Swally McCoist! Star’s love of red wine left him in agony with gout
RANGERS legend Ally McCoist has told how he was left floored by a bout of gout caused by too much ‘top class red wine’.
The former Ibrox player and manager claimed his love of a tipple had left him in agony with the condition.
Gout has been linked to consuming excess amounts of rich foods and booze. Famous sufferers have included King Henry VIII.
McCoist, 57, said it gave him a swollen big toe which became so sensitive he could not even place his bed sheets on it.
He said: ‘I had gout on my big toe. You would not want that on your worst enemy.
‘It was agony, it was one of the sorest things I have ever had in my life.
‘It was from potentially not looking after myself, there’s an element of that in it. Rich foods and top class red wine.’
McCoist added: ‘It’s amazing. You are lying in bed and the sheets are agony on your toe. Work that one out. Nothing can touch it. Eventually you have got to lie in bed with your foot hanging out the bed with that big, throbbing red toe.’ Appearing on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Show on TalkSport, the former striker said that his gout eventually cleared up without him having to take any medication.
McCoist added: ‘It just went away but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. There is no pain like it.’ Gout is caused by the body’s overproduction of uric acid, often the result of excessive consumption of alcohol or red meat.
The acid forms crystals in the blood stream and these eventually lodge themselves low in the body, typically in a big toe.
The resultant swelling can be agonising and crippling, and those who suffer recurrent bouts may end up on lifelong medication and have to change their lifestyle.
Gout’s link to a traditionally expensive diet has seen it nicknamed ‘the disease of kings’ or ‘rich man’s disease’.
Earlier this year, McCoist revealed he was left injured after falling off a boat while on holiday.
He was stepping off the vessel in Portugal when he slipped and went head-first into rocks at the seashore.
McCoist suffered cuts and bruising following the incident during a
‘Sheets are agony on your toe’
summer break in Faro with his wife and children.
The former footballer insisted he was ‘stone cold sober’ when the accident happened.
Last year he set up a wine-making business with friend Jeff East, partners in Alistair McCoist & Jeff East (Vintners) Ltd.
Official records state their company is involved in the ‘manufacture of wine from grape’, ‘wholesale of wine, beer, spirits and other alcoholic beverages’ plus ‘sale of beverages in specialised stores’.