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Page 163
| swelling, particularly in the big toe. That may sound like a minor affliction unless you've experienced it; the inflammation can be excruciating. |
| Gout is a hereditary disease, but poor metabolism, an aristocratic diet high in fat and alcohol, and excess pounds increase your risk of developing it. So far, there's no cure, but medication is often effective, and eliminating certain foods from your diet can help prevent it. Experts recommend avoiding excess alcohol; it's also a good idea to eat fewer foods that are high in purines, substances that the body converts into uric acid. These include organ meats such as liver; fish such as anchovies, sardines, and mackerel; and vegetables such as asparagus, and legumes. |
| Smart Foods |
| Water, to dilute uric acid in the bloodstream and help prevent crystallized deposits. |
| Celery and celery seed, which also help eliminate uric acid. |
| Turmeric, which helps reduce inflammation and pain. |
| STREET SMARTS |
| Jeri Wray, a fifty-one-year-old receptionist and grandmother who has suffered from migraines since age eighteen, says she has sworn off caffeine and wine, two foods that tend to trigger her headaches. And she's careful about other potential problem foods as well. ''Maybe two or three times a year I'll have a bit of chocolate, but that's it," she says. "Instead of getting on the medication merry-go-round, which can cause rebound headaches on its own, I'm much more into trying to avoid things that give me migraines, and living healthy." |
| Headache |
| The list of headache-makers is a long one: stress, noise, tiredness, weather, and hormonal changes are all common causes, as are some of the foods we eat and the liquids we do or don't drink. |
| Whatever the cause, the result is one of two types of head pain: tension headaches, which are caused by muscle contraction in the neck and scalp, and vascular headaches, including the often excruciatingly painful migraines, which are caused by expansion and contraction of blood vessels in the head and neck. |
| When it comes to headaches, what you don't con- |
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