GOUT - SAY GOOD BYE

There's a lot you can do to prevent flares and pain. Gout happens when your body either makes too much or excretes (in you urine) too little uric acid, a byproduct of purine, a chemical that's in almost all human tissues and some foods. Those uric acid molecules cause trouble when they get together and form sharp, pointy crystals that lodge in joints and tissues. So to dodge gout flares:

Step 1: Avoid alcohol and purine containing foods like asparagus, organ and game meats, dried beans and peas, herring, mackerel, mushrooms, sardines and scallops. They encourage the body to overproduce uric acid.

Step 2: Shed excess weight; it's proven to reduce flares.

Step 3: Lower blood pressure; you'll remove another trigger for painful attacks.

To help you get through steps 1-2-3, try a veggie-centred diet.

• High-fibre foods and veggies - as well as fruit loaded with folate and vitamin C -- protect against gout.
• Low fat dairy is a gout chaser too. But no low-carb diets; that'll end up making your gout worse.
• Drink plenty of water daily to flush out uric acid.
• Enjoy coffee; it helps get rid of those nasty crystals, and avoid fructose rich drinks, including orange juice.
• Work out (10,000 steps every day)! And de-stress; tension's a big gout attack trigger.
• Try taking glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.