Gout and a New Cookbook Purchase

On top of all his other dietary restrictions, my husband now has an official diagnosis of gout, and for the past few weeks I had another whole long list of foods he's not allowed to eat. Unfortunately, we had eaten something from that list every single day prior to him being put on the gout diet. Beans, spinach, cruciferous veggies, nightshades, whole grains, yeast products - either in baked goods or of the "nooch" variety - the list goes on.

For a few days, all we had were some of the veggies on the "safe" list. As his foot pain subsided when the cortisone injection and colchicine he was prescribed started working its magic, he added back some foods, like the seitan and whole wheat roll that he insisted on taking to work as lunch every day. (Yes, during the worst of his latest flare he finished his disability leave and returned to his job) No reaction to those, so each day now I'm adding one more food from the list. Sunday was beans, yesterday was broccoli. So far, so good.

All of these restrictions may even be unnecessary, because Dr. McDougall wrote in the June 2006 newsletter that it's only the animal sources of purines one has to worry about, and I read the same info on-line in an article from Johns Hopkins. But the podiatrist said it's better to be safe than sorry, and for the duration of the flare-up - current and future ones - it's best to hold off on things, especially the high purine foods like beans and spinach. 

He had 2 flares in a 6-week period, which is why he had the blood test and got the official diagnosis. It's unknown what caused them - was it the rapid post-op weight loss, the food (Extra spinach and beans after the CABG operation for his post-op anemia), or all the exercise associated with cardiac rehab. The pain first started on day 1 of the exercise program, and the second flare happened after the last day of rehab, when he went 3 days in a row instead of alternate days, then went on an hour-long walk along the Hudson River waterfront the afternoon of his last session. Because it's unknown, the podiatrist warned him this will probably happen again in the future, but if he gets the primary care doc to order long-term allourinol, it may lessen the frequency, duration and amount of pain each time they do come.

Needless to say, I've tried no new recipes in this time. But I did get a new cookbook, Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live Cookbook. Many of the recipes had already been posted to his web site in the members' only section, or all his other books. Some have said they hadn't come across any new recipes at all while taking a quick glance through the book. It's still nice to have them all in one place, even if there isn't anything new. The Healthy Girl's Kitchen blog is currently doing a series of posts using recipes in this book, and her photos are of professional quality, so go, take a look at her comments on the recipes. Don't forget to read the replies, too. It's there where you'll usually find out where else the recipe was before and other people's experiences with them.