I missed Race the Train event due to a bruised foot, thought to have been incurred whilst trying to break the world record for number of side kicks humanly possible in one minute (and failed miserably of course). A few days after my kick-a-thon, all’s well and my left foot is back to normal. Off to Scotland we go for some mountain madness with wifey J
The night before, no kids at they were off sunning it up in Greece with my mum, decided on cooking a nice meal of saturated fat i.e. British lamb chops with mint sauce and all the trimmings with a bottle of decent red thrown in to boot…sorted, happy days!
The next day, we fly off to Glasgow and my left foot starts to hurt again, not a throbbing but a dull pain. We enjoy some Scottish hospitality and a few scoops and that evening my foot or more precisely the joint on my left big toe becomes red, swollen and painful to walk on. WTF is going on here I ask myself….this is not an injury!! Surely it’s not gout or something…that’s for overweight old people with drinker’s noses and arses stuck to smelly sofas stained with piss, excrement and remnants of microwave meals…..surely!! My research leaves me devastated….”GOUT a painful symptom that initially effects the big toe caused by too much uric acid in the blood which crystallises in the joint causing pain and inflammation”. Feck a dead duck, that’s what I’ve got….I’m all gouty…noooo! How can this be, I drink in moderation, normally (but get totally hammered on the odd occasion), a very good balanced healthy diet, lots and lots of exercise, I’m perfect BMI, not diabetic, don’t have high blood pressure, don’t smoke, don’t take drugs either recreational or prescribed, I’m not stressed at all, have the heart rate of someone eight years younger but I’ve got gout! GONADS!
Then I read this blog offthe internet; a rather uncanny almost scary resemblance to myself….
“First at all, let me tell you a bit about my GOUT journey. I am healthy 42 years dad of 2 who is active all the time; I practice martial art, working out (no supplement in any form use whatsoever) and love hiking a lot. One morning in early May 2011 I was waking up with excruciating pain in my left toe’s joint. I first thought it might be a result of injury for the 8 hours hike 2 days ago. I left it untreated and took couple of 400 mg Ibuprofen then went to work. The day went on and the pain was getting worst and the joint getting inflamed and swollen to the point I needed to take my shoe off. I went home and thought I must have broken something. I went to see my family doctor next day and was told I was indeed suffering a gout attack. I was so shocked due to I am a Red meat hater, I do not smoke or drink any alcohol in my entire life, I exercise every day and only have less than 10% body fat. How could I get gout? Then my doctor explained to me that because my dad and grandfather both had gout, genetically I have 70% chance to get gout in my lifetime. I am so discouraged and frustrated, I am already a Health Freak before all this, what am I supposed to do now, I hate to lose my mobility and made me feel weak and look like a cripple. Then I summarized what leading to the gout attack. First, I have to admit I love Sardine and Herring, I ate 4 cans of oiled sardines and herring 3 days on a roll, also had spinach, asparagus, dried peas and beans for salad dinner the night before.
Plus the 8 hours hike 2 days ago with drinking very little water. Then followed by a 13 hours long working day before the attack. Genetic or not, I had done everything humanly possible to contribute to my GOUT”
So this dude has the same thing as me, also 42 with two kids, hiker and martial artist, very healthy, less than 10% body fat (mine is 9.2) doesn’t smoke, drink or eat red meat (OK I indulge on the drink but don’t eat much red meat) and yet he gets gout. I’ve recently changed my diet to include more beans and pulses, recently ate a lot of asparagus and increased protein plus oily fish topped off with perhaps hereditary high levels of uric acid then a bottle of red wine and lamb…bingo….you trigger Gout – all these above increase you levels of uric acid, the main culprit.
I refer back to my recent 32 sample blood tests and look at my uric acid levels. The normal acceptable range is 266 – 474. Mine at the time, before my increased uric acid diet change was 474….smack back on the top end of the range….it’s all fitting together. Gouty gouty you old git…..
So the purpose of this blog for those that care is to let you know how I beat it in 12 hours WITHOUT medication my pet hate!
The following day I could hardly walk, kind of hobbled. If felt as though my left toe was broken! So, firstly I took a high dose Vit C, ate fresh fruit, yoghurt, porridge and honey for breakfast and light foods for lunch and evening avoiding sugar, caffine, beans, offal, oily fish, high proteins etc. Did not touch alcohol even though we were out for dinner that night, drank about 3 litres of water and the secret weapon….after much internet research went to a health shop and bought a bottle of Dark Cherry Concentrate and downed about 100ml diluted with water over the course a few hours. My arse erupted into a fantastic manly bout of wind which was truly stunning in both strength and aroma, awesome top trumps! I took some more when I went to bed, blowing the sheets clear off the bed and more during the night pwwwwarrr! The next morning….it’s a miracle….I can walk. Seriously, without drug or medication, natural remedy only, my foot was normal. Sprung out of bed, farted again and got showered and booted up. The next two days were spent on the mountain, two strenuous 8 hour hikes with not a single problem of issue with gouty gouty….amazing. In fact, I can actually say I felt bloody brilliant.
Having looked at the research evidence of cherries and their amazing anti-oxidant levels and proven record of reducing uric acid plus other possible benefit to prevent future heart disease and high blood pressure I’m now off to Holland and Barrett to stock up my fridge with this elixir. For all you runners out there, it is also meant to speed muscle recovery after those long grinding runs….
But be warned, it produced enough gas to blow hurricane Irene back across the Atlantic which is pretty cool if you’re a bloke but the wife was not to impressed. Couldn’t help but laugh with school boy giggles every time though J Farting is fun, fact! And…..
I always knew popping cherries was the future!
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