Wild foods and gout is a topic about which I am often asked. This probably reflects the growing incidence of gout which was once only a condition suffered by fat, old men who ate rich foods including red meats, shellfish, bread and drank copious quantities of red wine and beer.

Just as with pancreatic cancer which shares many similar dietary links, this is no longer the case for gout.

In fact, so common is gout these days that it is the newest disease added to the group of conditions described as Metabolic Syndrome. The others are obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Women, young men in their 20s and eve children are now susceptible to the pain, redness, tenderness and swelling of their joints along with the sleepless nights of the gout experience.

You'll get Life for that

I have written previously of my own gout attacks which began when I turned 50. This was the same for my father and grandfather too. When I did eventually seek medical advice for my attacks, I was prescribed allopurinol and I recall asking how long before the symptoms went and I could stop taking the drugs. The doctor laughed and explained that this medication was a life sentence (or so he believed!).

Claim-free Zone

Please note that I cannot make any claims for the efficacy of any product I may mention and as the products with which I am associated are foods, it further prohibits most claims of functionality. What I can say is that LIFE is a good source of fibre; and that antioxidants are important for our cellular health; and wild foods are good sources of antioxidants. Yes. I know that this might sound a little like the milk claims on milk, calcium, teeth and bones but we know they are a scam. Who doesn’t know an elderly person who has consumed milk their whole lives and yet who still breaks a hip after a fall? The calcium in milk actually reduces the strength of bones because our diets are critically short on magnesium and we need more phytonutrients for better health.

In fact, milk also contains casein which irretrievably binds anthocyanin antioxidants removing them from our system. Milk might be great for calves for the first 6 weeks of their lives but remember that they really fatten up on it. Shouldn't we be trying to reduce our intake?

But back to my story.

I no longer worry about what I eat and regularly add kangaroo meat, seafood, pasta and beer to my daily meals. I recall not long ago, sitting down to a favourite snack of mine; prawns (I eat the heads) and beer only to feel a very slight stiffness in one knee later that evening.

I doubled the amount of LIFE I usually take from 5g a day to 5g twice daily for a few days took Karuah Active Turmeric (2 capsules morning and night) and the tightness in my knee disappeared. No claims here. Just an observation.

The above is from my personal experience only and I am not making claims for LIFE or any other food product as a cure, treatment or preventative for any disease.

Note: It is worth knowing that phytonutrients will not necessarily reduce the uric acid in your system so it is a good idea not to hit the high purine foods too often. However, anti-inflammatories from phytonutrient-rich foods will certainly help to counteract the swelling from uric acid crystals in joints.

The good news is that everyone should take advantage of the fact that LIFE reduces carbohydrate cravings. This is really important as sucrose and fructose (the bad sugars) raise uric acid levels as fructose is metabolized. See this article for more on this.