Live data from Hacker News

Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

nytimes.com

151–160 of 210 posts

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#151
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fiber will impact the absorption rate and insulin spike, but in the end you’ll have consumed the same amount of sugar. For calorie-counting purposes, or say, avoiding gout due to fructose intake, there will be no difference.

Why wouldn't the absorption rate have an impact? Seems like it could slow down absorption enough for your kidneys to filter out byproducts that can lead to gout. Interested to learn if you know something different.

Let me formulate it different:

Its 'healthier' to consume the same amount of sugar through fruits than through pure sugar due to its being easier for your body.

It does not change your calorie intake at all as its the same amount.

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most fruit are nowhere near as healthy as most people expect they are. They have been selectively bred over many hundreds of years to be far larger, sweeter and more devoid of micronutrients than they were hundreds of years ago. The amount of sugar (especially fructose) in fruits like apples, oranges and bananas is shockingly high, and can cause or exacerbate conditions such as obesity, fatty liver, type 2 diabetes,…

Obese people avoiding fruit is one of the biggest eye roll on offer. I had a fat roommate who measured out the raw almonds he ate because they were calorie dense the same day he’d eat two whole pizzas for dinner. Meanwhile, almonds and bananas aren’t the things making people fat. Looking at my own fat friends, some tasty fruit is the only fiber they even get. And vegetables aren’t even on the menu of most fat people…

It wasn't "advice". It's a true statement: Most fruit isn't as healthy as people think it is.

If you've got someone eating an unhealthy diet, but sticking some token fruit in, then that means that even their token nods towards good diet aren't as good as they think, and they should be made aware of that.

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#154
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most fruit are nowhere near as healthy as most people expect they are. They have been selectively bred over many hundreds of years to be far larger, sweeter and more devoid of micronutrients than they were hundreds of years ago. The amount of sugar (especially fructose) in fruits like apples, oranges and bananas is shockingly high, and can cause or exacerbate conditions such as obesity, fatty liver, type 2 diabetes,…

I have yet to meet someone who is obese and his calorie intake is primary from fruits. Edit: I just did napkin calculation. Sedentary 170cm high male weighting 66kg would need to eat 20 apples a day to keep his weight. Or 3600 grams per day. The shocking high sugar content still means nearly uneatable quantity of apples just to get enough calories for rather small office worker who does no sport.

I don't think 20 apples is that much.

And we are talking about people who are obese, they are consumgint oo many calories per day, every day.

Now lets take a real example: obese people tend to drink juices and replacing soda with juice because they assumed juices are healthy.

I can easily drink 2 liters of water or 2 liters of juice/soda every day. 470 calories for 1 liter -> 900 calories additional.

easy

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#155

I have been suffering from gout for the last 4 years or so (36 y/o now) with roughly 1 attack per year, prominently in the right big toe. There is a history of gout in my family. More recently I've had the odd time where I have mild symptoms - pain in foot rather than toe and still able to limp around without too much issue. I have wanted to avoid taking allopurinol daily and have done a lot of research to find more…

> 2. Tart cherry juice is mentioned a lot as a cure. There are a quite a few studies[2]. Make sure and get the tart cherry (Montmorency) juice, you can get it in a concentrated syrup. My uncle says he has not had an attack since he started drinking a generic supermarket tart juice every day. I have never had an attack whilst taking cherry juice but i haven't been taking it consistently.

Tart Cherry Extract capsules are another option. Gout pain relief within hours. (Note, there is a drowsy/melatonin side effect with big doses)

Creams with high concentrations of menthol and methyl salicylate seem to help. Also applied to the ankle and knee (along with massage) to help stimulate circulation away from the big toe.

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn't the absorption rate have an impact? Seems like it could slow down absorption enough for your kidneys to filter out byproducts that can lead to gout. Interested to learn if you know something different.

Let me formulate it different: Its 'healthier' to consume the same amount of sugar through fruits than through pure sugar due to its being easier for your body. It does not change your calorie intake at all as its the same amount.

> It does not change your calorie intake at all as its the same amount.

Glossing over what an insulin spike makes your body do with those calories is a bit disingenuous.

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#157
post #106
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That, or 400g+ of chocolate. No conclusion to be taken here.

It is easy to eat 400g of chocolate per day. Not at one sitting, but if you have whole day for it, you can do it without any issue. Also, it would be 350g of dark chocolate for my hypothetical guy.

> It is easy to eat 400g of chocolate per day. Not at one sitting,

Challenge Accepted.

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is wrong. Fructose metabolism specifically differs from other types of sugars, by requiring a particular enzyme, which means it can only be broken down in the liver. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructolysis Unlike glucose, which is directly metabolized widely in the body, fructose is almost entirely metabolized in the liver in humans, where it is directed toward replenishment of liver glycogen and triglyceride…

No you misread my comment. I never said fructose is indistinguishable from glucose. I said sucrose is almost indistinguishable from high fructose corn syrup. Sucrose is 50% fructose 50% glucose and most high fructose corn syrup is 55% fructose 45% glucose. They are almost identical.

Ah, makes sense. When people say 'sugar' they often refer to the different kinds of saccharides, not necessarily sucrose.

Re: Once the disease of gluttonous aristocrats, gout is now tormenting the masses

#160
post #87

A close friend of mine suffered from gout since 2012 and it got aggravated since last two years. He also was severely obese with a BMI around 37. Last year his SGPT and SGOT levels really spiked up drastically and doctor suggested it was the beginning of Fibrosis and asked him to reduce weight. He started intermittent fasting 18:6 and religious intake of ~3 litres (250 ml per kg). He reduced 20 kgs in last 8 months.…

Somewhat similarly, I suffered 4-8 attacks per year from the age of 24 to 49. Colchicine was my friend.

But at 49 I quit drinking, lost almost 50 lbs over a year period, and almost completely stopped having gout attacks.

Interestingly, I still get occasional attacks (once or twice a year at most), and they are all almost totally associated either with dehydration (to which I seem somewhat prone) or stress; particularly the stress of flying for 4+ hours on a business-related trip. I board the plane feeling fine, and step off with that little tinge in my left-big-toe joint.

Post reply on HN