gout - tag category postings

I have Gout and I hate it. I am ‘only’ 38 years old but so far already I have had one attack about a year ago, and then another a couple months ago. Do you have gout? If so what has worked for you?

For those of you who are not familiar with gout, it is a condition that occurs in those whose kidneys are not able to break down the uric acid crystals that occur from the digestion and break down of purines ( found in many high protein foods and shellfish).  It is a form of inflammatory arthritis and over 5 million people in the United States are affect by gout every year.

I can tell you from first hand experience that gout is really painful. It sucks big time.  I got it on the right foot when it is at its worst it almost feels like my foot is on fire. Geez. Not good.

But anyway, what does this have to do with diet? Apparently a lot.  You want to avoid foods high in purine content. Many seafoods fall into this category as well as certain meats as well.  Here is a great table which lists most foods and their purine levels. I actually sorted that table in an excel spreadsheet so that it lists all the foods in order from highest to lowest based on total purines content.

I was surprised to see lobster actually not too high on the list. Yes! Because I love lobster.  But my experience with avoiding certain foods in the last few weeks seems to have limited results and it has become hard to determine whether or not my diet is even making a difference at all in my gout attacks.

I have completely quit coffee and caffeine as supposedly that is bad for recurrent gout attacks and I think chocolate is bad too. Geez! All the good stuff and I can’t have it! Wahhhhh. Strangely enough chocolate is not on that list in the large table of purines link above.

Anyway I am going to see my doctor and see what they recommend. I hate to start going on medication but maybe it is time.  Apparently the FDA has approved the first new drug for gout in 40 years called Uloric. So will have to see what the doc says as far as meds go.

Dr. Weil recommends the following natural methods of ridding yourself of Gout:

• Avoid meats that are particularly rich sources of uric acid such as organ meats, sardines and anchovies. Physicians used to advise cutting back on purine-rich plant foods such as lentils, peas, beans, mushrooms, cauliflower and spinach; however, recent research has shown no correlation between eating such foods and incidence of gout attacks.
• Eliminate coffee and all other caffeine sources from the diet.
• Minimize alcohol consumption. Alcohol promotes dehydration and irritates the urinary tract.
• Drink the full complement of eight eight-ounce glasses of water daily to flush uric acid from the system and prevent urate crystal deposition.
• If you are overweight, lose the excess pounds.
• Eat tart cherries in all forms – fresh, or as cherry juice, or in the form of tart cherry extract. Laboratory findings at Michigan State University suggest that ingesting the equivalent of 20 tart cherries inhibits enzymes called cyclooxygenase-1 and -2, which are the targets of anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Take bromelain, a compound of digestive enzymes and other compounds extracted from pineapple stems.

His cherry juice recommendation and bromelain tip are interesting. Anyone here ever had any good results with cherry juice? Cherry juice is not something that seems very easy to find in your local grocery store. I have noticed a bunch of websites selling cherry juice direct to you but at quite a hefty price.  Seems they are all jumping on the bandwagon and the FDA recently warned them to be careful with their claims about gout cures since it cannot be said that cherry juice is a proven cure.