For many years I counted calories, and for many years I avoided foods which are naturally high in fat. In the past few months I’ve decided to give up on all of that, and instead enjoy a life full of all the foods I enjoy, be they calorie or fat rich. One food I have welcomed back into my life with open arms is the humble avocado.

In the fifth century BC Hippocrates referred to gout as ‘the unwalkable disease’.[1] The pain associated with it is so bad it is often described as ‘excruciating’. So can what you eat and drink affect the risk of developing gout? Quite possibly, yes.

Affecting over 70,000 people in Australia, gout is said to be so painful that if you value your life you won’t even breath on someone’s gout-affected joint. Today’s post is the first of a series of posts of gout, and covers the very basics of gout.