Foot Inflamation From Protein

Training Bodybuilding
1

I started running and free weight training around a month ago. I was originally 265lbs and have dropped down to 253lbs.

I heard that when you begin to do some type of cardio program, that the body will burn muscle as well as the fat in your body. I know that in order to gain muscle from the weight training, a person should take in more protein. The problem that I am facing is that the more protein I take in (20 gram whey shake for example) is when my foot becomes inflamed (gout).

What should I do? Continue to lift without the needed protein and chance more muscle loss than fat, or take in the protein?

2

Have you actually found that to be the case from experience or did you take the docs word for it?

The only reason I ask is because my dad is an obese male who suffers periodic gout attacks and he did the V-Diet with no problems. So for him at least, the protein didn’t aggravate his condition.

From my obervations of him, I believe his gout is more a result of Syndrome X type insulin metabolism maladies than it is protein metabolism per se.

Just my $.02

3

The running you are doing might also be contributing to the irritation of the ankle/foot. You didn’t mention how tall you are, but I’m guessing your carrying around a fair amount of exra weight on your frame. At the weight you are now, maybe something like an elliptical would be a better choice.

4

Sorry. Forgot to mention that I am 38 and 6’2".

I seems that whenever I had started the increase of protein, my foot would flare up. I must admit that there was a time when I was 288lbs. I started weight training and the stairmaster w/o the extra protein and I didn’t have a problem.

When I visted my wife one week, she cooked a big plate of salmon for dinner and the next few days, the inflammation became so unbearable that I had to go to the emergency room.

It was then that the doctor explained that it gout can be hereditary, or come from too much protein.

With the experience of flare ups, I’m thinking it’s from the protein.

5

You have a lot of the factors that go with gout. You did not mention blood pressure, how does that look.

Check out this site:

http://www.rheumatology.org.nz/nz08003.htm

6

This is a very interesting point. My mother has a past history of gout - mostly because she was diagnosed with diabetes. Since getting this under control with a complete diet change she has not experienced gout.

About a month ago I experienced - for the very first time - what i diagnosed myself as a bout of gout. All the signs were there. But i am a very healthy eater - always have been so I was mistified as to why I had this one attack.

But I do take alot of protein. Could this really be the culprit?

7

My cousin has gout and it sounds like you do too!

I will give you the same advice I gave him: Cherries!

Cherries, or cherry extract via pills has been known to at least lower the intensity of gout if not get rid of it all together.

Give it a shot.

8

Testy1, my pressure is 140/90. Doctor is giving me one month from the exercising and watching my diet before putting me on medicine. It has me a little shook. Any suggestions?

9

[quote]akatrk wrote:
Testy1, my pressure is 140/90. Doctor is giving me one month from the exercising and watching my diet before putting me on medicine. It has me a little shook. Any suggestions?[/quote]

The suggestion of the elliptical trainer was a good one to lessen the pounding on your feet.

Are you getting your Omega’s in your diet? These can help with inflammation and losing weight. You appear to be on the right path to weight loss, which will help.

I noticed on that link I posted that certain blood pressure meds can increase gout severity, so watch out for that if your doctor does put you on meds.

One last thing, as far as preventing muscle loss, complex carbs may be more important than protein. Try to stay away from the proteins outlined in the link such as red meats. And above all AVOID ALCOHOL.

10

I have had gout and kidney stones (both caused by the same thing).

Drink lots of water. This is particularly true after eating. This is the most important advice.

The cherry advice is good. You don’t need many, maybe five a day. If cherries are out of season, try cherry juice…again not much is needed and you should probably even water it down a lot.

Lose weight. This will help both the gout and the blood pressure. Maybe you should do this to some degree before continuing your weight training. Just monitor things and see what happens.

Avoid foods that are very high in phospherous. One major culprit is soft drinks, particularly colas. You should eliminate these from your diets.

Also, eliminate alcohol for now, until your weight is down. Beer is particularly bad. Later it might be okay to experiment a bit.

I now take whey powder daily, 50 to 60 grams of protein from that source and have no problem.

It would probably be good to cut back on high impact cardio until you lose some weight. There are plenty of other options. Biking is good. So is the rowing machine if your back is strong.

Have a blood test done in a few months and if all is back to normal (and I suspect if you work hard, it will be), you can try running again.

The weight training per se will not effect your gout, the added protein may. If your not using whey powder, try it and see what happens.

Gout attacks are triggered by a variety of conditions and people seem to have different triggers. In summary, drink water and then more water; avoid soft drinks that contain phospherous, control your weight, avoid alcohol, eat healthy!

Hope it all works out for you.

11

Thanks for the advice guys. I have started to watch what I eat, Im trying to hit the gym 6 days out of the week (3 days of weights, 3 days of cardio). I must admit though I do have a beer with my partner on Friday or Saturday (rarely both days). It’s a cop thing.