How to Ensure You Don’t Spend Black Friday in the ER

Benjamin Franklin said “the only two things certain in life are death and taxes”. May I take the liberty to add a third? That the emergency rooms would be packed to capacity the weekend after Thanksgiving Day.

A day of cooking, feasting and putting up with difficult relatives just has a way of dialing up erstwhile stable health conditions.

One health condition that tends to flare up this time of the year is gout.

Gout an inflammatory condition of the joints caused by an inability of the kidneys to clear out uric acid. Instead of being cleared out through the urine,uric acid makes it’s way into the joint. Just imagine having a pebble lodged  in your car engine!

Some beloved Thanksgiving food items are high in a natural substance called purines. The waste product of the cells breaking down purines is uric acid. Eat too much of purine-heavy foods and you will produce more uric acid.

Having more uric acid in your system would increase your chance of having some of that uric acid making their way into your joints instead of being cleared from the body via urine.

If you know that your uncle Joe has gout, I say keep a close eye on him at the Thanksgiving dinner.

otherwise you might have to spend your black Friday in the emergency room when uncle Joe comes down with gout.

Keep his hands off these foods at your thanksgiving dinner;

Gravy, organ meats, veal, scallops, liquor and soda.

Watch him like a hawk to make sure he does not go for seconds on these items;

Beef, chicken, lobster, shrimp, scallops.

Make sure he gets plenty of these;

Water, mashed potato, fruits and vegetable.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!