From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative,sci.med,sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Changing urine pH with pills (Re: Help required - suffering from 
	gout).
Date: 20 May 1999 17:51:43 GMT

In <U525TaBWJ1P3Ews$@millersfield.demon.co.uk> Paul Graham
<proy@millersfield.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
>In article <373CC91A.4A661703@prodigy.net>, John L. Eutsler
><jeeutsler@prodigy.net> writes
>>Paul,
>>       I have had spells of gout. I just abstain from my before dinner
>>Manhattan for a couple of weeks and it goes away. The spells have become
>>more infrequent with time and I have resumed my Manhattan routine.
>
>
>May sound silly, but the advice I received about drinking plenty of water
>and bicarbonate of soda has all but shifted the problem entirely. I now
>know why my late grandfather - who suffered all his adult life with this
>depressing and crippling problem - always had a glass of bicarbonate of
>soda on standby.
>
>Many thanks to everyone who offered help, and in particular to Adam
>Testad (still not a doctor) for his kind emails (in which my GP has taken
>a great interest!). Understanding that gout has much to do with the
>body's PH levels has made me fear the next attack a whole lot less.
>
>Cheers.
>--
>Paul Graham


   You can certainly increase your uric acid excretion by alkalinizing
your urine-- this is good advice.  However, there are better ways to do
it than sodium bicarbonate.  Calcium citrate (Citracal+D) works just as
well, and gives a lot less gas.  Cheapest source I've found so far is
Costco (bottle of 180 for about $10).  Potassium citrate is also
available, though by prescription only.  Potassium lactate and
gluconate pills are also available in health food stores, though at
much greater expense per meq of potassium (which is your index of how
much these will alkalinize urine, when metabolized).  Potassium,
magnesium, and calcium salts of organic anions like lactate, citrate,
gluconate (all of which are eventually metabolized to bicarbonate) are
a nice way to raise your "good mineral" levels at the same time you
change your urine pH toward alkaline.  In the case of potassium, this
is good for blood pressure and stroke prevention.  Might as well kill
two birds with one stone, if you're going to do this the rest of your
life.