Riding, diet and gout
 

This has been a good year for me cycling wise. Probably more riding this year than I've done in the last 10.
It has also been a social summer. A lot of beers and BBQ.
Well, 2 days ago, I woke up with foot pain. I thought I just wore some poorly made sandals and there was not enough support, but after 2 days it got worse, I went to see the doctor and he told me I had gout!!!
I guess it can be a an age thing. Very active, but 1 out of 3 (active, food, alcohol) and it will still get you.
I like to use natural cures along with modern medicine, but there is very little out there, so I am taking pills, then some more pills

https://www.google.com/search?client...causes+of+gout Take a look at some of the web sites Google found. You may get some hints about diet that will reduce your symptoms. Evidently, certain foods promote gout and others do just the opposite. Good luck.

I'd start there as what not to do.

But riding is always good IMO.

Moved from 50+ to Pills and Ills.

Yours is starting late and will hopefully be amenable to dietary changes although I never found any coherent guide to what will or will not exacerbate gout. I was plagued with gout in my 40s and finally began taking daily allopurinol and have not had a recurrence. I don't like taking unneeded meds either but made an exception for allopurinol. The only other pills I take are a few supplements.

See your doctor and/or a dietician - and not a "nutritionist" (who are generally quacks, or at least not nearly as qualified). If you're lucky you can identify what behaviors may contribute to having the symptoms of gout... as suggested, "beer and BBQ" is a good place to start.

With the help of my GP, I was able to narrow down my "symptoms of gout" (in my 30s) to binging on "Cool Ranch Doritos" and some processed meats, chorizo mostly. I'm sure everyone is different.

A nice side-effect of a thorough and objective analysis of your dietary intake might be identifying other potential risk areas. In my case, it was quickly evident my sugar intake was ridiculous (added to coffee, and Pepsi). Cycling and other sporting activities masked any outward signs, as I'm not overweight - but your body still has to process what you put into it.

Good luck!

You could try tart cherry juice , look for the good stuff with out added sugar. It does not take much.Also just fresh cherries just one or two a day might do the trick to prevent attacks .I am a 40 year gout sufferer who has been in reasonable control for about 30.

cut out ANY animal meat & ANY alcohol (especially now while fighting an attack). eggs are OK. drink lots of water. sometimes add fresh squeezed lemon juice, sometimes add unfiltered apple cider vinegar

after you recover, experiment adding back some moderate alcohol & animal meat

if this is your first gout attack it will probably recover OK with pills. if you don't cut out (or reduce) meat & alcohol the attacks will come back & become worse with each attack

it took me years to discover this information & to get to a point where I can eat meat & drink alcohol w/o fear of an attack. I still continue the lemon juice & apple cider vinegar

good luck

Alpurinol, vitamins, good fitting shoes and riding the hell out of my bike.....my fixes.

High fructose corn syrup in sodas was my trigger. Nothing and I mean nothing has ever hurt so bad as a full blown attack.

Eat plants, don't eat dead animals.

Certainly worth a try but it won't help everybody. Gout runs in my family and effects the meat eaters and the vegetarians. Allopurinol is the answer for us. That said, eating well is good for lots of reasons.

I have gout, (well periodically) never heard of Allopurinol until today, it is to reduce the production of uric acid. This is what has worked for me. Don't get dehydrated, don't get stressed out. Yeah sometimes hard to do, but don't get dehydrated, stressed out and drink a bunch of beer. I had a bunch of attacks, then when the opportunity arose to give up my lead job at work, I jumped on that one. Same pay, no stress, those fools can waste money any way they want, at least I can walk. I was prescribed colcrys and indomethacin and when I feel it coming on, I take them. For me the bottom line seems to be not caring at all how my employer group wastes money and not getting dehydrated. Simple as that! My office can get pretty hot, upper 70s easy. All the people and computers. Sounds simplistic but there is a stress element to gout. Oh yeah, sometimes my wife helps me get all stressy, forgot that part.

do the veggies drink alcohol?

We’re Irish.

I suspect dehydration, beer and sausage but it's unpredictable. My uric acid is always high but attacks are usually a couple of years apart so I don't take meds. I once had an attack at the beginning of a week long bike tour. Pedaling was tolerable (lots of Alleve) but clipping in was excruciating. I left the shoe clipped to the pedal which was awkward because it was my "down" foot. I only toppled over once but did a lot of planning ahead for dismounts.

Ive had 2 bad flare ups. Dehydration+seafood+stress+beer and bang! I have the Allopurinol at hand for work assignments that involve travel and a lot of walking.

I can't take any strong NSAID because it tears up my stomach. The doctor went through all kinds of stuff to relieve my gout before she gave me a steroid to relieve the inflammation. She said treat it like it is - a form of arthritis. I have sworn off all shellfish and try not to each much red meat but my primary weakness is beer - a habit that I have had for 40+ years. It's hard. I like beer. It makes me happy.

I have occasional flare-ups and they do not seem to correspond to any dietary factors. I suspect in my case it has to do with the kidneys. Recently I've begun eating a bundle of fresh asparagus each week. A 1 lb. bundle provides me with three servings. I observed during the first week that my urine had that classic post-asparagus pungency the morning after the first serving. It was less pungent after the second serving, and had no discernable odor after the third. This suggested to me that the asparagus was cleansing my kidneys. I got the idea after reading about the asparagus cure. I need more time to evaluate it as a cure for gout though. For the past decade I've had two or three flare-ups each year. The worst attack came after eating about a pound of animal crackers over a 24 hour period. The cow-shaped crackers are the worst offenders.

I had that a few years back. Was still able to get into my cycling shoes and ride, though.