Supplements or Not (History of Gout)

T

Tom2112

0
Hi All,

I am very new to the fitness world and this is my first time posting, but I was hoping you could give me some advice.

I recently lost a good amount of weight (220 down to 150 lbs.) through light exercise and good eating. I would like to move on to building some lean mass and really getting into shape. I feel confident that I have the willpower and the determination to stick with the program and do what I need to do.

However, in the past (about 7 years ago), I had an acute gout attack, and was told that this was due to too much protien in my diet. Recently, my blood tests indicate that my uric acid is borderline normal (on the high end of normal).

My question is, is it safe to be taking supplements, and if so what kind? Also, if I don't take supllements, will I be able to gain some mass if I put in the work, or will I just become tones and "lean". I would hate to do all that work and effort, and find out that it is for nothing. Are there any fitness/bodybuilders that have gone the no supplement route who can tell me what kinds of gains to expect?

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any help and advice you can give. Thanks

Tom
 
Tom,

First of, the vast majority of 'supplements' out there are money sinks...they do nothing special aside from offer extra vitamins...or sometimes they just do nothing.

supplements that are agreed upon by the general fitness public that are useful are:
protien powders & drinks, multi vitamins, creatine (2-3 forms of this), essential fatty acids (fish oil tablets, flax oil), extra amino acids, and some people benefit from HMB when they first start lifting..but I wouldn't bother with it really. also fat-burners can be pretty helpful when trying to lean out.

stuff to avoid - NO2 (nitrous oxide) supps, l-glutamine, pro-hormones (all the ones that worked are banned), pro-steroids (again, all the ones that worked were banned in the last year)...pretty much avoid anything that makes bold claims.


as far as gout goes, protein may cause issues, however your goal is only about 150g of protein a day, split over 5-6 meals. make sure you drink at least a gallon of water a day...as this should help keep the urea from crytalizing, which I believe is the cause of gout (my dad has issues with it too, but he's over 200lbs, drinks a 6 pack a day and doesn't take care of himself at all)

I'd see how much protein you're taking in now, and slowly edge up from there, and watch for any inflamation of the gout. I would not do any loading phases with creatine, as excess creatine destabilizes to creatinine, which the kidneys have to process. I'm not sure if it would have any effect on urea, which is why I'd play it safe. 3g (a level teaspoon) of creatine in your post workout shake is all you need anyways. after a few weeks your muscles should be saturated with creatine. a loading phase merely attempts to speed up the saturation process. Why rush it?
 
Thanks for the Advice

I like you idea of slowly implementing the supplements. I have a blood test every 3 months, and one coming up in a couple of weeks, so I will try it a bit,a nd see what the outcome is.

Mainly, I have been seeing a a lot of praise for whey and gli\utamine, so may be start slow with those?

Thanks again.
 
I wouldn't focus much on glutamine. 2-3 years ago it was the bomb...but more recent studies have found that glutamine helps with digestion IF you've got low gut glutamine levels. For recovery of damaged muscle tissue (the main reason people buy glutamine), findings have been sketchy, or inconclusive. Those taking placebo had the same results as those on glutamine.
 
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