Diet – Page 3 of 3 – Gout Daily News and Information

Fructose and Uric Acid Metabolism

Sugar intake has risen dramatically over the last century which seems to correlate closely with the rise in obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Simple sugars include both glucose and fructose. While glucose is generally utilized by the body for energy production, fructose is known to produce high amounts of harmful substances. Added sugars to our food sources mostly stem from fructose, and fructose metabolism can cause some pretty significant damage. Fructose can actually deplete our energy sources, cause death to our cells, stimulate fat making enzymes, and produce excess uric acid.

Studies on rats have shown fructose intake to instigate all markers of metabolic syndrome – increased waistline, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, lipid abnormalities, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These studies have also shown high fructose intake to stimulate free radicals, weaken the arteries, create a fatty liver, and cause kidney damage. Continue reading “Fructose and Uric Acid Metabolism”

Electrolyte imbalances, Inflammation, and Disease

As we know, inflammation is the major underlying factor behind chronic, degenerative diseases. The body’s cells work very hard to maintain pH balance in the body. Our typical American diet and lifestyle is largely acidic and makes this process extremely difficult.

When overly acidic imbalances are present in the body, the cellular health is compromised. Decreased cellular oxygen levels and metabolic declines cause cells to ‘die off’ at a rapid rate. As acidic residues increase, the body attempts to buffer these acids with alkaline minerals (calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium) in order to excrete them from the body. In the presence of such acidic diets and lifestyles, this buffering system can easily reach maximum capability, quickly leading to acidic waste storage in the tissues.

Cells require very specific ion balance. Electrolytes must be maintained within specific limits to balance the pH of the body’s environment. Even the slightest acid increases can quickly lead to inflammation of the organs and tissues. Continue reading “Electrolyte imbalances, Inflammation, and Disease”

Is Canola Oil really good for you?

Canola oil has been marketed as a healthy choice for cooking, widely used in many homes and most restaurants. However, the truth of the matter is that Canola oil is just about anything but healthy! Yet, the FDA has not only deemed it safe for consumption, but actually supports it being labeled “healthy.”

Canola oil was originally developed in Canada, Canadian “ola”, which means oil. Canola oil comes from a seed called rapeseed and was mostly used for industrial purposes. Rapeseed oil was the source of the chemical warfare known as mustard gas. The US banned rapeseed back in 1956 when soldiers and civilians began experiencing blistered lungs and skin. The canola plant does not occur naturally in the wild, but instead has been bred by BIG agriculture. In other words, it is a genetically modified plant, or GMO. Since Canola oil is cheap to manufacture and mass produce, it was modified to remove the lethal eruric acid. It took the food industry over a decade of genetic engineering to obtain the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) nod from the FDA. Initially the rapeseed name was changed to LEAR (low eruric acid rapeseed), and then to Canola Oil. Continue reading “Is Canola Oil really good for you?”

The Danger of Artificial Sweeteners

Just how bad are fake sugars for you? Let’s just start by making you aware that saccharin was discovered over 150 years ago by a chemist working with coal tar. Coal tar — you know, a well-known carcinogenic material. Studies dating back to the 1970’s concluded that saccharin was linked to bladder cancer in laboratory rats. If that isn’t evidence enough…… Yet, a gazillion conflicting studies later and we still have an issue that remains under intense debate. Saccharin is sold under brand names such as Sweet and Low®, Sweet Twin®, and Necta Sweet®.

In 2013, The European Food Safety Administration deemed aspartame “safe” at current usage and exposure levels, going as far as to say it won’t cause cancer. However, the Center for Science in the Public Interest denounced this review stating it was a complete “whitewash” of the truth. Continue reading “The Danger of Artificial Sweeteners”

Low-fat Diet Myths and Our Deteriorating Health

Is it just a coincidence that ever since we adopted low-fat and fat-free diet plans our health deteriorated? The craze began back in the 70’s and 80’s, and by the early 90’s foods with little to no fat were flying off the shelves. The American Heart Association, food manufacturers, physicians, and even drug manufacturers had convinced us that all saturated fats led to obesity and heart disease. People began trading nuts for pretzels, whole milk for skim, potatoes -hold the sour cream, and even still buying cookies so long as they were labeled “fat free.” Dietary fats and all cholesterol were deemed to be bad for our health. Yet, over this same 30+ year time span of ‘healthier’ eating the incidences of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease have soared to alarming rates. In addition to all of the fat-free products flying off of the shelves, so have the cholesterol-lowering and blood pressure lowering drugs.

So wait…… Continue reading “Low-fat Diet Myths and Our Deteriorating Health”

Arthritis and Gout are no longer considered “old man diseases”……..and they are dangerous!

These painful joint conditions were once considered the inevitable outcome of old aging joints. However, these painful conditions have more than doubled in the past 10-15 years, with a shocking amount of sufferers now found to be under the age of 40. Doctors have seen the sharpest rise in patients in their 20’s and 30’s, some 30% since 2012, suffering from a disease that was once thought to be limited to royalty. Not so coincidentally, the rise in obesity, Diabetes Type 2, and prescriptions such as low-dose aspirin and diuretics has occurred almost simultaneously.

Even still there is large percentage of the population that suffers silently having never been diagnosed, or sometimes misdiagnosed. Gout especially can be overlooked by medical professionals due to inaccurate blood measurements of Uric Acid. Unless the fluid is directly aspirated from the joint it can be difficult to identify. Many that are under an attack at the time they are seen by a physician will have low to normal blood serum Uric Acid levels. Why is this? Continue reading “Arthritis and Gout are no longer considered “old man diseases”……..and they are dangerous!”

Antibiotics- How do they affect your health?

Gout, Arthritis, Inflammation and Antibiotics

Antibiotics have played an integral role in modern medicine saving countless lives from bacterial pathogens that would have otherwise claimed them. This holds true under terms that we remain responsible with the administration of such a powerful resource. Unfortunately, organisms evolve and as such we have found ourselves at the mercy of antibiotic resistant microbes stemming from the misuse and overuse of Antibiotics.

Antibiotic literally means “against life.” While its role has been critical in destroying the life of bad bacteria, antibiotics are indiscriminate when it comes to the life of the good bacteria our bodies still need to survive. Research has shown that childhood antibiotic use can inhibit the normal growth and development of healthy gut bacteria. Over 70% of the immune system resides in our gut and is home to the trillions of bacteria that play a crucial part of our physical and mental health. We are now learning how the general shaping of our intestinal health early on in life can determine our future dealings with our immune systems and disease. Continue reading “Antibiotics- How do they affect your health?”

Category: Diet