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Suffering from Gout?

1tandrews4 | Dec 30, 2009 |

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Most people have heard of gout, but are not sure what to do when the pain starts. Remedies for gout may be simpler than you thought.

In strict medical terms, gout is a kind of arthritis in which excess uric acid (produced when digesting certain foods, such as coffee, protein, soft drinks, and some heavy foods) in blood, tissue, and urine crystallizes in the joint, making the patient unable to purge uric acid. It attacks suddenly and can last several days. The latest estimates are that about two million people have gout, with most being middle-aged men and post-menopausal women, the latter prone due to the estrogen drop.

So how do you relieve gout if you suffer from it? One way is to cut back on coffee, protein, soft drinks, and some heavy foods such as asparagus, mushrooms, organ meat, and shellfish. Another is to eliminate foods to which you become allergic. Vitamins are effective gout remedies. A third may be to moderate your vitamin B intake-excessive doses or overdoses can provoke uric acid levels to swell. A fourth is to increase your potassium intake, either by taking potassium supplements up to 3,500 mg, or higher or eating more potassium-high foods.

If you are taking diuretics, you may want to consult your doctor. Some diuretics used in weight maintenance, controlling heart disease, or rheumatoid arthritis can lift uric acid levels by lowering potassium.

Preventing gout is just as easy as finding home remedies for gout. Aside from eating potassium-high foods and more fruits and vegetables (which block uric acid from crystallizing), some preventatives include lemon juice, baking soda (a half teaspoon with meals), adding a little more fiber to your diet, and . . . sex. Apparently, a hike in sexual activity equals a drop in uric acid levels in men.

For the vitamin conscious, other gout preventatives include brome lain (500 mg, twice a day), fish oil (2 grams, twice a day), L-glutamine (500 mg, four times daily on an empty stomach), L-glutathione (500 mg, twice a day on an empty stomach), L-glycine (500 mg, four times a day between meals), L-methionine (250 mg twice a day on an empty stomach), and magnesium citrate (400 mg three times a day).

The first is an anti-inflammatory agent while the second cuts the chances of inflammation. The first three L supplements act as antacids while the fourth is a detoxifier. In addition, magnesium citrate is a pain reliever for gout sufferers.

If you suffer gout, you can also take shark cartilage (3-6 capsules a day) to eliminate pain; tissue salts (Silicea, two tablets three times a day, raised to three tablets during an attack); vitamin C (1,000 mg per hour at the onset of an attack; 500-3,000 mg a day for regular maintenance); and, vitamin E. (One hundred IU, raised slowly to 600-800 IU, daily.)