Fruits

Cherries and cherry-rich fruits may help reduce gout flares and uric acid levels

Two major clinical guidelines—the 2020 American College of Rheumatology and the British Society for Rheumatology/BHPR—both recommend adding cherries to the diet for gout management. The ACR issued a conditional recommendation following systematic review and GRADE consensus involving rheumatologists, internists, and patients. The BSR/BHPR guideline assigns a 92% recommendation strength (Level III evidence) for encouraging cherry consumption as part of comprehensive dietary management. While high-quality randomized trial data remains limited, both expert bodies concluded the potential benefits outweigh minimal risks. Cherries contain anthocyanins with anti-inflammatory and urate-lowering properties. Practical guidance centers on regular cherry intake—fresh, frozen, or as unsweetened juice—as an adjunct to standard urate-lowering therapy rather than a replacement.

Evidence

2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout

Clinical Guideline

Authors: Abeles, Aryeh M., Bae, Sangmee Sharon, Brignardello‐petersen, Romina, Dalbeth, Nicola, Danve, Abhijeet, FitzGerald, John D., Gelber, Allan C., Guyatt, Gordon, Harrold, Leslie R., Khanna, Dinesh, Khanna, Puja P., Kim, Seoyoung C., King, Charles, Lenert, Aleksander, Levy, Gerald, Libbey, Caryn, Mikuls, Ted, Mount, David, Neogi, Tuhina, Pillinger, Michael H., Poon, Samuel, Qasim, Anila, Rosenthal, Ann, Sehra, Shiv T., Sharma, Tarun Sudhir Kumar, Sims, James Edward, Singh, Jasvinder A., Smith, Benjamin J., Toprover, Michael, Turgunbaev, Marat, Turner, Amy S., Wenger, Neil S., Zeng, Linan, Zhang, Mary Ann

Published: June 1, 2020

The 2020 American College of Rheumatology Gout Guideline conditionally recommends adding cherries to the diet for gout patients. This recommendation was developed through systematic review and the GRADE consensus process involving rheumatologists, internists, and patient representatives. While evidence quality was acknowledged as limited, the potential benefits and low risk of harm supported inclusion as a conditional recommendation among the 42 total management recommendations.

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The British Society for Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout.

Clinical Guideline

Authors: Mallen, Roddy

Published: May 26, 2017

The BSR/BHPR guideline (Level of Evidence III, Strength of Recommendation 92%) recommends that inclusion of cherries in the diet should be encouraged for gout patients. While the evidence level is moderate (Level III), the recommendation is part of the comprehensive dietary approach endorsed by the British Society for Rheumatology for managing gout and preventing recurrent attacks.

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