Beer, Summertime, Gout and Dehydration

What do beer, summertime and gout all have in common?

That’s right: Dehydration

Now that the weather’s hot, for some folks it’s “beer drinkin’ season”. That gives me concern about the one thing (there is no “one thing”) that could be the foremost of all gout causes, and that is…dehydration. My own theory is that gout is simply just a symptom of unintentional chronic dehydration.

Beer is a Diuretic

The first weird thing to keep in mind about gout and dehydration is that we all think of drinking beer in the summertime to quench an intense thirst…WRONG! Beer and all forms of alcohol – and lots of blood pressure medicines – are diuretics and only ADD to dehydration.

If you stop and think back to the times you’ve drank WAY too many beers one hot summer evening, what happened in the middle of the night? (well, a gout attack too, maybe) You woke completely parched and dehydrated and you would’ve killed for a glass of water or three.

That’s what you need to keep in mind. Hot weather, physical activity, too much alcohol – it all requires an extra measure of attention to how well you’re keeping your body properly hydrated…and consequently out of the gout zone.

My Theory About Gout and Dehydration

After my required reading assignment for my nutritional therapy class made me read, “Your Body’s Many Cries For Water” again, it all became clear to me: Gout is simply just one more symptom of chronic dehydration. Dr. Batmanghelidj covers many different health conditions in the book and all of them have one common denominator: Chronic Dehydration.

He covers rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, high blood pressure and many more. It’s just simple commonsense: The body doesn’t work right without water. Without water, toxins and wastes accumulate and don’t get flushed…like uric acid. The more well hydrated you keep yourself with high quality water, the less gout you’re going to get.

. . .

Hi Bert

Thanks again for pointing me the right way, my life is a lot different now than a year ago.

Thanks,
Brian

. . .

What to Know About How to Hydrate

It’s pretty simple really, this is what you need to know:

• You need to drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day. Ex: 200lbs / 2 = 100oz of water p/day. More if you’re physically active out in the hot wind and sun.

But here’s the real kicker I want you to get your head wrapped around:

• If you drink diuretics – coffee/caffeine, alcohol, fruit juices, soda pop – you need to drink THAT amount of WATER plus half to make up for it. Ex: For every 8oz of soda, beer, coffee you drink, you need to drink 12oz of water! And the operable word is “water” – not fluids, water. Period.

Make note of the graphic of “Signs of Dehydration” above and proceed accordingly.

    ☆ Remember!  Gout and dehydration happen pretty is easily when it’s the summertime beer drinkin’ season.