Bicarbonate of Soda, bread soda, cooking soda, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate... all names for Baking Soda.

What is Baking Soda? Here's what you will find at Wikipedia:

Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs. The natural mineral form, nahcolite, is found in dissolved form in bile, where it serves to neutralize the acidity of the hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach, and is excreted into the duodenum of the small intestine via the bile duct.

Why is Baking Soda so good for Gout?

Baking Soda has been used for relieving the symptoms of Gout for hundreds of years. The condition of Gout is well-known for the high levels of Uric Acid that develop in the blood stream.

Uric Acid is a natural and normal part of our metabolism that is an important and essential Free Radical. It helps to eliminate pathogens and microscopic foreign invaders that cause various illnesses but when it becomes too concentrated, the body deposits it as crystals in a number of different joints throughout the body.

Baking Soda is a natural alkalizing agent and is used for many different medical applications including forms of Metabolic Acidosis like Chronic Renal Failure and Renal Tubular Acidosis. Typically the over-abundance of Uric Acid in the blood is an indication of an over-all condition of Acidosis and the sign that the pH of the body chemistry is down at the acidic levels.

In the event of a Gout Attack, periodically smalls doses of Baking Soda will serve to raise the pH of the body back up to the alkaline levels and also keep the Uric Acid in solution. Additionally, it will dissolve the Uric Acid Crystals that have already formed. It is especially effective when combined with Apple Cider Vinegar or Lemons or Limes.

The medical industry is fully aware of the effectiveness of Sodium Bicarbonate and uses specialized forms of it to neutralize many different acidic conditions. The question that needs to be asked is: "Why don't we use natural alkalizing agents to relieve the Acidosis that causes Gout Attacks instead of using anti-inflammatory drugs and drugs that inhibit the production of Uric Acid?"

So much emphasis is placed on limiting the production of Uric Acid rather than addressing the general Acidosis of the body when plagued with Gout; the corrosive damage and oxidation that is the root cause of so many other degenerative diseases is swept under the rug.

Gout is just a painful Omen of Heart Disease and Diabetes.

The typical "treating of the symptoms" of Gout by western medicine is another example of how our current medical system is designed to manage diseases rather than promote wellness. If our MD's observed the overall acidity that is generated by our diets and lifestyles and did not add to the acidity with pharmaceutical drugs, we could maintain a far higher degree of health and dispense with the need of so many detrimental prescription drugs.

The measured and moderate use of Baking Soda is a perfect example.