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Gout
Uric Acid
Individuals with PKD have elevations of body acids, especially urinary uric acid. PLD 'rs often have elevated uric acid levels from the liver's inability to metabolize body acids. This sometimes manifests as gouty arthritis, or pain in the great toe. The pain is from uric acid crystals trapped within the joint. By avoiding raw spinach (high in purines) and the nightshade plants (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, tobacco and belladonna) this avoidance diminishes joint pain. If the toe does act up, I take foods which help to lower uric acid, i.e. ten cherries a day, nettles, artichokes, a shot of wheat grass juice, or chew a few sprigs of parsley.
Nettle Extract
Nettle juice lowers uric acid, and is a great alkalizer, however it is also high in potassium. A few drops of non alcoholic nettle extract in a cup of warm water seem to help relieve great toe aches. Cherries, ten a day, helps with arthritis pain by lowering uric acid. A rheumatologist told me, he investigated all the different foods that seemed to help arthritis and one that was really helpful were cherries. Attempting to maintain a constant relative alkalinity helps to diminish body pains from cystic organ disease. This can be accomplished through diet and lifestyle and by supplementing occasionally with potent alkalizers.
Diet Low In Purines
Vegetarian foods high in purines:
asparagus
beans
cauliflower
mushrooms
peas
spinach
Spinach
The only vegetable that adversely affected me was raw spinach. This reaction did not occur with blanched spinach. Rheumatologists (arthritis doctors) found that avoiding walnuts helps relieve joint pains. Pineapple helps relieve joint pains; lemon juice for headaches; 10 cherries a day to diminish wrist pain.
Cherries Papaya Pineapple Nettle Spinach
Continue to try cherries, papaya, pineapple, nettle extract to lower uric acid. Avoid raw spinach as it can be a trigger. Some have found walnuts to trigger gout attacks for vegans. A lecture given by a rheumatologist (a specialist in arthritis) talked of many foods that triggering gout in some people and not others. But across the board this lecturer said cherries was the one food that helped. He suggested that if magnets were to help at all with arthritis then magnets helped within about 15 minutes. So some took this information and went to a medical supply shop, tried on the magnets and see if they worked for them or not.
Urine Alkalization Facilitates Uric Acid Excretion
In Japan they used two types of diets, one of meats (acidify urines); the other fruits and vegetable rich which converts the urine to alkaline. This was a 5 day consecutive study. They collected all day urines from participants and found that after three days urine pH reached a steady state. Researchers conclude that alkalization of urine by eating nutritionally well-designed alkaline foods are effective for removing uric acid from the body.
Allopurinol
Allopurinol is a well tolerated, inexpensive, and commonly used uric acid lowering agent. It can be used in many situations. It is a
xanthine oxidase inhibitor
prevents production of uric acid
useful in both patients with ↑synthesis or ↑ clearance of uric acid
can be used in renal failure
rarely associated with bone marrow suppression, hepatotoxicity, hypersensitivity reactions
Colchicine
Colchicine has also been used to treat gout.