Archive for category Diet
Questions Being Raised About the Importance of Diet on Gout
Posted by Victor Konshin in Diet on August 27th, 2009
An article that will appear in the September Issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association calls into question the long held belief that those with gout need to maintain a “purine-restricted” diet. This article points out that some foods, such as some vegetables are very high in purines, yet research has consistently shown that consumption of these vegetables is strongly correlated with a reduction in uric acid levels and in gout attacks. Research has also shown that beer is strongly correlated with higher instances of gout even though modern beers often have very low levels of purines.
Although diet has long been assumed to be associated with hyperuricemia, this association remains to be verified. Studies that have reviewed the relationship of diet and hyperuricemia have found it to be a difficult and complex issue.
Gout and High Fructose Corn Syrup
Posted by Victor Konshin in Diet on June 1st, 2009
Last week I sent out a press release announcing my new, Beating Gout Starter Kit and got some surprising feedback. I received a letter from Audrae Erickson, President of the Corn Refiners Association criticizing my characterization of high-fructose corn syrup as a leading cause of gout, so I thought I would address the subject here.
The scientific research clearly shows that fructose has a direct metabolization path to uric acid. There have been several studies that have looking at soft drink consumption, both in it relationship to it ability to create uric acid in the body and directly as a cause of gout. These studies have shown a strong links between consumption of fructose and higher levels of uric acid and more frequent gout.
Uric Acid Levels and Gout
Posted by Victor Konshin in Diet, General, Gout Treatments on May 8th, 2009
If you have gout, it is important to get your uric acid levels tested regularly. This is important for a couple of reasons. First, if you are taking medication, or even natural remedies to lower uric acid levels, you want to make sure that they are actually working. You also want to make sure that you are maintaining a healthy uric acid level – too much uric acid and gout can occur (bad) – too little uric acid and neurological issues can occur (rare, but worse).
Second, uric acid levels can fluctuate wildly, from day to day, even hour to hour. A blood test gives you a snapshot of what your uric acid level is at that moment. You could be having a good day and your uric acid level is low. This might make you feel as though you do not need to take so much medication and scale back. Unfortunately, this will likely result in a gout attack.
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Secondary Gout
Posted by Victor Konshin in Diet, General, Gout Treatments on April 10th, 2009
For the overwhelming majority of people with gout (90%), gout is a genetic disease. These cases are called primary gout. In this article will talk about the other 10% – what is called secondary gout. There is a very long list of causes of secondary gout. Here I will talk about the most common and the most serious.
Lifestyle
The single most common cause of secondary gout are lifestyle issues. Lifestyle covers a lot of different areas. Unfortunately, one of the most common is obesity. About 60% of Americans are now considered obese and the number is still growing and is the leading reason why the incidence of gout continues to rise. Being overweight causes the body to create more uric acid but also reduces the bodies ability to eliminate uric acid. If you have gout and are overweight, the single best thing you can do for your gout, and for your overall health, is to eat a healthy, well balanced, reduced calorie diet, lose weight and exercise regularly (See “The ‘Skinny’ on Gout Diets”). Of course everyone that is overweight wants to do this but few people are actually successful, myself included.
The ‘Skinny’ on Gout Diets
Posted by Victor Konshin in Diet, Gout Treatments on April 2nd, 2009
Diet is the most common method dragged out as a means of controlling gout but as I have written in previous posts, diet alone can almost never eliminate gout. Research has shown that diet, even tightly controlled diets can reduce uric acid levels by at most 1-2mg/dL (55-110µmols/L). This can ‘cure’ gout only if your uric acid levels are just over the level where gout becomes possible. For example, gout is only possible in people with uric acid levels above 6.8mg/dL (380µmols/L). If your uric acid level is normally 8mg/dL(440µmols/L), then with a very tightly restricted diet, you might be about to pull it off, but if you slip up — you’re in trouble. If your uric acid level is normally 9mg/dL(500µmols/L) then the best you can manage is 7mg/dL(390µmols/L) which would definitely reduce the number of attacks, but can never eliminate them entirely.
What’s more interesting is that the most commonly referred to diet for people with gout is a “low purine diet” but few people, even medical professionals, really understand what this means. Yes, they may pull out some old chart that tells you to stay away from shellfish, beer and asparagus — among others, but you need to know these lists are only just guesses.
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Top 10 Gout Myths
Posted by Victor Konshin in Alternative Medicine, Diet, General, Gout Treatments on April 2nd, 2009
I am always taken aback at the number and persistence of gout myths. Just read a few Internet web pages on gout and gout treatments and it won’t take you long to find contradicting information – even from supposedly reputable sites. These myths are one of the key reasons why the quality of gout care for gout has fallen so much over the past few decades. Bad information keeps getting passed on – over and over. This article will help you understand some of these myths and learn the truth.
Myth #1: Gout is curable. There are tons of websites out there that promise “gout cures” if only you send them some amount of money. The truth is, that for 90% of cases, gout is a genetic condition. This is why gout often runs in families. Genetic conditions cannot be cured, only managed. The other 10 % of cases are called secondary gout. These are usually caused by some underlying medical condition. Some of these conditions can be very serious such as lymphoma or kidney disease. Only a small number of cases are truly ‘curable’. These cases are usually caused by high blood pressure medications called diuretics or extreme obesity. If you have gout, your doctor should check for a secondary cause of gout, if none is found, then you have a genetic condition that can only be managed.
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Vitamin C and Gout
Posted by Victor Konshin in Alternative Medicine, Diet on March 30th, 2009
Vitamin C has been in the news lately as a natural means of managing gout. It has been known for a long time that vitamin C intake helps the kidneys eliminate uric acid from the body and I wrote about it in my book, but this new study focused on seeing if this actually translated into a reduction in the frequency of gout attacks. The results are pretty compelling.
This study, which followed 46,994 men over the course of twenty years showed that taking over 1500mg of vitamin C per day resulted in a 45% reduction in the risk of gout attacks. Of course, taking this much vitamin C per day can be problematic for a couple of reasons:
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