Love of friend years ago, echoes forward to bless me now.
As I wound down last Friday and settling into my favorite TV shows, I noticed something off in my right foot. Heading to the kitchen for something to eat, it was clear that the foot was more than just off – it damned well hurt. Looking down at it, I could see the foot was swollen near the big toe joint and was perceptibly reddened. It is confounding how quickly this all arose; now I was limping as it really hurt to put pressure on it. To heck with eating, I’ll just grab a beer and an ice-pack for the foot. It helped, but it wasn’t fixed, as I limped to put the icepack back in the freezer, walking on my heel.
I became anxious as I contemplated caring for Heidi; our walks and her endless potty trips outside – how would I do it? My Gawd, what’s wrong with my foot? Curiously, I remembered Alan B from forty years ago and how he became afflicted with GOUT
Because of my great affection for him and my need to try to help, I had researched the disease (no computer in those days) and remembered that it was due largely to the rich American diet and the acid/alkaline balance within the body being off (too acid). The pain is caused by uric acid crystals which form around the joint – usually the big toe. Well of course, that was it! I had over recent weeks been deliberately eating more meat-stuff in an attempt to loose a few pounds. Curses! I knew better. Now look what I’ve done. I fancied that I have always been a fairly ‘clean’ eater, so how could this happen? Then I remembered calling to tell Allan of my findings and advise that pure Cherry Juice, the kind one buys in a health food store was known to be a natural treatment for this condition. He thanked me deeply for my caring but he and his wife who was a medical person of some standing would remain with the physician who was treating him. Out of my respect for him, I said no more. Since then I have also read that one can neutralize an over acid condition and gain immediate relief with a dose of ½ teaspoon of baking soda mixed into 3-4 ounces of water, especially at bedtime.
I had cherry juice but no idea how much I should take, so ventured two ounces …yuk, add a little water to dilute. Okay. Now for the baking soda. Struggled back to the TV to prop up the foot. Within half hour relief crept in. By ten there was no pain at all. Gone. I repeated the procedure as I went to bed. Next day, the episode was only a memory. I have not re-treated as all seems okay, so why mess with perfection? Clearly, some diet changes are in order so I searched through my library and found Dr. Jordan Rubin’s “Restoring Your Digestive Health” and pages 149 – 156 covers what I was looking for. The entire book is a treasure. Also, Donna Gates in her book “The Body Ecology Diet” goes greatly into the acid/alkaline balance and proper food combining (which is truly at the heart of so many ailments.) In case you might be interested, there is a truly good book called “The Food Combining Bible” by Jan and Inge Dries. Much good stuff to learn there.
Reflecting back on Allan B and the suffering he went thru and continued to experience for some time is a sorrowful thing. I am however so glad that I dug to find out about this condition and that my brain filed it all away for future use, because look who I helped in the long run! I am amazed, just amazed that the effort to relieve and control was so effective and immediate. I am reminded that nature has provided for us with every herb of the field, a remedy for our various afflictions. It is for us to dig in and find them, using our bodies as our labs to test things out. We must be open and find what works, not be closed, fixated and elitist. Now, just in case there is someone out there who is so afflicted or perhaps knows of someone who is – share the wealth! I’d be happy to hear from you.
Wow,,thanks Jan for the wonderful tips. I started having the same pain in my right big toe. Its been an off and thing for a few weeks and also some pain in my wrist and knee. I did a google search and came up with gout. I bought some cherry juice yesterday, not the health food store kind but it said 100%. I wanted real cherrys but couldn’t find them this time of year. I soaked the foot in epsom salt and alternated with ice last night. I also took an anti-inflammatory that I had for old back problems. This morning its alot better. I read where beer will really make it act up and I had some beer over the week-end so I am thinking it made it worse.
I am going to try your baking soda tip the next time it acts up. But I am going to see a rheumatologist next week too. I think I have other forms of arthritus too.
Thanks again for the tips!
Beth
Comment by Beth — September 23, 2008 @ 10:47 am |
Hello Beth, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I wish you well with your efforts to solve your problem.
Have a couple of points to make: 1) the bottle I am holding in my hand says Black Cherry Concentrate – 100% pure fruit. Its an 8 oz bottle from “Tree of Life” bought at HSU a local health food store. This is several years old (?) and the price was $4.99 which isn’t too bad I guess. So when I took about 2 ounces of this stuff, twice in one evening – that may be considered a massive dose. But I wouldn’t think that any quantity of “juice” from a regular store could give the same effect. Even so, one would want a cherry juice or concentrate which had the least amount of interference with its natural properties – such as heat or other processes regular canned stuff goes thru. 2nd) The baking soda is really effective and many people do use this as a means for reducing their ‘acid’ state into a more neutral or alkaline state. Acidity of the body is one of the main culprits in giving the “soil” for many diseases and illnesses to develop and flourish. So it is nothing to fear, but I wouldn’t recommend it as an ongoing method for achieving pH balance for the body. It should really be done thru diet and food choices.
I suppose my body has been undergoing arthritic changes as well – like you, knees – its a bummer. I won’t take prescribed meds for it though as have had enough control generally by going vegetarian. (Animal protein contributes to an acidic condition.) Dr John McDougall has a great website, free newsletter and many books etc if you are interested in anything like that I did a post on Him being interviewed by the departed Tim Russert above. Incidentally, the baking soda thing is covered in another post called Cancer is a Fungus. Check them out. Let me know how you are doing Beth. Be well. Jan
Comment by Jan Turner — September 24, 2008 @ 12:44 pm |
Gout certainly is a nasty disorder, my own nephew is suffering from it for decades already. It is extremely tense for me, observing an important member of the family experience enormous pain so often. Sticking with an adequate diet for prophylaxis and making use of good treatment options is in my opinion crucial. I would personally recommend any one who already notices initial signs or symptoms of joint pain to by all means be alarmed. You should visit a health care professional as soon as you can and fine-tune your nutrition to prevent the outbreak of the condition. It is definitely no fun! Find good treatment possibilites and stay clear of purine rich meals, alcohol based drinks etc to take prophylactic measure!
Comment by Gichtbehandlung — June 15, 2010 @ 7:10 pm |
Hello Jared, Thank you for your comments and for your courteous recommendations. Fortunately for me, I had only that one episode which I outlined in that post – Got Gout? Therein, I had mentioned that I limped to get a beer and so on, so it may have seemed that it is usual for me to do this. Throughout my adult life, I have never really enjoyed beer as it gave me headaches when I was younger and also, didn’t particularly like the taste of it. Still, at that particular time I had in fact found it agreeable to enjoy a beer here and there. My gout episode led me to change my ways – immediately. To experience an onrush of pain attendant with Gout can deeply give one reason to consider possible causation. But it never happened again.
While my post on the experience is noteworthy, perhaps – - I would be remiss if I did not mention to you the intelligent, helpful article written by Loren Cordain, PhD of the Paleo Diet. I would be pleased for you to read that in effort to perhaps bring some relief to your nephew. As he says in the well-researched article, science has had it wrong for a long time and blaming high purine foods (causing many to curtail their protein intake). It seems is is the high glycemic load foods especially table sugar and high fructose corn syrup which are the ultimate offenders. It has much to do with how much uric acid the liver generates from both the body cellular breakdown and also the dietary intake, and more importantly, the excretory action of the Kidneys to expel the uric acid. He does a great job of explaining it. The post is Gout – Paleo Science (1-6-10) Nice hearing from you Jared and good luck to your nephew. Jan
Comment by Jan Turner — June 16, 2010 @ 1:12 am |