Fighting Gout with Raw?? That's what I'm here for!

[efstuck]

Hi Everyone!

So I am here to start RAW for one main health reason - Gout.

I'm a 27 year old male and have had gout since I was 20 (bad genes). I know...it's really young to have gout. I find the last couple years - I've had very painful and very long lasting gout attacks (weeks to months) and honestly just sick of it. I have a bachelor in food and nutrition - don't drink, rarely eat red meats, shellfish but still I get these bad attacks. I don't know why.

I'm not a fan of pills so I always decided to shun my doctor's advice of taking allopurinol for the rest of my life and just control it with diet. It has been relatively successful until the last couple years.

I am otherwise by bloodtest a very healthy 27 year old. I am a bit over weight maybe 30 lbs or so - 193 right now. So losing some would be great too but definitely not my main concern. I just want to be able to play the sports I love without disruption, hesitation and not being able to play 100% without worrying about permanent damage from uric acid crystals.

I've always loved to eat and love to cook. Thankfully, I've always loved eating vegetables and fruits and so I am quite excited about this. Excited about all the different fruits and vegetables I will be eating for the first time in my life.

I bought a vitamix online the other day and can't wait for it to come :) I bought a young coconut today for the first time so i'm excited about that too :)

The only thing is it is a bit expensive to buy all this raw food! I'll have to go to costco or something!

One question I have is - is boiled water considered bad in the RAW world?

Ken

[klomasius]

Welcome!

Glad yo have you here!

It doesn't have to be expensive, there are so many ways to reduce costs with a raw food lifestyle (just use the banana search key above for things like 'raw on a budget'). I too have to watch my money at certain times of my pay cycle.

As for hot water, it depends, some drink it, some don't. I drink warm water teas and sun teas in the spring and summer. It's up to you and how far you take it!

Good luck!

[efstuck]

I actually rarely eat most meats including fish, fowl and dairy. I eat white fish, chicken regularly but in small amounts. I don't drink milk either - I drink almond milk from the store.

I like both prep and cooking. Cooking is great in layering flavors like building flavor bases, cooking down things, making sauces from scratch. I enjoy prep too. I think most of all, it's creating something delicious from scratch which I think applies to raw as well.

I will take a look at raw vegan and see what the difference are. Why do you suggest raw vegan over just raw?

[AutumnBreezColordLeavz]

Other foods to avoid until you regain the necessary enzymes to help balance and prevent build up of uric acid are:

anchovies
asparagus
legumes
mushrooms

Uric acid is the end product of the metabolism of a class of chemicals known as purines. In people with gout, the body does not have enough of the digestive enzyme uricase, and, as a result, uric acid builds up and crystallizes.

Welcome to Raw Food Talk! We are all here to change for the better, no matter our symptoms and disease that ails, raw is a wise decision!

[green goddess]

Welcome, Ken!

Sorry to hear you're suffering from gout - I don't know much about it, but I understand it to be painful and I agree with Rev that eliminating all animal products will be very beneficial for you!

Transferring your cooking skills to creating raw dishes should be fun for you! There's so much that can be made, using the dehydrator especially!

And I absolutely looooove young coconuts. I could drink them everyday; they taste like the nectar of paradise!

And a quick tip for making nut milk:

-soak 1 cup of nuts (almonds, cashews) overnight; rinse in the morning
-add nuts to 3 cups of water in your blender (you can add a bit of sweetener (a date or two) if you prefer)
-blend really well and strain with a nut mik bag or cheesecloth
-makes about a litre, and keeps in the fridge for about 3 days.

So simple and delicious! And costs a fraction of the pasteurized cartons at the grocery store! :)

[efstuck]

Thanks green goddess and autumn for the tips.

I've already been watching a lot of youtube videos on raw recipes and almond milk is definitely something i'm going to do!

I've been raw for about 24 hours now, but probably eating too much fruit and not enough vegetables.. it's been really tasty so far and I like how there's no real restrictions so I don't feel like I am ON a diet.

Had some seeds, 1 papaya, 1 young coconut, 2 apples, 1 orange, handful of raspberries and blackberries! Not really sure how to incorporate vegetables yet without my on-the-way blender!

I'll have to look for some recipes on that.

Thanks again!

Ken

[green goddess]

That's what I like about eating raw foods - it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle, and a darn good one at that!

The food you listed as what you ate sounds yummy! I think I'll crack open my last young coconut tomorrow. And drink it while I plant more seeds. Mmmm.

Congratulations on your first 24 raw hours, and keep us in the loop with how things progress for you! :)

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW.............Welcome to MY World.