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I have gout, and my doctor says I should avoid purines. What foods contain purines?

Gout is a form of arthritis that’s characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, redness and tenderness in joints. The cause of gout is a high blood level of uric acid (hyperuricemia). Uric acid is a waste product formed from the breakdown of purines — substances which are found naturally in your body as well as in certain foods.

Treatment of gout used to include severe dietary restrictions. But newer medications to treat gout have reduced the need for such restrictions. Still, some dietary modifications may reduce the severity of gout attacks. They may also be useful for people who have problems with gout medications.

Foods that are high in purines include:

• Organ meats, such as liver, brain, kidney and sweetbreads
• Anchovies
• Herring
• Mackerel
• Dried beans and peas

Smaller amounts of purines are found in all meats, fish and poultry. For this reason, limit animal protein in your diet to no more than 5 to 6 ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish a day. Some additional dietary considerations include:

• Avoid alcohol or drink it in moderation. Drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of hyperuricemia because it interferes with the removal of uric acid from the body. If you’re having a gout attack, avoid alcohol completely.
• Drink plenty of fluids. Fluids can help remove uric acid from the body.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight puts more stress on your joints and increases the risk of hyperuricemia and gout.
• Lose weight if you’re overweight. But avoid fasting or rapid-weight-loss diets because they can increase uric acid levels in the blood. Also, avoid low-carbohydrate diets that are high in protein and fat, which can increase hyperuricemia.

Did you know that simply changing the way you eat could help you to feel more satisfied after eating?

Notice I used the word satisfied, not full. There’s a big difference. Full means, “I’m really stuffed.” Satisfied is simply, “I’m no longer hungry.”

Satisfaction is actually a learned feeling. Many of us in fact feel satisfied after eating only half of a meal, but we don’t recognize that feeling because, instead of pausing, we go on and eat to fullness. I am still part of the clean-plate generation — that’s just how we were brought up.

But now we need to change our thinking and learn to recognize what it feels like to be satisfied during a meal. If you stop when you are satisfied, you will eat less food.

Try some of these tips to help you feel more satisfied at meals:

• Use smaller plates and bowls. This trick actually fools your mind into thinking that you’re getting more food. When you see a plate (no matter what size) brimming with food, you’re already thinking, I am going to be satisfied after this meal! Smaller plates mean that your portion sizes will be smaller and you’ll eat less food.

• Eat your meal slowly. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to get the message that you have eaten enough and to then communicate that feeling of satisfaction (or fullness!) to your stomach. Put your fork or spoon down between bites of food, talk with others at the table, chew your food thoroughly, and drink liquids during meals to slow your rate of eating.

• Drink plenty of non-calorie beverages each day. Interestingly, the feeling of thirst can sometimes impersonate that of hunger, so make sure you are drinking enough fluids every day.

• Change your eating schedule, or create one that works. Skipping or delaying meals can result in overeating. If you skip meals often, try to eat on more of a schedule. You will then feel more satisfied with what you do eat.

• Enjoy your food. Take the time at meals to simply enjoy what you are eating. Taking pleasure in what you eat will help you feel more satisfied.

* Source from Yahoo Health

There are plenty of ways to cure your insomnia naturally without resorting to sleeping pills or other medicines.

Before resorting to anything stronger, try these ideas to help you get a good night’s sleep:

• Do your best to go to bed at the same time every night. Even at weekends, when your routine probably changes. Your body will appreciate the routine and will start to learn that it’s time for bed the same time every night in much the same way as it knows that when your alarm clock sounds, it’s time to wake up.

• Run a mental check list of your life. Is there anything that is disrupting your sleep pattern? This could be stress, maybe caused by a change of routine or even the seasons. It may be worry about money, personal life, children, etc. It could be anxiety. Check your life for anything that could be manifesting itself as insomnia, even though at first sight it’s not related to it. When you find something, work on that problem first - you may well find your sleep problem disappears at the same time.

• Stop the caffeine! Or at least restrict your caffeine intake to before, say, mid afternoon. Remember that this includes not only colas and coffee but also tea and even green tea. Don’t instantly cut caffeine out of your life completely otherwise you stand to get ratty as part of the withdrawal process.

• Alcohol isn’t a good idea. Even though you may feel drowsy after you’ve had a few drinks. Alcohol will disrupt your sleep pattern even when you do finally get to sleep. Again, you may find it best to cut down your intake rather than go cold turkey immediately - it depends on how much your body has got used to the effects.

• Take more exercise. This doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym every day, although that could be a good idea. Even just walking for say 15 minutes will help. The exercise will help your metabolism as well as your fitness and the endorphins released will boost you as well. As with caffeine and alcohol, don’t exercise too soon before going to bed.