How To Find The Best Diets For Gout

                

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Approximately 1 in every 363 people in the US have gout. So it is not surprising there are a lot of people looking for the best diets for gout, and the relief they can offer.

If you've had a gout attack you know just how painful it can be - a swollen, red, hot-to-the-touch, painful and stiff joint or joints. Once someone has had gout, they will do almost anything not to go through it again.

Urate crystals forming in the spaces between your joints and in the soft tissues surrounding the joints cause gout. These crystals have sharp, jagged edges that dig into the joint, causing inflammation and pain.

One of the differences between gout and 'normal' arthritis is the swiftness in which symptoms present themselves. Usually a gout sufferer has no idea that an attack is looming and will wake up in the middle of the night with a very sore joint, usually the big toe. This can be pretty worrying when the initial attack occurs, as many people don't associate the symptoms with arthritis, but as perhaps an infection or bite of some sort.

In order for urate crystals to form in the joints a person needs to have hyperuricemia. This condition, although not dangerous in itself, develops when there is an excess of uric acid in the blood stream.

When accumulation of uric acid in the blood reaches saturation point, urate crystals form. They strike the foot and ankle joints commonly, as these joints are cooler than the rest of the body and urate crystals need a cooler environment in which to form.

Uric acid is formed during the breakdown of purines in the body. Purine is found naturally in the body and also eaten in the food we eat in our diets. They are particularly high in animal proteins. For this reason, following a gout friendly diet is advisable if you've had a gout attack or gout runs in your family.

Unfortunately, some people are predisposed to gout, as their bodies do not efficiently eliminate uric acid. These people need to be especially careful with their diets to keep the levels of purine in the diet low.

Uric acid is dissolved in our blood and from there taken to the kidneys to be processed and eliminated in urine. If there is a problem with the processing function, either too much uric acid is produced, or the kidneys can't keep up, a build up occurs leading to hyperuricemia.

By avoiding foods high in purine we can help to reduce the amount of uric acid produced by the body.

Purine is found in a lot of what we eat, however, there are some purine-rich foods that are best avoided by gout sufferers ? Some of these are:

red meats
offal
processed meat
some shellfish
gravy
yeast and yeast extracts
alcohol

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When adopting a diet for gout you should look to avoid or severely restrict your intake of purine rich foods and eat instead a low fat, low purine diet. This doesn't have to mean dull and boring though, as there are many foods that fall into this category.

You'll notice that alcohol is on the foods to avoid list. This is because it raised uric acid production and alcohol like beer is high in purine. When having an attack all alcohol should be avoided.

Once your symptoms have disappeared you could introduce some alcohol back into your diet, however, it should only be in moderation or you may run the risk of inducing another attack.

Staying sufficiently hydrated is very important for everyone, but more so for gout sufferers as it helps to dilute the uric acid and allows the kidneys to flush excess uric acid through your system faster.

By working out which are the best diets for gout and knowing what to avoid you increase your chances of removing your gout symptoms quickly and efficiently.

By Lisa McDowell. Sign up for a free newsletter & discover which are the best diets for gout and how they can be an effective as a natural cure for gout.

Gout: How Do I Know I Have It?

                

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Gout is more prevalent in men who are older than forty, and women who are menopausal. A gout episode typically occurs during the night, and will be accompanied by severe pain and swelling of the affected joint, within twelve to twenty-four hours. These episodes can last upwards of five to ten days. The exact cause of Gout is unknown, but many doctors and scientists speculate that it could have to do with a genetic defect within the metabolism causing an overproduction and retention of uric acid, kidney impairment preventing normal elimination of uric acid, environmental factors like obesity, a purine-rich diet or alcohol abuse, diseases of the blood cells, certain cancers, or the use of water pills.

Episodes of gout are typically triggered by the consumption of too much alcohol, surgery, a sudden or severe illness, injury to a joint, chemotherapy, eating too many of the wrong foods, or surgery.

There are typically four stages that occur with Gout: The Asymptomatic Stage, Acute Stage, Intercritical Stage and the Chronic Stage. The Asymptomatic stage is marked by a rise in urate levels in the blood, but no symptoms are actually present at this time. The Acute stage is the stage where symptoms begin to appear, in the form of sudden attacks of joint pain, swelling, and a dusty or bruised appearance. The symptoms usually last between five and ten days. The Intercritical stage is marked by symptom free intervals wedged between episodes of Gout. It takes most people around six months to two years before they have another episode of gout, but there are others who remain symptom-free for up to ten years. The chronic stage is marked by persistently painful joints that develop large deposits of urate in the cartilage, joint stiffness and limited motion of the affected joint.

Doctors diagnose Gout based on the symptoms that are presented, as well as blood tests that show high levels of uric acid where there should not be, and the finding of urate crystals growing in joint fluid. There is damage to the cartilage and bones on the x-rays of people with chronic gout.

Approximately 75% of the first attacks occur in the big toe, but other joints including the ankle, heel, knee, instep, elbow, fingers and spine can also be affected.

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Gouty Arthritis Explained

                

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Gouty arthritis, or simply gout, has left a long and tortured legacy through history of pain and suffering. If treated promptly and correctly, gout is a one-time thing for many sufferers, but it hasn?t always been that way.

The first ever recorded cases of gouty arthritis go back to ancient Egypt in the year 2640 B.C. Later, it was Hippocrates who wrote of an ailment he called podagra, or as it was known at that time, ?the un-walkable disease.? The commonly held belief during that time was that bodily health was dictated by the four ?humors?. It was believed that as long as the four humors were in balance with each other, proper health was maintained. When someone suffered from ?the un-walkable disease,? it was thought that one of the humors had dropped into the infected joint and that was what caused the swelling and inflammation.

Since the first reported cases of gouty arthritis, the disease has been associated with the wealthy. During the middle ages, the ailment was given the tag ?the disease of kings? because of its association with alcohol and rich foods.

Treatment for gouty arthritis has evolved over time, as well. The use of colchicine, which is still sometimes prescribed today to cure gout, was used over two millennia ago in ancient Greece, but just for general health purposes. The first sign that this compound was used specifically for gout was in the sixth century.

Today, gout is usually treated by prescribing chemical or natural substances that remove the uric acid from the body as quickly as possible. The first evidence that this method of treating gout was used was towards the end of the 19th century.

There are, however, many all natural and common sense treatments for gout that don?t involve taking any pills at all. A combination of diet control and small lifestyle changes can keep you gout free for life.

A good first step is to lose weight. The additional stress that your joints experience makes them more vulnerable to gouty arthritis. Also, losing weight is a way to naturally lower the amount of uric acid your body retains. The less you retain, the less likely you will develop gout.

Adjusting your diet so that you eat less than six ounces of lean meat a day can help keep gout away, as well. The more animal protein in your blood steam, the higher the chances are of you developing gout. You don?t have to give up chicken, fish or lean meat, but in this case, enjoying a little less can benefit you.

The evils of alcohol again rear their ugly head. The consumption of alcohol can limit the amount of uric acid the body disposes of. If you?re a guy, limit your alcohol to two drinks a day, and if you?re a woman, keep it at one. If you have acute gout, don?t touch the booze at all.

Believe it or not, but simply drinking an extra glass of water a day can help keep you gout-free. The more water you drink, the more uric acid gets flushed out of your system.

The devilish disease known as gout has been with us since day one, and even with all the common sense precautions in the world, it will most likely be here until we?re all gone. But with a few small changes in your lifestyle, you can keep the Disease of Kings in permanent exile.
Lisa McDowell has an interest in Gout. For further information on Gout please visit Gout or Gout Symptoms .