Gout

I have said before that people, generally speaking, are well aware of the harm that an improper diet can cause to our health and well being.

Less obvious is the effect that drinking has. Our body is 80+% water that we are losing constantly through evaporation and urination. Quite obviously it makes common sense to replace it with something that the body wants and not to the whim of your taste buds.

But, in spite of drinking large quantities of ionised, alkaline water, my cavalier approach to eating has caught up with me.

My diet consisted, in large part, of seafood and beef. Preferably taken in considerable quantities.

The lesson has been that drinking is part of the diet and not the exclusive, problem solving, habit that I had ascribed to it.

And now my chickens have come home to roost, as it were.

* * * * *

“Doctor, my ankle and foot hurts.”

“Let me check your uric acid level,” he said, “Hmm. High. You have gout. Painful?”

“Touch it and you die,” I threatened.

*

The doctor says that I have been having a high purine diet.

I have no idea what that means.

He tells me that purines are converted in the body into uric acid.

“Could you,” I asked him, “Convert that into words that a non-medical professional will understand or I shall need a note for Fariq* – my pharmacist.”

*   Refaa Pharmacy in Taman Seri Gombak

It seems that high uric acid content in the body is guilty of causing kidney breakdowns, kidney stones and gout.

What, then, is the answer to this medical mystery?

Painkillers and a low purine diet.

More inexplicable words. It seems that some time on the internet is required to get to the bottom of this.

There are, he tells me, certain foods that are high in purine. These should be avoided. They are red meat, chicken, tuna, prawns, squid, mussels, cockles, haddock, herring, cod, mackerel.

So it is a vegan diet then?

Ha! Cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, green beans, peas are also high in purine¹.

Starvation diet. He just listed everything that is bright and wonderful in the World.

Chicken no more than a couple of times a week and a maximum of 170 gms per portion. Small portions of dory is acceptable as is salmon. It seems that salmon is fairly low in purine. Do not eat too many eggs and have salads with lettuce, carrot, celery and lots and lots of cucumber.

Celery seed extract is very good but what you really need is anthocyanin.

From whence cometh this magical substance, I was forced to enquire. It seems that, to Doctors, everyone knows all about these things and thus explanations are entirely unnecessary.

Cherries. Also blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, eggplant, grape juice, guacamole, plums, prunes.

Prunes give you a good run for your money, I mentioned to him.

Nothing. A sense of humour is completely dispensable in surgeries.

The answer was to go to the aforementioned En. Fariq in Taman Seri Gombak who laughed and told me to take this cherry extract twice a day then, when the pain has gone, cut to once a day. If you eat meat or any of the high purine foods then take a sachet of this extract, he advised.

Tart Uric

Anthocyanins from Cherries

Plain English and common sense with a dash of humour.

That is medicine.

^1.     According to some sources, including the Mayo Clinic, there is no evidence that eating vegetables with high purine content is bad for gout sufferers. It should be noted that an order of ‘high’ in vegetables is still lower than it is for meat and seafood products.

NB: From the book: ‘GOUT’ by Prof. R. Grahame, Dr. A. Simmonds and Dr. E. Carrey:

“Extremely physical exertion or traumatic injuries may contribute to the occurrence of gout. Also foods that elevate the blood acidity, despite their low purine content, may cause an aggravation of gout.”

Ha! I am vindicated!!! No more physical activity for me!