Gout

Gout is a form of arthritis where there is too much uric acid in the bloodstream. This then forms uric acid crystals in the joints. This is especially prevalent in the big toes. The crystals that are in the joints cause a lot of pain and inflammation in the joints.

What can you do about it?

As with many conditions, an unbalanced diet is generally the cause. It's commonly through a high acid forming diet.
This is typified by an over indulgence of:

• Meat
• Alcohol
• High sugar content foods
• Highly refined foods such as breads, biscuits and cakes.

Or too little of:

• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Water

Improving your kidney function is an important step in treating this condition. Typical recommendations are to:

• Increase your intake of alkaline forming foods
• Increase your water intake
• Address any vitamin or mineral deficiencies
• Purify the bloodstream. This means returning the blood to a normal state rather than being saturated, in this case, with uric acid
• Examine your exercise level to ensure that general circulation and blood flow through your vital organs is sufficient for these (especially your kidneys) to work efficiently.

Treatments for Gout

Once we've identified any nutritional deficiencies and taken steps to correct these, by the way of making changes to your diet and perhaps a brief course of quality supplements to address any gross deficiencies.

The major area here is to teach you about what you are eating. Not only that a balanced diet is important, but to recognize what foods will make the problem worse for you and conversely and more importantly, what foods will help resolve the cause of the problem.

Ensuring that your water intake is adequate is very important for this condition. Many people grossly underestimate how much water they should drink to ensure your kidneys and other organs have the best chance to do their job.

The next area that can be looked at is herbal treatments. These are to support and improve the kidney function, as this is the primary organ that is involved in the function of eliminating uric acid from the body. Herbal treatment will also aid the purification of the bloodstream. Herbal treatments are also used in the short-term to reduce the symptoms such as swelling and associated pain, while the body is allowed time to rid itself of the uric acid imbalance.

The symptoms are typically characterised by:

• Pain in the joints
• Inflammation of the joints
• Swelling.

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