Gout

Gout used to be called the rich person’s disease. Part of the reason for this is that one of the causes of gout has to do with diet and rich food was always considered to be a major cause of gout. Here are some facts about gout that are worth taking into consideration. Ninety percent of people with gout are men who are over the age of 40. Even though younger people can get gout, it doesn’t happen all that often. In the United States alone, there are more than a million people that have gout attacks annually.

Gout, and this might be a surprise for you, is actually a form of arthritis which comes from too much uric acid. Your kidneys can’t handle all uric acid in your system and what happens is that the uric acid crystals build up in your joints and you start feeling a lot of pain. Meat is considered a big contributor to gout. Actually, centuries ago, it was known as the disease of royalty.

Another cause of gout is alcohol, so as being overweight, and this seems a contradiction in terms, but crash dieting can also cause gout. It can also be the side effect of other diseases, such as, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart failure. Not drinking enough water also is very bad for gout. The more water you drink, the easier it is to keep the uric acid flushed out of your system.

Now if you want to kind of prevent gout, or at least curtail it when it does strike, here are some things you can do at home. Aside from drinking lots of water, eat a lot of fresh fruits, in particular, pineapple and cherries. Sometimes you can simply drink pineapple juice instead of eating fresh pineapple, but make sure that you’re drinking 100 % fruit juice, not a reconstituted fruit drink.

Speaking of drinking water to handle gout, the rule of thumb is a cup of water for every waking hour. Other fruits that are really good for combating gout include blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries. And when we talk about the servings, you should have at least a cup a day, not a cup of each fruit, but a combined cup a day of these fruits. You can have, for instance, a cup of strawberries, or a cup of blueberries, half a cup of each, third a cup of strawberries, third of blueberries, and a third of cranberries.

There’s a catch here though, sugar is also bad for gout, and if you eat too many really sugary fruits, you’re kind of defeating the purpose. Cranberry juice is one of the least sweet fruit juices, and if you like cranberries, some people love them, they are great cooked up and served with the main dish, they are nice and tangy. Also, don’t forget vegetables, a minimum of five servings of vegetables a day will really really help with gout.

There’s one thing in particular - a by-product of food that you need to watch out for - and that’s purine. Too much purine actually turns into uric acid crystals, and this is just an invitation to gout. So if you want to cut down on your purine, cut back on alcohol - beer in particular - and watch the intake of poultry such as chicken and turkey. Cut down on red meat. Be careful with yeast. Some types of fish also have high levels of purine. This includes mackerel, salmon, herring, and shellfish.

Here’s a nice home remedy that people have sworn by. You mix a third of cup of ground ginger with a little bit of water, and soak your foot or feet, if they both have gout, in this. The ground ginger will make your feet sweat, and the sweat will carry off some of the excess uric acid.

Other people say that if you get fresh lemons, and squeeze half of the lemon into a glass of water and drink it three times a day, the vitamin C in the lemon will help break down the uric acid crystals. Another mixture that you can apply to swollen joint suffering with gout, is mix a cup of water, a cup of vinegar, and a teaspoon of pepper, boil it together, and then dab it on your swollen ankle or joint. Then you wrap up the swollen area. On top of that, make sure that you apply it and leave it wrapped up for two or three hours.