Pain in the Gout!

I've been battling with gout for a while.

Gout is a kind of arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in blood and causes joint inflammation. 

My most recent (current) battle with gout had me severely limping a few days, and using crutches for one day.  It has traveled from one foot to another and seems to have decided that it wants to just mess with  my left knee now.  It's not nearly as bad as two summers ago though, when I was on crutches for over 2 months.  That was the worst.

Gout is a terrible thing.  When I had my first episode I was 24.  It landed me on the couch a full week.  It was the most intense pain I had ever known.  A single bed sheet placed gently on the affected area had me screaming and crying for hours. 

It has been about 13 years now since that first flare up.  When I had health insurance I was on a medication called allopurinol.  It didn't stop the flare ups completely, but it did help.

Now that I don't have insurance I'm trying my best to keep flare ups down.  I have read up on all sorts of home remedies and ways to keep uric acid levels low enough in my body to prevent attacks.

I've begun to learn my personal trigger foods that can cause a flare up for me.

beef
shell fish
carbonated beverages both diet and non diet
crystal light and generic replicas of it.
hot dogs
whole milk
and sadly... most recently... churches fried chicken.

I drink LOADS of water to help flush the uric acid out of my system.... I eat cherries and  berries.  Unfortunately for me, another  factor in my flare ups are weather changes....and it has been rainy here in Texas lately.  Not good.

I know that losing weight will help out also, but I need low impact exercises and cannot afford a gym with a pool.  I can't even walk a mall without suffering the next day with some sort of gouty ache.

I think I'm feeling inspired to pull out my Jack Lalanne Juicer to help with the weight loss...

Do any of you juice?