Gout

An extremely common disease, gout is a kind of arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in blood and causes joint inflammation. Acute gout is a painful condition that typically affects one joint, while chronic gout is repeated episodes of pain and inflammation, which may involve more than one joint.

Gout is caused by having higher-than-normal levels of uric acid levels in your body. This may occur if:

• Your body makes too much uric acid
• Your body has a hard time getting rid of uric acid
• If too much uric acid builds up in the fluid around the joints (synovial fluid), uric acid crystals form. These crystals cause the joint to swell up and become inflamed.

People with diabetes, kidney disease, obesity, anemia, leukemia and other blood cancers are susceptible to gout.

The big toe, knee or ankle joints are most often affected. The pain starts suddenly, often during the night and it is often throbbing. The joint may appear warm and red. It is very tender...it hurts to lay even a thin cloth over it.

Gout can be prevented by:

• Drinking plenty of water to flush out uric acid.
• Eating foods rich in folic acid, like cabbage, spinach, methi, mint, coriander etc
• Eating vitamin C -rich foods grapefruit, celery, pineapple, cherries and citrus fruits
• Avoiding liver, kidney, red meat, fish, shellfish, oats, yeast, mushrooms, vinegar and alcohol

Remedies for Gout:

• Make a mix of equal parts of dried mint powder, cumin powder, flax seed powder, dried parsley, fennel and turmeric powder.Have 2 tsp of this mix after lunch and 1 tsp after dinner.
• Drink 2 liters of water infused with 15 mint leaves and 10 basil leaves.

Stay blessed with good health .…always !!!

Warm regards,

Charmaine D’Souza