By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
In previous issues, we discussed good and bad cholesterol and triglycerides- substances that are commonly measured as some indicators of health. These can be detected in your blood even before your blood pressure will rise or before your heart and kidneys fail. Thus high blood levels of these substances are warning signs of impending disease if you don’t address the cause. We go now to another common substance that is measured- uric acid.
What’s uric acid? Uric acid is a by product of the metabolism or breakdown of purine in our bodies. Purine is protein. It is found in a lot of our foods, especially in meat and other animal products. The nature of our body is that it needs to metabolize or breakdown the food we eat and liquid we drink before these can be used by our cells. For instance, you cannot be energized by just taking a bite of camote. I mean, if that camote stays in your mouth. You need to chew it well, swallow it so it goes to the stomach where it is further broken down to its major components which will no longer resemble the camote that you ate. These will be absorbed in the bloodstream and brought to the liver where they are further broken down and then distributed to all parts of the body. I am sure there are many more intricate things going on inside our bodies to process the things we put in our mouth but we need not worry because these keep going automatically and are programmed so well that they are sometimes beyond our understanding and beyond our belief. This is why it is healthy to eat foods as natural, as whole, as they can be so that we let our body do the refining and processing. It knows better than the machines of the factory.
As our digestive system processes and metabolizes our food, there are “wastes” or by-products generated like uric acid. To address this waste problem, our body has its own waste disposal system. You will be amazed how perfectly designed our body is. As a review, the carbon dioxide generated from digestion is excreted through the lungs. Uric acid is mostly flushed out in the urine while a little will be excreted out with the feces. Thus even before your blood is saturated with uric acid, an examination of your urine will show uric acid crystals. A routine urine exam can show these.
A certain amount of uric acid normally circulates in the blood but in excess, it can cause disease like gout and kidney stones. Gout is a form of arthritis and so it is also called gouty arthritis. The term “arthritis” technically means inflammation or swelling of the joints from any cause. So when you are told that your painful knees is not “arthritis”, it doesn’t really mean anything. What you need to know what is causing the pain.
These excess uric acid will form crystals and be deposited in the joints, in your kidneys and gallbladder and wherever they can lodge on to. Befriend the med tech in your area to show you these crystals in your urine. They look beautiful! Although beautifully designed, these crystals are like tiny broken glasses. Imagine them scraping your joints. Ugh. With every movement of your joints, they scrape the joint surfaces which are even more fragile than the lining of your mouth. Initially, you will not be aware of what is going on and you keep eating those meats. In time, your joints will be so irritated that they will send you pain signals and swelling and redness for you to take notice. You will have a gouty attack. And you are even overweight. Imagine the burden to your joints and muscles and bones.
And later on in gout, if you still don’t address the cause of the problem, there will be growths in your knuckles and ankles. These bony outcrops are called “tophi”.
So what causes the excess uric acid. There are two causes- excess purine intake and/or defective kidneys. Again, purine is protein. And we mean animal protein. Plant protein, the ones you get from beans and other vegetables are easily flushed out of the kidneys. Perhaps because they don’t have fats with them that glue the uric acid unlike the juicy beef. You may be eating too much animal protein that your kidneys are overwhelmed. And we know what happens when one is constantly stressed. In time, your kidneys will say “tama na, sobra na.” And if your kidneys give up, then even small amounts of uric acid will not be eliminated.
Okay, you will say that it is when you eat white beans that you get painful knees and feet. It is not the beans that is the culprit. It is the etag or pata that you mixed with the beans, not only today but for years. And/or the refined sugar that you placed in your coffee or the ice cream that you ate. Or coke or cake. And the vetsin. Etc. You see, we add a lot of processed food in our menu today. Just like this hotel where we had our training – all the food they served us had sweet sauce. I could taste sugar even in the chopsuey! No wonder, our bodies complain.
So what to do? Don’t wait for the uric acid build-up. Surely, it will not only be uric acid building up. As we discussed in previous issues, your cholesterol, sugar and triglycerides will also build up- even if the laboratory didn’t detect them. Because if you eat meat and animal products, you don’t only get the protein, you also get the whole package of cholesterol and hormones and antibiotics that those animals ate.
Don’t wait for your knees to buckle down. Eliminate the enemy, not the guard. Taking painkillers is like whacking the guard. Pain is a warning for you. Thank goodness, eliminating the enemy means just ignoring those foods that have complicated modern life and just letting our minds savor the natural goodness of God’s bounty.***
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“Rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given you and your household.” Deuteronomy 26:11
