Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

What are Causes, Symptoms and Diet for Gout?

Proteins are the foundation of gout. Some proteins come from the food we eat, but most are made from our bodies cells as they naturally decay and replenish. Uric acid, a waste product from the breakdown of proteins, is produced (bird droppings are full). This acid is not fully soluble. Imagine sugar crystals being dissolvable in a glass of water. When you stop stirring, they sink down to the bottom. The bloodstream carries uric acid crystals into the kidneys. They are responsible for separating out unwanted substances from the urine and redistributing the water and salts back into the bloodstream.

Let’s understand it

Gout is a sign that something is wrong. Your kidneys cannot handle more uric acid, so not enough is being flushed out. The tiny crystals that are still in the bloodstream eventually sink to the bottom, most commonly causing ankle pain. However, other joints in the foot, thumbs, and knees may also be affected. Drinking plenty of water can help your kidneys perform their duties. The crystals in your water are likened to a sugar jug. Gout attacks can be caused by any activity that dehydrates you, such as drinking alcohol, exercising on hot days, or going on holiday.

Diuretics (or ‘water tablets’), are sometimes prescribed as part high blood pressure treatment. These diuretics cause the kidneys not to return as much water and salt into the bloodstream, but to release more into the urine. This treatment reduces the burden on the heart by reducing its need to pump blood around.

Hydration

Water is heavy stuff. To keep the uric acid concentration down, it is important to give your kidneys enough liquid to work with. Gout affects only humans and higher primates. This makes it difficult to test for it in a laboratory. Gout advice tends towards diet, with purines being the ‘gout baddies. Like proteins, purines are part of all animals and plants’ genes. Only 30% of the proteins we ingest come from food. The rest comes from our cells.

Red meat, seafood, game meats, offal, oily and oily fish have high purine levels and have been shown increase uric acid, while fruits and vegetables do not. Even low-fat dairy products containing high levels of purine have been shown to be beneficial.

Remember

A diet that excludes certain foods may be worth a try. It may work for someone with slightly damaged kidneys. Gout is on the rise and biochemists are better able to understand its causes. To get the compassion you deserve, you can stop reacting insensitively to your pain by calling it crystal-induced arthritis.

 

Leave a comment