How To Relieve Pain With a Gout Prevention Diet

                

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A lot of gout suffers are interested in following a gout prevention diet. Someone with gout can sometime be the butt of jokes, but it is no laughing matter. It used to be called the disease of kings, as it seemed to effect only royalty and the upper classes, as they were the only ones wealthy enough to eat a meat-rich diet. Nowadays gout can strike just about anyone, which is why a lot of sufferers are interested in following a gout prevention diet to ward off that next attack.

As we have become wealthier, our diets have expanded (along with our waistbands). Gout seems to be a by-product of all this 'good living'.

Gout is a particularly painful form of arthritis that tends to effect the foot and ankle joints and comes on extremely suddenly. Most sufferers are either woken up with a hot, inflamed and painful joint in the middle of the night or wake up in the morning wondering how their joint got to be so painful overnight.

Gout can be painful, debilitating and embarrassing, as friends usually don't understand just how painful a condition it is and the teasing can be pretty harsh. It also can lead to days off work as it can really effect your ability to get around. So unless you have an understanding employer, it pays to find ways to stop further attacks from happening.

There are medications that you can take for the initial attack, but these are aimed at reducing the swelling and taking away the pain rather than tackling the root cause, which is a build up of uric acid in the blood - A condition called hyperuricemia.

Hyperuricemia is not dangerous, however what it can lead to is deposits of uric acid crystals between the spaces and connective tissues in the joints. It is these sharp, jagged needle-like crystals that cause the extreme pain and swelling and explains how gout can come on so suddenly.

Uric acid is produced during the breakdown of purine - a natural compound in our bodies and the food that we eat. Normally our bodies process uric acid fairly efficiently by dissolving it in the blood and excreting it via the kidneys in urine.

Problems occur when the body can't eliminate uric acid quickly enough or production is stepped up. This can be down to eating a purine-rich diet, drinking too much alcohol or becoming dehydrated.

This is where a gout prevention diet comes into it's own. To rebalance your body and get uric acid production and elimination back to normality you should do the following:

1. Lose excess weight.
Around half of all gout sufferers are overweight or obese. Losing the extra pounds will decrease the strain on your kidneys and allow them to process uric acid efficiently.

2. Drink more water.
We all know we should be drinking around 8 - 10 glasses of water a day. Our bodies need this amount of water to function properly. When we don't drink enough water, we become dehydrated and our organs struggle to keep up with all that?s demanded of them. As a gout sufferer staying hydrated is vitally important as it helps to dilute uric acid in the blood, giving the kidneys an easier time of it during the elimination process.

3. Avoid or limit alcohol.
Ideally gout sufferers should avoid alcohol, however if you can't manage total abstinence then at least avoid beer. This contains high levels of purine that will elevate your uric acid levels. Keep all alcohol consumption to the bare minimum and alternate drinks with water.

4. Follow a low purine, low fat diet.
This is the key element to a gout prevention diet. By avoiding foods high in purine and sticking with low purine, low fat options you should return uric acid levels to a more normal level. This should stop crystals from forming and gout flare-ups from reoccurring.

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By Lisa McDowell. Sign up now for a free newsletter & discover more information on following a gout prevention diet as a natural cure for gout.