Gout Pal Interactive

I wrote my personal opinion on gout and alcohol a few months ago. I’ve enjoyed reasonable, and occasionally excessive, amounts of wine and beer since, and my opinion is unchanged. However, I must point out that this is my personal experience, and will not apply to all gout sufferers.

I think I need to do an in-depth article on alcohol and gout. I’ll put it on the list of things to do. Or maybe on the list of things to put on the list

It is actually very confusing, but I fall back on my old maxim - each to their own gout.

Gout is a very complicated disease, caused by different factors. If you combine this with the fact that no individual food item (including drinks) is as important as total diet, then it’s easy to see why there are no simple answers.

As an overweight gout sufferer, I believe that my weight is the cause of my gout. Yes, alcohol contributes to weight gain, but I do not believe it directly makes my gout worse. In fact, as long as I remember to keep hydrated, I feel better after a drink. I am not condoning excessive alcohol consumption - my own or anyone else’s - but here is the place for gout opinions, and that is mine.

For a gout patient whose primary cause of gout is due to kidney problems then the picture is probably very different. It is vital that all gout sufferers have kidney function tests.

Beyond that, there are other things to consider. Do the health properties of red wine outweigh the effects of alcohol? At what point does alcohol stop being beneficial? Is there any point comparing different types of alcohol?

I think it’s too easy to get obsessed with these questions and forget that the best thing for gout is a healthy balanced diet and a healthy, happy lifestyle. Drinking too much or stressing over pleasures deemed to be forbidden will not contribute to those goals.

I will continue to report news on gout and alcohol as I get it. In the meantime, if you have some alcohol related questions or opinions, why not talk about them on your gout forum?

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 17th, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Gout, Gout Diet.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.