Gout delivers a royal pain to the toe, knee and other joints. It is once known as “kings’ disease”, because it almost always afflicted the well heeled, this form of arthritis is an equal opportunity deployer. You’ll qualify for gout if your kidney loses some of their ability to flush away excess amounts of a by-product called uric acid. When uric acid crystallizes, it lodges in the joints, causing more than a crytal’s worth of pain.
When that occurs, the joint can get hot, swollen and tender. Sometimes the pain is so bad that it can actually wake you from a sound sleep. Gout occurs sporadically, but it hits like gangbusters, often in the middle of the night.
Foods to AVOID
The best way gout patients can avoid a purine-packed flare-up is to avoid foods in high in purine. Among the most loaded, containing from 100 to 1,000 milligrams per 3 ½ ounce serving:
Anchiovies Meat Extracts
Brains Mussels
Consomme Roast Beef
Liver Sardines
Kidney Sweetbreads
Heart Poultry
The following foods should be limited to no more than one serving daily, since they contain 9 to 100 milligrams per 3 ½ ounce serving.
Bean Mushrooms
Asparagus Oatmeal
Lentils Peas (dry)
Luncheon Meats Spinach
How to Avoid?
Here’s how to avoid a future round with the crystal attackers.
• Loose wait, but not too quickly. The majority of gout patients are overweight –usually 15 to 30 percent over their ideal weights.
• Control your Blood Pressure. Gout patients with hypertension have twice as much to worry about. That’s because some blood pressure medications boost uric acid levels. Try to control your blood pressure naturally by decreasing sodium intake, exercising regularly, reducing excess weight and controlling stress.
• Live without Liver. Foods in high substance called purine contribute to higher levels of uric acid.
• Drink lots of water. Help your kidneys flush excess uric acid from your system by going heavy on water. It is recommended to drink no fewer than five glasses of water each day.
• Give your sex life a kick. Urinating isn’t the only way to get rid of uric acid. Frequent sexual activity reduces uric acid levels. The study suggests that more sex means less gout – for men.
• Be sweet to your feet. Injure a big toe and you increase gout risk. Wear shoes around the house to protect your feet from everyday accidents.