A Diet Plan For Gout With A Cherry On Top

                

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Almost 90% of gout victims are men over thirty years old.

But women can also suffer from gout, especially if they take certain medications such as blood pressure drugs. Most women who suffer from gout are 60 years or older.

Gout is a form of arthritis caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood, tissues, and urine. The uric acid can form crystals which collect in joints such as the big toe. In fact, your big toe can become so painful and swollen that even the weight of a bedsheet can be agonizing.

If gout isn't properly controlled, it can cause kidney stones and even more serious kidney disease. Gout is also associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

You should always consult a doctor for treatment of gout. But some of the drugs used for gout - such as allopurinol, colchicine, indomethacin, and prednisone - can cause serious side effects.

So you may want to discuss with your doctor if an alternative approach might work for you. An approach without the toxic side effects of gout drugs.

One dietary approach is simply to eat cherries. In the 1950s, Dr. Ludwig Blau discovered that he could keep his gout away by eating a minimum of 6 cherries a day. It helped his crippling gout so much that he was actually able to get out of his wheelchair and start walking again.

He discovered his "cherry cure" by accident. One day, he ate a large bowl of cherries and the next day, his foot pain was gone. He found that as long as he ate the cherries every day, his gout was controlled.

Many other people - some of whom have written to Prevention magazine - have also found relief by adding cherries to their diets.

Supposedly, if you already have crippling gout or if you feel a gout attack coming on, you should eat 15 to 30 cherries a day at first to get your gout under control, then 6 to 10 cherries a day after that to keep the gout away.

Red and black cherries - fresh, frozen or canned - have been used successfully to treat gout. Drinking several tablespoons of black cherry juice daily may produce the same effect.

It's best to eat the cherries or drink the cherry juice between meals.

So why do cherries work for some people with gout?

Because gout destroys the collagen that is needed to form connective tissue and cherries stop that destruction. Cherries also neutralize uric acid and have anti-inflammatory properties.

There are other changes you can make to your diet, too.

For example, eating a cup of strawberries may help to control gout.

You should also drink plenty of water to help flush the uric acid out of your body. Six to eight 8-ounce glasses a day is probably best.

Losing excess weight may also reduce uric acid levels, but it must be done gradually and under a doctor's supervision. Severe dieting or fasting can actually make your gout worse.

Many people also try to eliminate foods with high purine levels from their diets. Some of these foods may worsen gout by increasing your level of uric acid.

Some high-purine foods are meats, especially organ meats, gravies, herring, mussels, sardines, fish, and alcohol.

At least one study suggests that high-purine foods such as beans, peas, mushrooms, spinach and cauliflower do not make gout worse. But you should consult your doctor for the latest information and recommendations.

Important Disclaimer: This information is presented for educational purposes only. This isn't medical advice and it's not a substitute for any advice or treatment from your physician. You should always see your doctor before starting any new diet plan for losing weight or controlling gout.

Debbie Fontana is a full-time author and business owner who specializes in writing about health, weight loss, and nutrition. Discover how she used her delicious I Love to Cheat lifestyle diet to lose weight and reduce high blood pressure. If you also want to lose weight, she invites you to take a 100% risk-free trial of her I Love to Cheat lifestyle diet. For details, visit http://www.ILoveToCheatDiet.com

Help for Diabetes, Gout and More

                

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Overview of Gout

Gout is a systemic disease caused by the buildup of uric acid in the joints, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. This condition can develop for two reasons. The liver may produce more uric acid than the body can excrete in the urine, or a diet of rich foods (e.g., red meat, cream sauces, red wine) puts more uric acid into the bloodstream than the kidneys can filter. In both cases, a condition called hyperuricemia results. Over time, the uric acid crystallizes and settles in the joint spaces, most commonly in the first metatarsal phalangeal joint of the big toe or in the ankle joint.

Signs and Symptoms

The most common symptoms of gout are inflammation, swelling, and tenderness in the joint of the first toe. Touching or moving it is intensely painful and patients often say it hurts to have as much as a bedsheet over the toe. Gout develops quickly and typically occurs in only one joint at a time. Symptoms may develop in two or three joints simultaneously, but this is rare. If widespread symptoms occur, the condition is probably not gout.

Diagnosis

The most reliable way to diagnose gout is to examine the joint fluid for uric acid crystals. This is done by drawing fluid from the joint with a needle and examining it under a polarized light microscope. Although the test is invasive, the results are definitive, and a positive result facilitates proper treatment and quick relief.

Treatment

Treatment for gout involves decreasing the amount of uric acid in the joint. If dietary habits are the cause, the patient's lifestyle must be changed to avoid the condition. Gout is readily corrected with patient cooperation, and it is usually not treated unless it occurs frequently. Colchicine is a common medication for treating acute gout attacks. If continuous medication is necessary, the two most common choices are probenecid and allopurinol.

Prevention

Alcohol and rich foods are primary contributors to excessive uric acid levels. Although some patients have a genetic predisposition to excessive uric acid production, most gout patients have normal kidneys and uncontrolled dietary habits. Prevention is the best defense against the disease.

Many patients who suffer from gout continue to indulge, and suffer frequent attacks as a result. Although medication makes it possible to live with gout, the continued accumulation of uric acid in the joints eventually damages them, seriously inhibiting movement.

Overview of Diabetes

New to diabetes? Learn the basics check with your local diabetes clinic or research it on the internet.

A key to diabetes management is maintaining a regular exercise program. Its never too late to start see below. Sticking to dietary goals while eating out also can be very challenging see comments below.

20 million Americans and Canadians have diabetes. Nearly 7 million don't know it. Type 2 diabetes usually develops slowly, and the symptoms often go unnoticed. Our son developed a puffiness to his face which we noticed right away because we saw him only a couple of times a year. He and his wife put it down to simple weight gain. After 2 years they finally snapped to there being something wrong and when he was finally checked out his diabetes was off the charts. Fortunately, they caught it in time, but it should have been caught over a year earlier.

Nearly 90 to 95% of all people with diabetes have type 2. Who gets it? Just about any body. Fat, skinny, regular build, it makes no difference; just about everyone can develop diabetes. Most at risk are people regardless of body build who live on a high intake of junk food. Least at risk are people who eat a regular balanced diet.

What you may not know about diabetes the truth about insulin resistance. 92% of people with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance. Get the facts go to your local diabetes agency or research it on the internet.

Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes. Obesity is not a guarantee you will develop diabetes and many obese persons never develop it, but persons who are obese

Diabetic meals can be healthy and savory.

A key to diabetes management is maintaining a regular exercise program. Its never too late to start and you can do it with a simple walking program. Just walk 1 kilometer a day and over a period of a month build it up to two miles (3 kilometers) a day.

Sticking to dietary goals while eating out can be very challenging. Many, even most, restaurants cater to people with special dietary needs just ask. And learn those restaurants which do not and avoid them.

When it comes to diabetic nutrition, not sure what to believe? There are many stories out there, some believable, others not. Research what you need to know from trusted resources your local diabetes support center, the internet, friends who have diabetes.

The help of friends and family can make all the difference to someone with diabetes.

Help for Diabetes, Gout and Other Disorders

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On the testimonials page below I am L. Windblad and my wife is J.D. Windblad. I have long-term gout (since 1977), damage from gout including numbness and pain in the feet, a prostate which had ceased functioning for the past 2 years, and in Jan 2004 I was diagnosed with a lazy thyroid. By the end of January my thyroid was functioning normally, by April I was noticing an improvement in prostate functioning and by mid-May it was definitely clear that not only was the pain gone but feeling was coming back into my feet. This is written in June 2004 and its all still getting better.

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Loring Windblad has studied nutrition and exercise for more than 40 years, is a published author and freelance writer. His latest business endeavor is at http://www.organicgreens.us info@organicgreens.us