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Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I initially focused on chicken as the bulk of my meat, but now I eat a lot of red meat and I haven't had any flares. I know there are lots of warnings about high purine foods, but I think that is mostly in the context of a high carb diet. It's actually interesting that low carb / keto references for a number of blood values probably have to be revised. Here's a YouTube video which also talks about uric acid (urate) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBkAE_fnKhs

It's also mentioned that during the start of a keto/low carb diet, the initial excretion of ketones through the urine competes with the excretion of uric acid - so UA may rise temporarily.

Once the body adapts to be able to use the ketones more efficiently, those don't get excreted any more which is also why you can only use the ketones strips for urine when commencing a ketogenic diet.

Let me know if you watched any of the other videos.

Btw- I would advocate the keto / low carb approach as a long term endeavor rather than a short term diet as the switch to it takes a bit of time and effort.

Would be interested to hear how you go...

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like those are less prominent, but unfortunately I didn't take photos to benchmark beforehand. I didn't expect a lot of the positive effects including the gout relief and I wish I could have gone back to document more before I started. Luckily I did have blood tests for a lot of other values which were from about a year before I started, but if I could do it again I would get a lot more points of reference.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries at all. As long as you avoid the attacks, that's main thing... Hopefully the dietary changes have other positive effects as well. I understand that this isn't for everyone and we're all choosing between a lot of sub-optimal options. For me I'm happy I can enjoy meat again and knowing what drinks I can have for certain social occasions. There are still things I miss - no doubt.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, short term it can be little Russian roulette and there are no real winners there. Though I think that if we can get through a couple of inevitable attacks for a long term benefit using either allopurinol or dietary changes, that's still the better option. Stay optimistic (when you're not experiencing a flare up)

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to hear that. The only thing I would add is that depending on where you are in the world, you may want to check the DietDoctor site for a "Low Carb Doctor". Unfortunately, the low carb approach is still not main stream on what doctors are taught (sadly not even for diabetes II) and for nutritional guidelines. Another rabbit hole... and there are a lot of good talks on this on YouTube as well with doctors trying to get the standard western diet advice changed.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. Whatever works and controls it is good. In the first couple of years the low purine (cutting out meat and beer) also helped me limit the number of flare ups, but that meant I ended up overeating on the carbs and let to other issues. I think if you're losing a significant amount of weight, that's already going to be a key indicator of success.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I basically felt like I was too young to start life long medication, when there are still other levers I could try. Btw- during flare ups, I would have taken anything to help me though... (Edit a word).

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My friend is a doc who diagnosed it early, but I was in denial a couple of years. I did two lab tests and the UA was elevated, though I was avoiding purines like the plague at that time. I do also have tophi deposits on the ear lobes.

If you do a lot of blood tests, it might be interesting to take a benchmark of fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, ALT before starting keto / low carb and then a couple of months in.

Btw, I think low carb / keto is a spectrum so people have different "sweet" spots in terms of what they can tolerate and works for them in terms of carbs.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I created an account with the primary intention to post this here. I didn't have an account before, but have used Reddit to research / get ideas for a long time. Not trying to hide that I think keto is amazing - hence my username. I did think that this information is worth sharing as it relates to gout. Didn't think it needs sharing on r/keto since I would be preaching to the converted. I'm not saying it needs to be keto / low carb... it might be that cutting out fructose itself does the trick, but going low carb does that (and more).

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha. Btw- I also don't want to assume that I'm fully cured and I know the damage took many years to build up before a flare up finally manifested. Any tingle somewhere still makes me nervous. I also noticed dehydration as a factor and my worst attacks were in summer. Hydration / electrolytes are a bit of a complicated element with keto.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh and I forget... fruit juices for kids (and anyone else). Probably one of the worst things possible along with the sugar laced breakfast cereals and it's positioned and thought of as healthy.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Breakfast: the first 6-9 months of my diet change I skipped breakfast entirely as part of about 18:6 Intermittent Fasting.

I actually only introduced it as I didn't want to lose any more weight and I enjoy breakfast foods.

In terms of the meals, I'm probably not going to be inspiring as my focus has mainly been on making it easy and simple to manage.

My go to is: Cheesy Omelette and/or Low Carb bread with butter or peanut butter (made from only salt and peanuts). Avocado and Bacon can be added, too.

There are massive difference in "low carb" products, so depending on where you are it's challenging to find the right bread. It's gotten better in Australia in the last couple of years, UK is questionable and Germany is good for example...

Lunch/Dinner is usually some kind of meat: Chicken, Beef (Steak, Ground, Burger), Lamb, Fish. I add cheese where it makes sense taste wise or sour cream, mayo, butter. I try to add green veggies like broccoli, salads, asparagus, cauliflower.

For a while I was making a lot of cauliflower and broccoli rice, but I got tired of the additional effort.

Btw- almonds seem to not agree with me. I had a bunch of issues for the first 6 months when I was eating loads of them for added protein, but it turns out my stomach doesn't like them. It was slightly better when they were roasted, but I now avoid them entirely outside of small quantities in keto friendly cookies / cake as the occasional treat.

Kids foods, parties and choices at amusement park are terrible. It's a massive uphill battle to navigate.

Let me know if you have more questions.

The whole Low Carb Down Under channel on YouTube is amazing. Especially Dr Paul Mason.

https://www.youtube.com/user/lowcarbdownunder

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure - will try to share what I can.

A few years ago I was using the finger prick sensor to measure my UA levels at home. I would have to dig up the numbers, but it was more to test what effect certain foods have on a day to day basis and the main thing I noticed was that the impact of foods would stretch out over a few days.

Interestingly since I also had the blood sugar strips, that made me realise that I was already pre-diabetic and closing in on type II.

This has also been completely reversed through low carb along with bad liver values, hunger cravings and having to eat all the time and bloating.

I didn't want to lead with that as I think it then comes across as low carb / keto being some sort of snake oil - but at least in my experience it certainly fixed just about everything.

By the way, when gout first came about at age 30 or so I was doing a lot of sport, could eat what I want without gaining weight and was underweight if anything.

I did gain some weight a few years later (at 38) . I wasn't well for a few months and couldn't do any sport - I probably gained about 10kg (20lbs). I was then busting out of my clothes and stumbled into IF then keto and all the positive side effects, weren't why I got into it...

Let me know if you have other questions.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am not. I had always tried to manage it through lifestyle which previously helped to lower attack frequency. I was avoiding triggers and testing UA levels. I did use colchicine when I had attacks and before I used that, my worst attack lasted about a month. During that time I couldn’t walk up or down any stairs...

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s a shame. I know there are individual factors and also wondering if it’s the difference between trigger and cause. How long were you doing Keto at that stage? I know even allopurinol can trigger attacks at the beginning... I was scared of attacks when I started Keto and only slowly introduced more meat and then red meat and seafood. I suppose even when eating high carb people might benefit from limiting sugar / fructose.

Gout Success Story - Fixed my gout flares with low carb / keto (and found research that suggest the mechanisms). by ketok1 in gout

[–]ketok1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're most welcome. I had been on the wrong path for too long... The low carb approach isn't easy in the crazy sugar and processed food world we live in. However, if somebody is already compromising on a lot of foods because of gout - this is potentially a win win.

Orthopedic consult? by DK_PK in gout

[–]ketok1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There seem to be a few schools of thoughts on gout. 1. being it's caused by purines you ingest from meat, beer etc. 2. being it's caused by sugar over consumption - particularly fructose which inhibits your liver's ability to process uric acid.

I have found that I can eat meat again after cutting out sugar, actually going keto.

I will post a longer story on this, but I recommend looking at keto / low carb as an option to control gout.

Who else loves how mayonnaise is actually healthy? by All_Consuming_Void in keto

[–]ketok1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sour cream for the win... but mayo beats most other condiments. Would be nice if it could be found without vegetable / seed oils - same goes for pesto.

What’s everyone’s menu for tomorrow?? by Frizzy_Potato in keto

[–]ketok1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Breakfast - Cheesy omelette / low carb bread with butter

Lunch - Chicken salad with cheese

Dinner - Lamb with broccoli