Gout is an inflammation of the joint caused by a high uric acid level in the bloodstream. This acid forms into crystals, which get caught in the joints, and grinds on them like sand in a machine. Once the joint is damaged, the swelling and tenderness and pain result. The symptoms of the disease are well known, but the root cause is only recently understood.
Holistic practitioners will sometimes try to treat the symptoms, without being able to treat the underlying cause. They may help relieve some of the pain and swelling, but ultimately, it will return!
So how do you prevent gout? Your doctor may prescribe you medicine. Prednisone is a common steroid that is used to treat gout – but this is treating the swelling and the pain. Much the same as other NSAID’s, this is a temporary fix, but it brings significant relief – which is important! Helping the pain is absolutely an important treatment.
But if you only treat the swelling and pain with prednisone and other pain killers, ignore the underlying condition, and you also don’t have any current flare-ups, you might think you have things under control.
Your gouty condition will continue to develop behind the scenes and your general health will deteriorate as a result of treating the symptoms, and not the cause. Some of the medicines for stopping pain have terrible side effects and do long term damage to your liver and stomach.
Alternative medicine, then, says you would want to overhaul your diet first, for a diet rich in purine foods can absolutely be a root trigger food for your gout.
Foods high in purines and are therefore to be avoided: Meat gravies, stocks, organ meats, shellfish, anchovies, sardines, herrings, mussels, mushrooms and asparagus (although plant purines have recently been shown to have little effect on Uric Acid levels. Your trigger foods may vary!). Alcohol, particularly beer is high in purines, and for that reason must be avoided. Any alcohol taken should be followed by copious amounts of water to avoid dehydration and consequent uric acid build-up. Meat, white flour, sugar, poultry, dried beans, fish, oatmeal, cauliflower, spinach and peas are moderately high in purines, and may need to be avoided.
The ideal diet should contain lots of organic fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and a very important dietary addition is wheatgrass. Fruits, vegetables and juices assist the excretion of uric acid, and foods that neutralize uric acid are strawberries, cherries, and celery juice, also drink lots of filtered water. Many people have found that the addition of cherry juice to their diet has prevented further gout attacks.
You may be given herbs or homeopathic remedies for your condition; however a change in your dietary habits may be all that is needed to improve your health. What a simple answer to what could remain a lifetime problem if you may no effort to change your eating habits. If you wish to rid yourself of your gout, alternative medicine can certainly help you.
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