 Gout is one of the chief concerns brought up when speaking about a carnivore diet. Really, any diet high in meat, even a ketogenic diet, it manifests itself in the form of a swollen joint. Usually at the base of the big toe, this is because of elevated uric acid in the blood, resulting in uric acid crystals depositing in said joint, causing it to swell. Very painful, many people with gout can't even walk. Historically, gout is known as the disease of kings, or rich man's disease. As in the past, the wealthy were the only people eating large amounts of meat, but they were also the only people that could afford sugar. So why do doctors tell you to reduce meat consumption if you have gout when sugar is a likely culprit as well? One source of uric acid is the breakdown of purines, which are found in high amounts in meat, but those same doctors don't tell you that the breakdown of fructose found in sugar, carbs, the things Americans are stuffing their faces with, produces uric acid as well. So people drop the steak for the sugars and starches and continue to suffer. The gout gets worse and worse. This is because high levels of insulin, which is caused by a diet high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, inflammatory foods, can increase uric acid levels in the blood by decreasing the excretion of uric acid in the kidneys. This relates back to what we spoke about yesterday with blood pressure, where high insulin impacts kidney function through overproduction of adrenal hormones. The reason humans are at such a high risk of gout is because during evolution, we developed a mutation altering the gene that activates uricase, which is an enzyme that degrades uric acid. Many years ago, the climate was warm, fruit was plentiful, great apes were living off of said fruit. Fructose as their main caloric energy. When the climate cooled, rainforest decreased in size, these apes started to starve. There are several theories on the benefits of having uric acid, the primary one again relating back to blood pressure. Humans were on lower sodium diets many years ago due to no modern salt access, so by keeping uric acid levels high, we were able to maintain adequate blood pressure levels with a low salt intake. This explains the raw primal diet a lot, popularized by Ajahn's Vonner planets, where he doesn't want people to eat salt, but it's okay for them to consume fruit, honey, large amounts of sugar. Seems like the combination of salt and sugar can cause issues for some people, but the solution there isn't necessarily to remove salt completely. On top of that, there haven't been studies correlating animal protein consumption with high uric acid. No association between total protein intake and hyperurusemia was observed. This is because when you increase consumption of animal protein, your body will simply excrete the extra purines that are produced by the breakdown of said proteins. I can definitely confirm this with personal experience. Animal protein is not to blame, we should be looking at sugar, because I have given myself gout from consuming too much honey, and my father frequently gets gout from his high carbohydrate diet. He consumed like no meat whatsoever. I've told you guys many times, you know, he eats bread, pasta, wheat, which actually has a moderate amount of purines, and that in combination with the starches breaking down into fructose is why my father keeps getting gout. He took medication so many times, and it's recurrent in the context of his diet. My story behind me getting gout is going crazy with some ice cream last year. I was consuming, you know, probably 5, 6, 7, 8 tablespoons of honey worth of ice cream every day when I was trying to bulk up and lift weights, and after about two weeks I ended up developing the typical swollen joint in my foot. This went away after I took a vitamin C supplement for several days, and keep in mind guys, you know, I've been carnivore for 7 years and the only time I've ever had any issue with gout was when eating ice cream and increasing my honey consumption. So without looking too much into the literature, because there is a lack of studies on this, it appears that sugar in the context of a natural food is okay to consume. The vitamin C and possibly other compounds like potassium and B vitamins that are contained in raw fruit have mechanisms which prevent uric acid buildup in the body. That would explain why a lot of these frutarians aren't getting problems with gout, but once you look at people on a standard American diet and you're like, wait, they're not consuming nearly as much sugar, nearly as much meat as the carnivore dieters as the frutarians, it really ties into food quality, you know, is consuming all of that honey natural in that ice cream? No. If you use a reasonable amount of honey, a natural amount of honey, or another sweetener, perhaps fruit that had vitamin C, potassium, things that are protective against uric acid buildup, I wouldn't be speaking about this. Most of these studies are looking at soda intake, which is a beverage containing a lot of high fructose, corn syrup, no beneficial compounds. Same with these starches, breads, cereals, even honey, as I said. These foods don't have the same vitamins and minerals that fruit does, but this is where the genetic variance and ability to tolerate fructose comes in. Some people will be just fine eating bread, pasta, you know, plenty of raw ice cream for 50 years. Other people like me end up getting a swollen foot in two weeks. And guys, it hurts like crazy, you know, it's not fun. I mean, I was still like working out and going to the gym, but you know, you can't walk straight, you have to, you know, like shield your foot, you know, something I never thought I would experience myself. And most of the issues pertaining to chronic disease usually relate to an inflammatory diet, high omega 6 consumption, refined processed foods in combination with a lack of animal nutrients. But if we step too far away from other elements of our diet as well, whether it's cooking a food too much or consuming, you know, like half a pound of honey a day, perhaps, things go a bit off track. So I wouldn't be concerned about, you know, incorporating fruit into a carnivore diet or, you know, naturally prepared foods. But if you're going to do it in unnatural amounts, be sure that the source is high quality and that you can tolerate it, you know, don't go too extreme right off the bat. So thank you guys for joining me. If you could please like the video, subscribe, hit that bell icon, and of course, share the video. If you guys want to support me further, definitely check out my book below in the description, The Ancestral Indigenous Diet. You can also go to Frankie's Free Range Meat, Frankie's Naturals, as well as frank-defino.com for one-on-one consultations. Thanks again for joining me, guys, and enjoy the rest of your day.