I've recently been asked what I know about gout, presumably because they have had symptoms.  Fortunately, I'd recently watched / listened to several videos by an educator / nutritionist who had done a wonderful job about alkalinity / acidity / pH, and so I'd think to turn in her direction via the Internet and create a topic about gout here on Lumigrate.

My father struggled with gout, beginning almost immediately after my mother suddenly and unexpectedly died, when he was newly retired.  He was a very active man -- physically and mentally (perseverative, genius-type), who was with undiagnosed (always) fibromyalgia symptoms, autism characteristics (also not identified enough to be 'diagnosed' formally, but in both cases, the last decade or two of his life, providers would say they thought he likely had both conditions.) Was it the change in diet? The mental anguish and emotional stress that he was under chronically with a frosting layer of acute stress with being without a spouse unexpectedly? 

It became a holistic example -- despite our cooking meals and setting them up in the freezer to be heated for dinner, he wanted to get out and what's a better excuse than going to the grocery store? There, he'd purchase frozen meals which likely were not nearly as high quality as what was hand made and in his freezer.  But he attributed it to meat consumption, and whenever his toe would start to hurt he'd back off on how much meat he was eating, and it would subside. 

Then, when he was about 80, it was like he had body-wide inflammation suddenly go out of control within a period of one or two weeks.  Diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome by his primary care provider, and given antibiotics and wrist splints bilaterally, he finally listened to us about our symptoms with wheat or reveral when we abstained or minimized wheat.  Whenever he'd have problems with word finding when talking, I'd start looking in his kitchen for things he'd not realize had wheat, and he'd stop consuming whatever it was I inevitably found, and he'd go back to not having word finding problems.  Until one day a few years before he passed (which was at age 89) -- I couldn't find anything to suspect for his cognitive decline.

Then he mentioned he was tired because he had been having six ounces of diet cola in the afternoon for a couple of days... I'd forgotten about the other refrigerator and kitchen on the 'other side of the house' where his bedroom was.  Naturally, I flipped out about the artificial sweetener and generally toxic nature of such a product, and he quit consuming it -- and again his cognition went back to it's usual baseline. The more frail someone is, the more a 'little thing' can make a difference.  So, while I agree there's a lot to look at holistically about well-being or illness symptoms, the biggest factor typically is diet.  Gout is no exception. 

I also knew of someone middle aged who had a terrible diet -- the SAD diet (standard American diet), including alcohol abuse, who had gout as a health issue, as well as being post kidney cancer, if I remember correctly. These were the only points of reference I had that came to mind from my past experience related to gout.   Clearly I was with a gap in knowledge and should fill it, and create a topic on Lumigrate. 

Both of these men I'm referring to were using mainstream, organized, medicine -- allopathy --- which notoriously has lead to looking for 'a cause', and not the elaborate interplay of contributing factors / causes, within the complexity human being (or other animal -- veterinary medicine is based on the same foundation and has the same drawbacks as a result). 

The tendency to focus on the biochemical and dietary aspects, in the case of gout, is understandable.  I've found a fabulous educator on YouTube (free / $0, so that's good for those who won't or can't pay for subscription websites) who is my new go-to resource, and I was not disappointed in what I found.  (Many typos in it though, I'm leaving it as is so you can see.  The "7." is the number it is in a series of lectures that were recorded, so I suggest you consider spending a considerable amount of time and study effort in exploring what all her YouTube channel offers, if you find her as suitable as I do, naturally.  

www.youtube.com/watch

Published on Aug 11, 2015
7. The Acid / Akaline Balance, Barbara O'Neill

 This presentation is talks about acidic and akaline foods to the body, great for those also suffering from Arthritis or Gout too...

Her website is : www.barbhealth.com/  which has wonderful pictures -- of her -- of the center and surrounding area, the misty mountains ..... and has this to say about her:

Barbara O’Neill, author, educator, qualified naturopath and nutritionist, is also an international speaker on natural self-healing. She has raised eight children and is a specialist in women’s and children’s health.

She is also the health director of the successful Misty Mountain Health Education & Wellness Retreat, located in the Macleay Valley west of Kempsey, between Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie.

Barbara is passionate about good health and natural healing. She believes in giving the body optimum conditions in order for it to heal itself.

Barbara is a gifted public speaker who has an intimate knowledge of how the body works and has numerous talks on most aspects of health available on DVDs or from the Web.

Barbara is available for public speaking to companies, community groups, or churches and is sure to please those looking for motivation to live a longer, healthier and happier life.

Of course if you really want the ultimate health education experience, with Barbara as your guide … come for a week’s stay at Misty Mountain Health Retreat.

If you would like to know more about Misty Mountain, where Barbara works, please click Misty Mountain.

Naturally, I think about holistic (whole being), integrative (mind / body / spirit), functional (look for the underlying causes and contributors -- address those is the focus, while managing symptoms initially as needed, or after as much has been done as the person wants or can with addressing the underlying reasons.

About gout, my first 'impression' for a response was that I'd consider it to be, possibly, one of the 'overlapping conditions', which has proven to be a very helpful way of looking at health conditions for me for the past decade.  This came about organically when I was the OTR in the Primary Care Partners building in Grand Junction, Colorado (from 2005-2008), when I collaborated to begin and foster a free health information forum for people in the community who wanted to venture in from 4-5 or so on Thursday afternoons to our seminar area in the building. 

The focus of the group was 'fibromyalgia', which was quite the big buzz word in those days, baffling to all, really -- particularly the medical people but more dramatically those who were not helped well by the providers they had been consulting with.  This was the cusp of the 'take things into your own hands' approach that I teach ever since with the Lumigrate YOU! Model....

Learn as much as you can using the Internet, books, advisors who come through the Internet or phone, as well as those in person -- it's a new era today for solving health issues.  Naturally, the forum I've created at Lumigrate about Internet and Facebook resources is one place to get some ideas if you're new to this 'take the responsibility and put it on your plate' stuff.  When I look back on my journey, there were so many times I have helped guide good things for me based on my 'gut', or "TWIG" -- That Which is Guiding.  I've also had a lot of hardships due to relying on others and not on myself -- I've come to create the process I have with people from life-long symptoms which, thankfully, I've learned to address. 

So, in finding the information I provide, below, I was struck with how many of the things recommended for a person wanting to reverse gout are also things a person with chronic fatigue or pain such as with fibromyalgia would find -- confirming my initial hunch that perhaps gout could be considered one of the overlapping conditions.  In 2007, when letting people know about the 'fibromyalgia forum' education group / seminars, I would realize that many patients with other conditions diagnosed besides fibromyalgia would benefit from coming to the group and hearing the providers we were bringing in to be in the spotlight of the discussions. 

A woman who was leader of a local group to do with a particular urinary / bladder condition would only stay for the first few minutes of a group meeting because she simply wanted the people to know about her group since some had that as a symptom, but she did not see how these were overlapping conditions.  I did.  Others in the group did.  Then I'd find that some of the national organizations in the US and UK would have been seeing the overlap as well, and those are groups I've suggested from the forums of Lumigrate.  

Here's a link to a fairly recent topic I created with a great graphic showing autism in the center and the other conditions that are often diagnosed --- which are overlapping with autism.  www.lumigrate.com/forum/friends-overlapping-conditions-lumped-autism-spectrum-disorder-who-dr-john-catanzaro-his-educa

AND a topic about the overlap between cancer and fibromyalgia when it comes to the mitochondria -- and the ketones, and the ketogenic diet.  (It has a lot of setup graphics and information I provided, so I suggest taking the link from here and I won't replicate that here at this time).  www.lumigrate.com/forum/cancer-overlapping-condition-other-complex-chronic-conditions

AND my long-ago provided topic about Fibromyalgia Network and their seeing the overlap and related conditions, if you're interested -- www.lumigrate.com/forum/fibromyalgia-network-us-based-resource-education  (they got their funding from the people, not from the businesses and organizations which often would lead organizations about fibromyalgia to eventually be infiltrated and promoting the mainstream, organized medicine's information -- aka 'Big Pharma', so they're a great resource for people with chronic conditions, in my opinion.)

So,without further elaboration, here's information I found and really liked about gout -- and if you take the link below, you'll see at the bottom of the thread they link to another topic at their website about what functional medicine is.  Perhaps you'll want to take it, as a complement to what I've provided about that at Lumigrate.

Your health is the most central part of your life -- how much time, energy and money is it worth to YOU to invest in it?  Often, people are simply not in the habit of putting in the work for YOU to be in control, you were raised that 'daddy' (the system) was going to take care of your health.  If that works for you, continue on -- if it seems that what I'm suggesting via the YOU! Model and the information I provider fits to be your M.O. (how you operate), then please consider adding me to your group of helpers surrounding you. 

I specialize in not only suggesting information to study, but how to integrate it into your daily life, using my background as an occupational therapist and educator, in order to have it become effective now, and in the future.  You can look at the About tab for my contact information and to learn more about me.  And certainly, please use Lumigrate's content -- it requires nothing of you except your time and energy. 

Live and learn.  Learn and live better! ~~ Mardy

From: thehealingcenterdenver.com/1091/a-functional-medicine-perspective-on-gout-and-arthritis-2/

A Functional Medicine Perspective on Gout and Arthritis

By Michal Cooling, CNTP

Gout is very much a lifestyle-based condition; however there can be some deeper issues at hand. For example, people who have had gout have an increased risk of developing kidney stones, high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, high levels of triglycerides, and atherosclerosis. My goal is to offer general information on nutrition and lifestyle principals as well as clinical considerations.

What is gout? When you keep filling your body up with toxic acidity from:

• Foods and drinks
• Breathing poorly
• Breathing poor-quality air
• Exposing yourself to weird toxic chemicals both from breathing and what comes in contact with your skin
• Metabolic acidity that you create by living all stressed out all the time

… then the uric acid is just one more assault on your hard-working kidneys! So the answer to “what is gout?” lies in the lifestyle you’re living. Ask yourself:

• What am I eating today?
• What am I drinking today?
• Am I breathing as well as I could be?
• What’s in this air I’m breathing?
• What am I putting on my skin?
• What am I thinking today?

You’ll start to get a whole new perspective about gout symptoms and causes – and it will change the way you go about your day. It’s an especially good question to ask yourself every day, because as soon as you get over the gout attack you’re having now, you’ll stop thinking about gout altogether . . . until the next gout attack hits.

Risk Factors:

• Family history of gout
• Kidney issues (found on a blood test)
• High levels of triglycerides (found on blood test)
• Drinking too much alcohol and eating foods rich in purines, such as meat, shellfish, and sweetbreads.
• Exposure to environmental toxicity
• Surgery
• Metabolic syndrome and impaired gut function (found on blood test)
• Hidden food sensitivities and infection (found on a blood test)
• Auto-immunity (found on a blood test)

Typical medical treatment suppresses inflammation to manage symptoms. Though, this will not address the underlying causes, it points us in an important direction – finding inflammatory triggers and inflammatory relief. The most common causes are food sensitivities, hidden infection, poor gut function, environmental chemicals, stress and auto-immunity. The following are some key clinical pieces to identifying the underlying triggers and causes for gout.

• Identifying and addressing the above risk factors.
• Identifying and eliminating potential food allergens, including dairy, wheat (gluten), soy, corn, nightshades, preservatives, and food additives. This can be done through proper food sensitivity testing (conventional testing is incomplete), elimination diets, and through muscle-response testing.
• Identifying and addressing hidden infection, leaky gut, toxicity, breakdown of stress mechanisms (such as adrenal fatigue), and autoimmunity.
• Another lesser-known gout origin is low blood oxygen saturation. This can be identified through symptom analysis and blood testing. Strong, well-developed breathing habits should correct this. However, some individuals need additional supplemental support.
• Identifying and addressing inconsistent sleep or rest and lack of simple exercise. Well-planned sleep and exercise habits help to keep the body systems in good working order and minimize the incidence of gout. Exercise at least 30 minutes daily, 5 days a week.
• Possibly the most overlooked of all gout sources is stress. Stress is just as much of a trigger as food. Strong emotions and negative thinking create powerful acidic chemistry in the internal environment of the body. The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol add to the overall acidic load that has to be managed by the kidneys. This adds to the strain of maintaining the pH balance and helps to provide the right conditions for gout to flourish. Aiding the body with stress-buffering nutrients as well as stress relieving exercises helps tremendously.

Nutrition:

• Eat antioxidant foods, including fruits (such as blueberries, cherries), and vegetables (such as squash).
• Eat foods high in potassium like celery, broccoli and mixed greens (like kale and chard).
• Some nutritionally oriented doctors promote a low fructose diet to treat gout. In fact, they have seen such promising improvements from eliminating sugar from the diet, that they promote purine-rich foods in the absence of sugar.
• Another theory states that one half pound of cherries per day (fresh or frozen) for 2 weeks lowers uric acid and prevents attacks. Cherry juice (8 – 16 oz. per day) is also helpful as well as bing cherries.
• Eat more high fiber foods, including apples, sweet potato skins, berries, root vegetables (such as yams and turnips), and psyllium seed.
• Include foods rich in magnesium and low in calcium, such as brown rice, avocado, and banana.
• Lemon and apple cider vinegar help balance pH. Lemons are a very effective liver stimulant and dissolvent of uric acid. Lemon helps to liquefy bile making digestive juices flow much more freely. You can also support bile supplementally.
• Use healthy cooking oils, such as olive oil or coconut oil.
• Drink 8 glasses of filtered water daily to help flush uric acid from the body. Dehydration often triggers a gout attack. If poor absorption of water, add mineral drops to the water. Drinking water before bedtime helps keep things from concentrating overnight.

Supplements:

• A daily multivitamin daily, containing the antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, the B-complex vitamins, and trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc and selenium. Magnesium specifically is helpful.
• Quercetin with bromelain. Papaya supplements are also beneficial, or eating lots of fresh pineapple.
• Curcumin is one of the most effective anti-inflammatory nutrients on the market.
• Omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil, 1- 2 capsules or 1 tablespoons of oil daily, to help decrease inflammation and promote general health. Cold water fish, such as salmon or halibut, are good sources. Essential fatty acids inhibit leukotriene production, which are fatty molecules of the immune system that contribute to inflammation.
• IP-6 (inositol hexophosphonate)
• N-acetyl cysteine, 200 mg daily, for antioxidant effects.
• Vitamin C, 500 – 1,000 mg daily, as an antioxidant. In one study, higher vitamin C intake was independently associated with a lower risk of gout.
• Acidophilus (Lactobacillus acidophilus), 5 – 10 billion CFUs (colony forming units), when needed for maintenance of gastrointestinal and immune health. Some acidophilus products may need refrigeration. Check the labels carefully.
• Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), 3,000 mg twice a day, to help decrease inflammation.
• Alfalfa 2k-3kmg.
• Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), for kidney health. You may also take 8-16 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice daily.
• Green tea (Camelia sinensis), for antioxidant and immune effects. Use caffeine free products. You may also prepare teas from the leaf of this herb.
• Devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), for pain and inflammation. Devils claw may increase the blood thinning effect of certain medications such as aspirin and Coumadin.
• Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) standardized extract, 20 mg 3 times a day, for inflammation, immune, and antibacterial/antifungal activity. Cat’s claw may worsen certain conditions, such as leukemia or some autoimmune disorders. Cat’s claw may also interact with many different medications. Talk to your doctor.
• Bromelain (Ananus comosus), for pain and inflammation. Bromelain can increase the blood thinning effect of certain medications such as aspirin and Coumadin.
• Turmeric (Curcuma longa), for inflammation. Tumeric may increase the blood thinning effect of certain medications such as aspirin and Coumadin.
• Bilberry extract
• Celery Seed
• Yuca and chamomile
• Make a paste with cayenne powder and wintergreen oil to relieve local inflammation and some pain. Sometimes it will sting at first, but with persistent use will go away.
  • Nettle tea compress, applied externally. Use 1 – 2 tsp. per cup of hot water.
  • Avoid taking extra niacin and vitamin A. Both may play a role in some attacks of gout.
  • Avoid baby aspirin that increases the chances of a person developing gout.

• Soaking the gout-affected joint in warm water and Epsom salts is very alkalizing in a localized way. Alternating an Epsom salt soak of the joint with towel-wrapped icepacks is a fast topical gout treatment.

 Foods to Avoid:

• Avoid refined foods, such as white breads, pastas, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and MSG
• Avoiding nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, tobacco) may be helpful. Everybody reacts differently so it will be a matter of just seeing if there is a reaction after eating any of these plants.
• Eat fewer red meats and more lean meats, cold water fish, or beans for protein.
• Cut down on foods containing oxalate, such as spinach, rhubarb, beets, nuts, chocolate, black tea, wheat bran, strawberries, and beans.
• Restrict purines in your diet. Foods with a high purine content include beef, goose, organ meats, sweetbreads, mussels, anchovies, herring, mackerel, and yeast. Foods with a moderate amount of purines include meats, poultry, fish, and shellfish not listed above. Spinach, asparagus, beans, lentils, mushrooms, and dried peas also contain moderate amounts of purines.
• Limit intake of caffeine, cauliflower, dried beans, lentils, fish, eggs, oatmeal, peas, poultry, spinach, and yeast products.
• Avoid roasted nuts and any foods containing (or cooked with) oil that has been heated. Oils become rancid when heated and rancid fats quickly destroy Vitamin E, which results in the release of increased amounts of uric acid.
• Reduce or eliminate trans fatty acids, found in commercially baked goods, such as cookies, crackers, cakes, French fries, onion rings, donuts, processed foods, and margarine.
• Avoid alcohol, and tobacco.
• Avoid sugar sweetened soft drinks. Diet soft drinks have not been associated with the risk of gout.

Homeopathy:

Some of the most common remedies used for gout are listed below. A common dose is 3 – 5 pellets of a 12X to 30C remedy every 1 – 4 hours until your symptoms improve.

• Aconite for sudden onset of burning pain, anxiety, restlessness, and attacks that come after a shock or injury. Also take if your joints are swollen and painful.
• Belladonna for intense pain that may be throbbing, if pain is made worse by any motion and better by pressure, or if the joint is very hot.
• Berberis vulgaris for spasms of pain in joints or twinges made worse by walking. There may be back pain and a tendency to develop kidney stones.
• Bryonia for pain made much worse by any kind of motion, or if pain is better with pressure and with heat.
• Colchicum for pains made worse by motion and changes of weather, especially if there is any nausea associated with the attacks.
• Ledum when joints become mottled, purple, and swollen, or if the pain is much better with cold applications and is worse when overheated.
• Rhus toxicodendron for stiff, swollen joints that are hot and painful, or if the pain is worse with cold applications and better with heat.

Resources:

Nutrition Therapy Institute, Clinical Nutrition Course

• http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/gout
• http://www.slideshare.net/IFSMED/gluten-intolerance-and-rheumatic-diseases
• http://thegoutkiller.com/blog/gout-diet/go ut-and-celiac-disease/

Baby Aspirin and Gout: http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/gout

Gout and Milk: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/…/Enriched…/52824366/1

Supporting Research:

• Choi HK. A prescription for lifestyle change in patients with hyperuricemia and gout. [Review]. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2010;22(2):165-72.
• Choi HK. Diet, alcohol, and gout: how do we advise patients given recent developments? Curr RheumatolRep. 2005;7(3):220-6.
• Choi HK, Curhan G. Coffee consumption and risk of incident gout in women: the Nurses’ Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92(4):922-7.
• Choi HK, Curhan G. Soft drinks, fructose consumption, and the risk of gout in men: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2008; [Epub ahead of print].
• Choi HK, Gao X, Curhan G. Vitamin C intake and the risk of gout in men: a prospective study. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(5):502-7.
• Dubchak N, Falasca GF. New and improved strategies for the treatment of gout. Int J Nephrol Renovasc Dis. 2010;3:145-66.
• Eggebeen AT. Gout: an update. Am Fam Physician. 2007;76(6):801-8. Review.
• Falasca GF. Metabolic diseases: gout. Clin Dermatol. 2006;24(6):498-508.
• Gagnier JJ, Chrubasik S, Manheimer E. Harpgophytum procumbens for osteoarthritis and low back pain: a systematic review. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2004 Sep 15;4:13.
• Hak AE, Choi HK. Lifestyle and Gout. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2008;20(2):179-86.
• Jana S, Shekhawat GS. Critical review on medicinally potent plant species: Gloriosa superba. [Review]. Fitoterapia. 2011;82(3):293-301.
• Kang EH, Lee EY, Lee YJ, Song YW, Lee EB. Clinical features and risk factors of postsurgical gout. Ann Rheum Dis. 2008;67(9):1271-5.
• Lee SJ, Terkeltaub RA, Kavanaugh A. Recent developments in diet and gout. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2006;18(2):193-8.
• Li EK. Gout: a review of its aetiology and treatment. Hong Kong Med J. 2004;10(4):261-70.
• Li S, Micheletti R. Role of diet in rheumatic disease. [Review].  Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2011;37(1):119-33.
• Pascual E, Sivera F. Therapeutic advances in gout. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2007;19(2):122-7.
• Peterson DM. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colchicine to prevent gout flare during early urate-lowering therapy: perspectives on alternative therapies and costs. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2010;24(4):402-4.
• Rakel & Bope: Conn’s Current Therapy 2009, 1st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier. 2008.
• Richette P, Bardin T. Gout. Lancet. 2010;375(9711):318-28.
• Saag KG, Choi H. Epidemiology, risk factors, and lifestyle modifications for gout. ArthritisRes Ther. 2006;8 Suppl 1:S2.
• Schelesinger N. Over

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