How Acidic Urine Can Be a Symptom of Gout

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Acidic urine, or rather, high uric acid in urine can be a symptom of gout. Gout is caused by uric acid crystals that have formed in your joints, because of high levels of acid in your body. The condition of having high acid levels is called Hyperuricemia.

Your body is continually producing uric acid as part of its normal metabolization process. During this process, chemical compounds called ‘purines’ breakdown and one of the byproducts is uric acid, which your kidneys normally flush out of your body through your urine.

The problem occurs when your kidneys fail to do this effectively enough, or, your body is producing far too much for your kidneys to be expected to handle. When either of these situations happens, you’re left with higher than normal uric acid in your blood, which can lead to gout crystal formation in your joints.

Your doctor can arrange for blood and urine tests to be carried out. If you have high uric acid in blood and high in your urine, then your kidneys are likely working well, but your body is making too much acid. On the other hand, if you have high levels in your blood and low levels in urine, your kidneys are probably not working so well. Based on this your doctor can select the appropriate treatment and perhaps some further tests on your kidneys.

 It doesn’t really matter the reason for high uric acid, the outcome is the same; the symptoms of gout, which are, redness, swelling, stiffness, inflammation and the excruciating pain that drives you crazy. More often than not, the attacks are so bad that you can’t even get a sock on, let alone a shoe. (Note: The vast majority of attacks occur in the big toe joint, although any joint can be affected, e.g. side of foot, ankle, knee, elbow, hand, etc.).

Now, although high uric acid in the body leads to gout, there are several underlying factors that can increase the risk of  a gout attack. These are things such as; your diet, lifestyle, if you’re overweight, family history of gout / arthritis, medical conditions, medications, etc.

To get a better understanding of your condition and how to treat it, you need to investigate all of these issues. You’ll find information throughout this site. In particular, you’ll want to discover how your diet can lead to acidic urine or high uric acid.

Related Posts:

• High Uric Acid in Urine – What Does It Mean?

How Do You Control Uric Acid Levels in Your Body?

Since your gout attacks are caused by high uric acid levels that lead to gout crystals in your joints, you need to reduce these levels and control them at healthier, lower levels.

Now, if you’re in the middle of a painful gout attack, the first thing you’re looking for is to reduce the inflammation and relieve the pain. Then, once having eliminated your gout symptoms, you will want to continue to control your uric acid levels to help prevent further gout attacks, which can lead to permanent joint damage and kidney problems if they happen enough times.

You could use mainstream drug-based treatments prescribed by your doctor, and these can work quite well for most sufferers. But they do have some horrible side effects that put people off using them, and so they turn to natural home remedies for help…

For example, cherries have natural anti-inflammatory properties as well as being able to lower uric acid levels in the body. Eating lots of cherries every day can be very beneficial during an attack (30 to 40 cherries every 4 hours), and longer term (say, 30 cherries a day) in helping to control your uric acid levels.

Another natural home remedy for gout is the drinking of celery seed tea. Celery seeds have loads of natural anti-inflammatory properties too. Make a tea by boiling 1 tablespoon of celery seeds in 2 cups of water. Drain off the seeds and drink half a cup four times a day until your symptoms have gone. [Note: these seeds are diuretic, so don't use this remedy if you're pregnant or suffer from kidney problems of any sort].

In terms of controlling the uric acid levels in your body to prevent recurring gout, one of the most important things you can do, is to follow a low-purine diet. Purines are natural chemical compounds in our body and in our foods, that when they break down, produce uric acid.

So if you’re like most folks and your daily diet is full of high-purine foods, you’re only adding more uric acid production to your already high levels.

Foods that are highest in purines are things like fatty red meat, organ meat, game, some fish, shellfish, poultry, legumes, etc. You need to discover which foods within these groups need to be avoided, and which you need to reduce.

Sensible foods for gout sufferers can generally be found in essential fatty acid foods, complex carbohydrates, low-fat dairy products, high vitamin c foods, vegetables (especially green-leaf), fruit, etc. But, even within these groups, there are some particular foods that should be avoided or reduced.

You can get more information on gout diets here.

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• 3 Ways to Eradicate Gout Symptoms Naturally
• 5 Natural Supplements for Gout Sufferers
• What Type of Diet Helps Get Rid of Gout?
• What is a Natural Way to Get Rid of Gout?
• Gout Diets: Pineapples and Strawberries