Friday, February 6, 2009

Children and Gout

By Kathy Nelson

If you suffer from gout you may have heard the comments about it being the disease of kings and how it is caused by to much beer and rich food. This would make you think that your children are at no risk at all from gout, as I am sure you don't let your kids drink beer.

One of the causes of gout is the increase of uric crystals around your joints. Mostly this will start to show itself in your big toe, from here it can travel around your body causing more damage as it goes. It doesn't matter that you could be very young and consider yourself not at risk from gout, you are not too young to feel the pain that gout attacks bring.

The last twenty years or so have brought about changes in children's habits. In general, children will not spend so much time outdoors playing sports or doing exercise. They also tend to eat more processed food and beverages. Many children are not happy to drink just water, instead they prefer sodas and flavoured drinks which tend to contain a lot of fructose.

Fructose and sodas have been shown in recent studies to increase the levels of uric acid in peoples bodies, this has led to increased incidences of gout. Gout is definitely not a disease of kings anymore, as the amount of soda and so called "health" drinks that we all consume continues to increase so will the instances of gout.

The amount of gout attacks suffered by a person can be reduced if the right kind of diet is put in place. This isn't really a difficult thing to do if you can remain focused. However it is only natural that the older we get, the more we get into a routine of what to eat which can often make it difficult to stick to a new diet.

You need to think about how your child's diet will affect them not only now, but years down the line when they are older. You could be allowing them to get into bad eating habits which will stick with them for a long time. Because of this you should try to steer them away from foods or beverages which are high in their fructose content.

In present times people tend to be much more rushed and have less time to spend actually making sure that they foods they buy are high in nutrition. This is understandable as it can often be hard to spend quality time shopping for good quality foods if you have heavy work commitments as well as your children distracting you if you take them shopping.

Your weekly trip to the supermarket should be the basis of preventing gout problems in your family. You can cut out foods which are bad for you before they get anywhere near your fridge or kitchen. For a start you can avoid foods and drinks which contain high levels of uric acid causing chemicals. Also try to cut out drinks which are high in fructose. By doing this you can cut down on the chances of your children developing gout problems, as well as leading a more healthy lifestyle in general. - 15683

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