In the late 1960’s and into the 70’s it was believed that gout was caused by high levels of purines because of eating too much meat. The purines would break down into uric acid and cause gouty arthritis to occur.
Dr. Martin says it was never about meat, but had to do with too much fructose. A recent study is saying that two or more servings of orange juice makes you 2.5x more susceptible to getting gout. Don’t drink your fructose is something Dr. Martin has said for years!
Join Dr. Martin as he shares the latest research about gout and how to prevent it.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning everyone, and once again, welcome to another live this morning. Hope you're having a great start to your day. Have you had your coffee? Okay, now yesterday, okay, I talked about stomach acid. Okay? I tried to make a case of why we see so much trouble with acid reflux, silent acid reflux. A lot of people don't even know they have it. They have other symptoms like a chronic cough or whatever, and it starts in the stomach. We talked about how your body is made to eat from the animal kingdom. Not saying you're not meant to eat plants, but you're not meant to live on plants, fruits and vegetable. You're not meant to. Your design of your stomach is for protein and fat, and that's why you should have such an acidic stomach. And people have trouble with their stomach. Generally, they don't have enough acidity in the stomach. And one of the big reasons is they don't eat right. They're carboholics on one end of it and on the other end of it, they don't eat enough animal fat like saturated fat and protein because your body was made to eat that. Use it or lose it.
Okay, that was yesterday. But I want to talk about protein again today. What do I call protein? The king of a castle, and carbs are dirty rascals, okay? It's the way it is. King of the castle is protein. And when I say protein, I always mix protein and fat. I love protein. I love it in the way it's meant to be eaten with fat, eggs, meat and cheese, protein and fat, and very little if no carbs at all. Why do I talk about that all the time? Well, new study, hot off the press from McMaster University. Now for you folks in the US of A, McMaster is in Hamilton, Ontario, okay? Famous university here in Canada. Here's what they said, okay? I'm quoting, "high protein diets do not affect kidney function." Hello? Someone said the other day while I read it on Google. Therefore it must be true. No, not necessarily. Okay? And I like Google, okay? I'm not saying don't Google anything, but if you Google kidney function and you get to food, they're going to tell you on Google that protein is hard on the kidneys, okay?
Believe you me when I tell you that. And if you have been following me for any length of time, and I know people that are on even this morning that have been following me for even my 20 years on radio, okay? So they've known me a long time. I have never sang from a different song sheet. I've always said that protein affecting the kidneys is fake news. The best thing you can eat for your kidneys is protein. And again, like when I say protein, I mean protein and fat. Okay? Protein and fat. That's the best thing you can eat for your kidneys. And again, why has that lie survived over a long period of time? Protein bad for kidneys. I tell you, if you went to 99 out of a hundred nephrologists, kidney specialists, yeah, you know what protein, be careful. They see a kidney dysfunction or it's not working at a hundred percent. And the first thing that comes to mind is for them, protein, you better cut back on protein.
If they see protein in the urine, oh, you're eating too much protein. It's the opposite. It's the opposite. And again, nephrologists are smart. The problem is they don't know anything about nutrition. They don't know how food works. They don't know how food breaks down. They just don't. I use this case whenever I can talk to someone about kidney function. I use this case, okay, why are we seeing today more and more and more kidney disease? Why do we see all these clinics and all these dialysis centers popping up all over the place? Why is there so much dialysis today? Which is sort of an artificial way of keeping a person alive, right? Who's in there? What people are in these dialysis centers? I'm going to tell you the vast majority of them are diabetic. What? Yeah, they're diabetic. Why do you think it's so prevalent today? Kidneys get destroyed by sugar. I've taught you that a million times.
Kidneys, it's all about blood supply. And blood vessels get damaged rapidly by sugar. Ask a diabetic. Why do they have so much trouble with kidney function? It's blood supply, it's sugar left in the bloodstream, damages blood vessels, especially those capillaries. And over a period of time the kidneys don't work properly. It's blood supply. It's not protein. Protein helps blood supply. Sugar destroys blood vessels. Again, my case diabetics, okay? There's nothing that will affect your kidneys more than insulin. Okay? Now let me talk to you about something else this morning because this came up. Okay? This came up. Uric acid. Gout. Now, a lot of people have elevated uric acid and don't get gout, but elevated uric acid is a biomarker for inflammation. Okay? But let's talk about gout because I want to bring you a couple of studies and it has everything to do with kidney function, okay? Everything to do with kidney function.
Now, consumption, listen to this. Consumption of two or more servings of orange juice a day is associated with two and a half times more risk of gout. From the Journal of the American Medical Association, I'm quoting them, a recent study. "Consumption of two or more servings of orange juice." "Oh, Dr. Martin, it's Tropicana." I don't care-ah. It's bad for ya. Don't ever drink Tropicana or orange juice. God wanted you to eat oranges, not drink it. And the Journal of the American Medical Association are finally catching up to what I've been seeing for not centuries. I know you guys think I was born, my grandchildren think I was born in the days of Noah. Grandpa, you're so old. I know. Okay, now what does orange juice have to do with gout? You were meant to eat fruit. God's candies don't live on it, but you can have God's candies. I'm not saying you can't have any. For 30 days on the reset, you can't, okay?
But at the end of the day, kidney function is very much effective, because... Okay, gout, let's come back just because in case you're missing a step here. Uric acid, we all make it. It's a byproduct of our metabolism. So everyone makes uric acid, okay? It's a byproduct. It's a waste product. You create energy from food. Part of that waste is uric acid, but your buddy is smart, it knows how to get rid of it, okay? It knows how to get rid of it. What is gout? So that's why I'm bringing you back to the kidneys. Gout are even high in uric acid levels. The main culprit is kidneys. Why? Because your kidneys, you're supposed to pee out your uric acid, you're to pee it out. When your kidneys are functioning properly, they pee it out, okay? So it's kidney function at the end of the day.
Now again, I've said this to you many a times, but the Journal of the American Medical Association are finally catching up. And what are they saying? Don't drink fructose, orange juice. Don't drink it. It makes you more susceptible to gout. "Dr. Martin, I heard gout is meat." No. Okay, I remember in school you take gout in your rheumatology or whatever, right? Your gouty arthritis, okay? And they tell you, okay, now go back into this, the 1970s, late sixties, seventies, gout is purines, okay? And how do you make purines? Well, organ meat, be careful with that and blah, blah, blah. I learned that. Okay? It's purines, but that's not true. Even in school, if you read any history on gout, you would read about the king's disease. The king got it. Peasants didn't get it. The king got it. Yeah, but he, because he was always chewing on a big steak. No, no. He was drinking too much wine and beer. The peasants weren't. The king was. And he got gout. It was called the king's disease. It wasn't because he was chewing on too much meat. It wasn't protein, it wasn't fat, it's sugar. Alcohol, boom. Metabolized wine and beer. Okay?
Now I got to bring you another, okay? This is a panel of rheumatologists recently came out their recommendations for prevention of gout. That's what they said. Okay? A panel of rheumatologists and recommendations to not get gout. Okay? And this shocked me because it didn't talk about avoiding purines. This is recent. They recommend healthy lifestyle changes, okay? And what do they mean by that? Decrease your body weight. Regular exercise. Stop smoking. That's surprising in a way. But smoking destroys your blood vessels, doesn't it? So for kidney function, I guess they're right. Avoid excess alcohol. Oh, and sugar sweetened drinks, isn't it something? Avoid excess alcohol and sugar sweetened drinks. No mention of meat. Man, they must be listening to me. They don't even mention me. Now, let me give you another one. This comes out of the British Medical Journal. "Soft drinks," okay? I'm reading you the headlines. "Soft drinks and sugary drinks." Okay, let me quote. "Highly associated with gout." British Medical Journal, the Journal of American Medical Association. They're starting to get it. The British Medical Journal, they're starting to get it. It's sugary drinks are the worst. Orange juice, soft drinks. What's in those stinking soft drinks? High fructose corn syrup.
Why is there so much gout today? Why is uric acid through the roof today? Okay, it's what people especially are drinking, okay? What they're drinking, okay? Now I'm going to tie this together here. This comes out of Rheumatology International Publication. Rheumatology International Publication. "Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are highly prevalent in gouty arthritis patients." Guys, that's the newest research. It's not meat, it's not purines. You can avoid meat all you want, but that's not going to fix your gout, that's not going to fix your uric acid levels. You need to avoid sugary drinks, fructose, and get your insulin resistance down. How do you do that? You got to eat, guys. Okay? You got to eat. The newest craze out there right now, and you've all heard it. One of the newest things that are really, really hitting the, ah, I don't know if you'd call it mainstream medicine or alternative medicine or whatever, is fasting. You hear it every day just about.
Am I against it? No, I'm not against it, but I tell people, look, understand. You can be fasting and only eat one meal a day or eat every second meal or whatever you do, okay? But let me tell you this, I'm not against fasting, so don't come after me. You know that. I've talked about intermittent fasting, but here's what I'm telling you. It's what you eat. It's what you drink, okay? You can intermittent fast and oh, that is so good. But then I eat one meal a day, but I eat anything I feel like it. Don't do that. Don't do that, okay? Because all I'm telling you is you've got to eat. You're going to eat. Eat the right things, drink the right things.
Now, I've said this in the past, I know I have, but I'm going to say it right here and right now, if you want to avoid high levels of uric acid. "Dr. Martin, what should I eat and what should I drink?" Okay, here's a good point. What should I eat and what should I drink? Well, obviously you don't want to be eating sugar, okay? You don't want to be eating sugar. Cut that out. Eat on the positive side. Eat eggs, meat and cheese, and you can have some fruit and you can have some vegetables. Okay? You see nutritionist or gurus or dietician, whatever. And if they allow you any meat, it's little wee pieces of chicken. Somehow chicken makes the plate, but it's small and then it's, it's surrounded by vegetables. Okay?
Well, I'm the opposite. You have a big piece of meat and it ain't chicken. You can have chicken, ladies, I know you like it, but it's not better than red meat. So I put on my plate lots of protein and fat and a little bit of vegetables and fruit. Okay? That's the way it should be for your health. "Yeah, Dr. Martin. What about fiber?" You're not a rabbit, okay? Don't worry about fiber. That was made up, okay? It was made up by the cereal companies. That's when it started. When I first heard about fiber is cereal companies. You need it, Dr. Kellogg. Yeah. So what do you eat? You got that. And what do you drink? Water. There's nothing better for your kidneys to flush out. Your kidneys are Niagara Falls. Ask the people who live in Niagara Falls. They see the falls. What happens at the falls? The water. It's constantly, constantly, constantly going over the falls. True or false? True. Go there at two in the morning, go there in the morning, go there in the afternoon, go there at night. Doesn't matter. Niagara Falls is always flowing. That's your kidneys. You need H 2 O, drink water. It will help eliminate uric acid and all your other toxins, all your other waste products. Flush out. Wash out. Have I been consistent about that?
What's the sweet spot of water? Two liters. My American friends. That's 64 ounces. Some people need a little bit more. I haven't met anybody that needs less. That's the sweet spot for water. And what else can you drink? Coffee. Do you know that coffee lowers uric acid? Coffee! Now, don't go. I was telling this story yesterday. It's worth repeating. I go into coffee shops. I love coffee. You guys know that. And I see all these young people. I didn't think you guys listened to an old goat like me. You must be listening to the Doctor Is In podcast. They look at me like I got three heads. Who are you? No, but I want to give them high fives. They're in coffee shops. They're getting a coffee. Nah, they're getting sugary drinks. That's what they're getting. I'm having a latte and then this and that and this and that. I thought they were drinking coffee. Okay? I'm telling you, I wanted to give them high fives until I find out what they're drinking. Sugary drinks. I said, you're killing yourself with that stuff. You might as well be drinking three or four Pepsis at a time. Terrible stuff. Okay? Very hard on you.
Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in gouty arthritis. It's insulin. Insulin resistance destroys your kidney, don't function properly. Okay? Now that's the latest update, guys on gout, gouty arthritis. Okay? You know what to do. You know what not to do. You know what to eat. You know what not to eat. You know what to drink. You know what not to drink. Drink water and coffee. I'm sorry. You shouldn't be drinking anything else, okay? I give you some tea. You shouldn't be drinking anything else unless you have a cow in the backyard. You can drink milk. Even kids wean them on water. Soon as they come off the breast. You know, they need to drink milk. Nah, nah. They really don't. They don't. They need water. They don't need milk. Now again, like I said, if you got a cow that's real milk, you got a cow in the backyard, you drink milk and you can give it to your kid. Otherwise, you're giving them white Pepsi and never ever give them plant milk, like, "oh, Dr. Martin almond milk." Ooh, almond milk. Terrible stuff. Don't drink that stuff. You're not meant to drink almond milk or oat milk or, ooh, I can't handle that stuff. It's not good for you. It's full of oxalates. You want to destroy your kidneys? Drink oxalates.
Okay guys, I do love you dearly. You know that. Okay? Hey, you know what tomorrow is? It's question and answer Friday. Okay? It's not too late to get your questions in, okay? So send your questions in. We appreciate it. We really do. We appreciate you guys. Where would this podcast be without you? Nowhere. I'd be talking to myself, which I do the odd time. Okay guys, we love ya. Talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!