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.
Gout is caused by a build up of uric acid crystals around your joints, it normally starts in your big toe and can move around your body from there. Uric acid crystals have no idea how old you are and they don’t care that you are too young to experience the horrible burning pain that goes with a gout attack.
Over the last 20 years the average child spends a lot less time outside getting exercise and eats a lot more processed food and drinks. Most children are not satisfied with drinking plain old water any more they want sugary sodas and flavored drinks that are full of fructose.
The levels of uric acid in the body can be raised by the intake of sodas and fructose. As a result of this, there has been an increase in the reported cases of gout. No longer is gout known as the disease of kings. The amount of soda and “nutritional” beverages that we drink has increased over recent years, it is a consequence that so will cases of gout.
Anyone who suffers from gout can reduce the amount of attacks that they suffer relatively easily by changing their diet, the problem is that the older we get the more set we become in our eating habits and the harder it becomes to change our diet.
Have you thought about the long term effects of your child’s current diet? If you haven’t, then you need to because if you are letting them pick up bad habits in relation to their diet, you could be causing them long term damage. Therefore you should try to help them get into good eating habits so that they will see the benefits as they get older.
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.
You need to know that gout is a condition which can affect you where you are young or old. But the original conditions can start from when you are a kid. There are however some very effective forms of gout treatment which can help you.