchicine, derived from the plant autumn crocus, but is extremely toxic and a relatively small overdose can kill. I keep those locked up.
I have a supply of Knudsons Black cherry juice Pure.
Drink shots of it with that first tinge and I mean first little tinge of a gout attack and get those uric acid levels back down.
I will say that it works (I will take an advil if it comes on full blown) in a 3-4 day therapy just as well as what the doc gives.
Trick is catching it early before you are in extreme swelling and pain.
It is painful enough that the first tinge (feels like a joint popping with discomfort) is reconizable.
I can go bouncing/running around the property playing with the dogs and just the uneven twisting can set off an attack if my uric acid level and hydration is off.