Tell Me About Gout

this is from the NIH website:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001459/

Some diet and lifestyle changes may help prevent gouty attacks:

•Avoid alcohol

•Reduce how many purine-rich foods you eat, especially anchovies, sardines, oils, herring, organ meat (liver, kidney, and sweetbreads), legumes (dried beans and peas), gravies, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, consommé, and baking or brewer's yeast.

•Limit how much meat you eat at each meal.

•Avoid fatty foods such as salad dressings, ice cream, and fried foods.

•Eat enough carbohydrates.

•If you are losing weight, lose it slowly. Quick weight loss may cause uric acid kidney stones to form.

My brother's big toe is affected by gout and is occasionally so bad he has to go the emergency room to get his big toe joint drained. YUCK.

He said it is the most painful thing he has ever had (and this from a guy who when in college once, during a mountain repelling trip, repelled into a wasps nest and was stung 20 times.

His Drs have told him that the best way to manage it is moderation. So, beer is fine. steak is fine. mushrooms are fine. individually.

Don't have an appetizer of pickled herring followed by a steak for dinner with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, a spinach salad with dressing, and 3 beers. nightmare for uric acid buildup.

My mother suffers from gout but she doesn't talk about it very much. I know she takes medication but I don't know what kind. I have heard her say she has to avoid certain foods entirely (for example fried foods, especially with corn meal) and she does closely watch what she eats in general. Her flare ups are in her big toes and feet. When she has a flare up, she can't walk and she has a pair of crutches for those times. I have no doubt your friend is finding it limits his activities. My mother can't find a reliable doctor but I would encourage your friend to find the best doctors he can. The few times my mother has gotten a good doctor we have noticed a decrease in the number of flare ups. The disease is managed better with better doctors. I wish I had more to give you but I do wish your friend the best.

My father, brother and father-in-law have all suffered from gout. The list of foods to avoid by the NIH are all good. Medication helps, as well as 1tablespoon of tart cherry juice, I think that Knudens makes one, daily is very helpful. You can also eat cherries, but the juice works really well to reduce the flare ups. Hope this helps your friend.

Updated

My father, brother and father-in-law have all suffered from gout. The list of foods to avoid by the NIH are all good. Medication helps, as well as 1tablespoon of tart cherry juice, I think that Knudens makes one, daily is very helpful. You can also eat cherries, but the juice works really well to reduce the flare ups. Hope this helps your friend.

My brother has it, and it is apparently exceedingly painful. His started when he was eating lots and lots of spinach. Spinach, beans, and beer were staples of his diet, none of them good for gout. He has since cut out or reduced the spinach and beans from his diet.

He also eats cherries or drinks cherry juice, which is supposed to help.