What has helped me:

I first got gout after a really ridiculous binge of childish things. I'll go into no details, but it's fair to say that I was the most dehydrated that I'd ever been in my life. Since then gout has seemed to follow me through the most mundane of circumstances.

I was VERY disappointed that the first doctor that I went to who diagnosed me with gout did absolutely nothing to inform me of how to avoid it in the future. She handed me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and I was on my way. This is one of the most important reasons that I am a fan of holistic medicine, and the reason that I am writing this right now. A little knowledge, even if what I'm sharing is not perfect, goes a long way. I make no claims to be an expert, but I have looked into the subject enough to share some information in hopes that I can avoid someone some later pain.

The most important part of dealing with gout is to recognize why it occurs. If you suffer from gout, you probably have a naturally high uric acid level in your bloodstream. This is largely due to genetics but genetics go hand in hand with diet, exercise, hydration, and other factors. For me, I have a relatively - but not sky high - level of uric acid coursing through my veins. What adds to uric acid levels in the body? Purines. Dehydration (this leads to higher concentrations of everything in the body, really). Every food and every body produces uric acid via normal metabolism, but certain foods aggravate it and dehydration concentrates it.

Where does the pain come from? Uric acid is like salt. Salt dissolves in water, but only to a point. Mix a bunch of salt in water, so much that no more dissolves, and dump a few crystals in. A crystal may dissolve after being dumped in, but only because another formed somewhere else. Water, like our bodies, can only have so much uric acid dissolved before excesses cause crystals to form elsewhere. Commonly in the toe joints.

The crystals are jagged. They're between your bones. They hurt. Enough said.

So what is my approach? First off I try to stay hydrated and limit the things that make me dehydrated. Alcohol. Beer has the quality, in addition to being absolutely delicious, of generally being high in the purines that end up causing the production of higher levels of uric acid. Wine and liquor are lower in purines but still not good for your gout.

Regardless of what alcohol you're drinking, alcohol has a dehydrating effect lowering the level of water in your body and increasing the concentration of uric acid in your bloodstream (though not necessarily immediately, as you may be pissing more out).

Staying hydrated is essential. I drink a ton of water and if I fall behind and see my urine becoming yellow I drink more. I'm also religious about multivitamins, and if you are keep in mind that B vitamins will make your urine yellow as well.

Other high purine foods that will end up increasing your uric acid levels: red meat, nuts, sea food in general, and piss (don't drink piss). If you suffer from gout and haven't looked it up yet, look up purine levels in foods and educate yourself. Your feet will be better off for it.

Exercise. I haven't seen a lot of info about this in regards to gout, but I know that for me physical inactivity spurs gout in combination with the other aspects. I have a gut feeling that it has to do with circulation to the feet and the quicker "washing out" of uric acid concentrations there. I may be completely wrong, but in any case I've found that exercise (not necessarily strenuous, just being active) is nothing but a benefit in avoiding gout.

Some studies have shown that cherry juice intake and dairy foods can decrease instances or severity of gout. I don't rely heavily on this, but many do. I do buy the occasional bottle of 100% cherry juice and increase my intake of dairy products when faced with a flareup, but I don't have any solid idea of whether it does any good because I always revert to the vegetarian/high hydration diet.

The last thing is this: the first few times I got flareups of gout I didn't know it was happening. I thought I'd sprained my toe, or jammed it, or twisted my ankle. Now I know better. If you have any pain in your joints be proactive and change your diet, drink plenty of water, and even take pain meds (anti inflammatory drugs) along side. There's nothing wrong with that so long as you understand that it's a cure for the symptom, not the disease. Avoid the disease.

By the way, I'm a regular gout sufferer but have managed it well enough that I've managed to get completely drunk and write this post. I won't be drinking again for several days to avoid any flare ups and am confident that, because I avoid high purine foods and have stayed well hydrated over the last few days, I won't feel any repercussions. In fact I'm going to pop another banquet beer. Sorry if this post is a little here and there (or a lot). I'll reply to it later on when I've sobered up.

TL;DR: I find that staying well hydrated, avoiding high purine foods/beverages, and staying physically active stave off gout. Any aches in feet - immediate vegetarian diet and massive hydration. Anti inflammatories when necessary. Good luck.