If you are alcohol and meat lover, you are probably exposing yourself to gout possibility.
Gout is disease caused by the uric acid crystals accumulated in the bloodstream and stay at the joint of body. The symptoms of gout are pain, swelling, redness, and inflammation at joint. It usually happened on men. How does gout happen?
When the body produces too much uric acid, the kidney may not able to remove it, which causes the crystalize build up in the bloodstream. The crystal formation may cause by too much alcohol and medication intake, which increase the uric acid concentration. Food with high purines such as liver, peas, and beans are also the cause of gout too.
Usually, gout begins with attack on the midnight, where extreme swelling and aching in the big toe joints. Some people may suffer several joints pain, big toe, foot, ankle, or knee joints. Gout attack may last few days, or several weeks if serious. If it is well taken care, the symptoms can disappear, or it can lead to serious arthritis.
What Should I Drink and Eat
Water intake is one of the best to help on gout. The water serves as the joint lubricant. Also, the person will dehydrate as frequent alcohol intake, especially beer as it contains more purines compared to other alcoholic drinks.
Taking plenty of water can help to excrete the acid, which makes the kidney work easier and less likely to form crystal. If dehydration happened, it may cause kidney infections, stones, and failure. If you are doing high protein diet, you may be consuming more meat, which probably high uric acid in the food. Sufficient water intake can help the body to flush the harmful toxins out. Make sure your water is filtrated and safe for consume!
There are also several gout friendly foods which can help on relieving the suffer:
Cherries: Contains antioxidant (Anthocyanins) to help relieve inflammation and reduce gout attacks. Suggest consuming 15 cherries a day.
Apples: Contains malic acid to help neutralize the uric acid and relief gout.
Mustard Powder: Mix with wheat powder and water. Apply the paste on aching body part overnight to relieve gout pain.
Ginger: If you are suffering gout at the toe, soak the feet in the water with 1/3 cup of ground ginger for 30 minutes. This will help the sweating and eliminate uric acid. However, do take a bath afterwards to avoid skin irritation due to dry skin caused by ginger.
Stay positive and fight the diseases!
