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Nutrition Inflammation?

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The Traditional Chinese Medicine says you should avoid Yang and focus on Yin. I have good experiences with following their recommendations.
 
I consider myself a skeptic. When I first saw websites demonising wheat and sugar as sources of inflammation, I could not but shake my head.

However, I personally suffer from gout. What gout is is an inflammation of a joint. The inflammation also happens to be degenerative and very, very painful.

So, during these years, I have had to realign my views regarding diet and inflammation. There really are certain foods that absolutely cause flares for me. And they are not the typical ones the doctors talk about. Instead, some of them are exactly the same ones those wacky websites talk about.

The pain really doesn't give a damn if I'm a skeptic or not or if I believe the doctor or not. And it has taught me, as I take all the help I can get.

Hi!
I was recently diagnosed with Gout. Would you mind sharing some of the foods that are triggers for you? Thanks!
 
IMO this vid sums up a lot of the so called research about what's healthy, unhealthy, good, bad, anti-inflammatory, probably causing cancer etc. ...



I basically just don't eat a lot of processed food anymore (I still eat bread, drink milk and eat cheese which all are processed in a way, but far from the chemical mix that are "ready-to-eat meals", sodas, gummybears etc.), drink a lot of water, get a good amount of fruits, veggies & nuts per day, eat seafish 1-3x per week and don't give a f... about anything written or said about nutrition anymore.

What an awesome video!!
 
Hi!
I was recently diagnosed with Gout. Would you mind sharing some of the foods that are triggers for you? Thanks!

Hello!

I think I'll have to make a more thorough post, and not just write about the trigger foods, so you can get a better idea of how I cope with the disease.

I have been feeling better with my gout since the start of this thread. Part of it must be how my medication has changed. I now take 300mg of Allopurinol in the evening, and 150mg in the morning about half the time. I have also managed to improve my physical well-being with heavier training so I can't discount that effect either. Lastly, I have tried to wear more comfortable footwear more often. So it may be good to take these into account.

When it comes to food, I've never experienced that protein would be bad for me. I tried to avoid animal based proteins apart from dairy and eggs. I found no effect. I sometimes got pain after eating wheat, like buns or noodles, or really sugary foods. And alcohol, especially beer, was bad for me. But I have managed to be able to include these things in moderation in my diet lately. This may partly be because of the medication, but I believe the biggest effect to come from elsewhere, which I'll go into now.

I think the biggest thing in major gout attacks in my personal experience are sudden changes in stability. I've had a hearty Christmas time and made great new year resolutions afterwards. The effect of the sudden weight loss and low carb lifestyle was one of the worse attacks I've had. I just got so dry all of a sudden. After my body adjusted to the diet and new lifestyle, when I would have a cheat day or such, I would get attacks because the scale would again turn into the other end. So I've learned that it's best to keep my diet as stable as I can, and try to remember to drink water a lot and to take a good amount of salt in too.

One thing to take into account as well is that the worst gout attacks often come after some physical trauma. My worst one came after a night or two of some alcohol consumption, which ended with me stumbling while walking back home. Not only did I get a sprained ankle, I got a gout attack that wouldn't let me sleep even with my pain medication. Luckily a cortison injection into the joint helped. I won't lie, the shot was pure hell, but it was worth it. So I try to take better care of my feet. This means I use different footwear than before, and also consider my exercise selection more carefully. I won't go running bare foot in the forest any time soon. Probably never.

I think it's worth it to take Allopurinol. At first, I experienced some fatigue after taking it. I also experienced it again after increasing the dose. However, it passed away fairly quickly and I take most of it right before sleep. Otherwise I've noticed no side effects at all. When it comes to pain medication, I have found that over the counter (here) medications like Ibuprofen and Paracetamol are of no use. Indomethacin worked wonders earlier on but didn't later. Etoricoxib has worked well as the latest one. I never got any side effects from any of the pain meds. But I have managed to do well with very little of them for a while now.

I hope I managed to answer the question you asked. It looks like I wrote a short story instead of an answer. If you want to know anything more or anything else or if I can help you in some other way, let me know.
 
@Kettlebelephant and @Marc I don't see how these are legitimate concerns. The studies themselves have in their conclusions that the issue is that there are confounding factors when eating seafood.

No one is hiding this info. No one is trying to trick you. They literally say it. To conclude the way @Kettlebelephant does is very sloppy. Maybe some studies do, but not the ones from PubMed I linked.

The problem is that meta analysis shows how sloppy these studies actually are. Unfortunately science is no where as pure as people (especially non-scientists who "hope" in science) imagine. Sample sizes are too small. The motives for the studies are too murky. We have people who need to publish new stuff for the PhD or whatever. Studies in theory are subject to repeatability, but how many studies are actually reproduced in controlled conditions? What diets and lifestyles have stood the test of time? Look into those over 6 week clinical trials. There really is a point where following the studies too closely makes on less informed than not seeing them at all. And even when they have disclaimers pointing out that the study can't be too conclusive, why bother? Dan John, who recommends creatine in Mass Made Simple, also recommends fish oil, because he has applied the scientific method himself and found it benefits him and his clients. He recommends the reader do the same. Keep it if it helps, drop it if it doesn't. Keep a training journal :)
 
The problem is that meta analysis shows how sloppy these studies actually are. Unfortunately science is no where as pure as people (especially non-scientists who "hope" in science) imagine. Sample sizes are too small. The motives for the studies are too murky. We have people who need to publish new stuff for the PhD or whatever. Studies in theory are subject to repeatability, but how many studies are actually reproduced in controlled conditions? What diets and lifestyles have stood the test of time? Look into those over 6 week clinical trials. There really is a point where following the studies too closely makes on less informed than not seeing them at all. And even when they have disclaimers pointing out that the study can't be too conclusive, why bother? Dan John, who recommends creatine in Mass Made Simple, also recommends fish oil, because he has applied the scientific method himself and found it benefits him and his clients. He recommends the reader do the same. Keep it if it helps, drop it if it doesn't. Keep a training journal :)

I don't really disagree with anything you said, however, science is still the best way to push back the boundaries of ignorance, even though it has flaws and limitations. Compared to rumors, personal biases, relying on gurus, or just anecdotal reports, science is powerful, though limited. Science has many fits and starts and reversals. The reversals are a good sign. This means that a theory was tested and failed instead of being held up with simply blind faith. Scientific theories are always vulnerable to further testing, and failure. It is said that the ugliest thing in science is when a beautiful theory is killed by ugly data. It is messy, but it moves forward and the truth is finally found. It just takes patience, and time.
 
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