Best Diet For Gout

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Red meat can be a once-in-a-while food if you want to control your gout with diet. You have a little more freedom in your food choices when your gout is at bay, but it’s still a good idea to keep meat and seafood intake to a minimum—4 to 6 ounces daily at most. There is mixed evidence about whether cherries, and foods with high vitamin C can help prevent gout. Eating these foods will not treat gout the way that medicines can.

Some research says drinking wine in moderation is better, but most doctors say during a flare-up you should abstain from alcohol completely. You can get the most relevant and accurate info you need about health problems like diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, weight loss and many other lifestyle diseases. We have a panel of over 350 experts who help us develop content by giving their valuable inputs and bringing to us the latest in the world of healthcare. Not only is water a joint lubricant that helps with arthritis joint pain, it is one of the simplest remedies for gout. Drinking a half-gallon of water a day can assist in diluting the uric acid, making it easier for the kidneys to expel it before build-up begins.

Can High Intakes Of Carbs Cause Triglyceride Levels To Rise?

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What is the main cause of gout?

Gout is caused by a condition known as hyperuricemia, where there is too much uric acid in the body. The body makes uric acid when it breaks down purines, which are found in your body and the foods you eat.

A number of studies have shown that coffee is associated with a lower risk of gout. Coffee is a diuretic and therefore increases urine production. Coffee’s chlorogenic acid promotes uric acid excretion, while the chemical xanthines lower uric acid production. Having two or more daily serves of dairy, especially from reduced fat and skimmed milk, confers a 42-48% lower risk of gout compared to less than one serve. Always read product labels to be sure the item doesn’t contain fructose or corn syrup.

Eat A Healthy Diet

While nuts, and some vegetables, can supply some proteins, eggs are another good option for healthy protein without the high purine counts. Cashews are a great source of plant-based protein and healthy fat, and they are very low in purine levels—even compared to other nuts. That means cashews are a great snack choice for people with gout. Berries are an especially good choice, because they tend to be high in fiber and low in sugar. Citrus fruits are also especially helpful, because vitamin C has been shown to reduce uric acid levels. While purines are not the only dietary consideration, they are the most common.

Verywell Health's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Others with gout make too much uric acid due to genetics or their diet . Meats like fish, chicken, and red meat are fine in moderation . Protect your joints.Joint injuries can cause or worsen arthritis.

Gout can only be diagnosed during a flare when a joint is hot, swollen, and painful and when a lab test finds uric acid crystals in the affected joint. Gout is a painful type of arthritis that most commonly affects the joints of the big toe, but might also affect the ankle, heel, knees, wrists, fingers, or elbow. Like other joint diseases, gout can be painful and disabling—yet people with this condition sometimes fail to seek treatment due to misinformation.

Mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, and asparagus are all high in purines. Eat these foods sparingly and fill your diet with other healthy veggies. Refined carbs such as white bread, cakes, white rice, sugar, and cookies should be seriously dismissed during gout. Such foods are neither high in purine nor high in fructose, but their nutritional value is really low which leads to an increase in uric acid in the body. Loads of them, from meat to alcohol to legumes to nuts to veggies like asparagus and mushrooms. Interestingly, though, not all food sources of purines are equally damaging for people with gout, which we want to make clear from the get-go.

Dietitian Emer Delaney explains which foods to eat and avoid. The diet, often with medication, can lower uric acid levels. Some people can lower their uric acid levels through diet alone. Blood tests can be used to confirm whether the patient has hyperuricemia, however, hyperuricemia alone is not necessarily indicative of gout. Some individuals will have hyperuricemia and never develop gout, while some individuals do not have unusually high levels of uric acid in their blood during a gout attack.

At least one study demonstrated a decrease in uric acid levels, in individuals who added pistachios to their diet on regular rotation. Most vegetables are low in purine, and are great options for anyone at risk of gout or a gout attack. Several studies and surveys have demonstrated that cherries, or pure cherry juice, are effective both in treating and preventing gout flare-ups.

It’s recommended that people with hyperuricemia or gout avoid or limit eating foods that are high in purines to help reduce the purine load in the body. Foods high in purines include some sugary foods, red meats, organ meats, seafood, yeasts, and alcoholic beverages. Being overweight increases the risk of developing gout, and losing weight lowers the risk of gout. Research suggests that reducing the number of calories and losing weight — even without a purine-restricted diet — lower uric acid levels and reduce the number of gout attacks. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains may be beneficial. There are other measures that can help prevent gout including limiting the intake of alcohol.

Now that newer medications are available to treat gout, the need for a strict gout diet has been reduced, although following the guidelines is highly recommended. Alcohol itself is not high in purines, but it can make gout worse. For another, alcohol causes the body to produce more purines and therefore more uric acid. Finally, alcoholic beverages can be high in calories and cause weight gain, which can cause flare ups. It is best to avoid alcohol or limit yourself to 1 or 2 drinks a day.

Beer is high in a type of purine that is easy for your body to absorb, and hard liquor has been shown to elevate gout risk too. Some studies find wine drinking raises your risk, but others have found that moderate wine drinking does not. Unlike fruit with its natural sugar, artificial sugars are widely recognized as gout flare dangers. Consuming too many sugary sodas has been found to provoke attacks, but no association has been found with artificially sweetened sodas.

Overall, there hasn’t been much good quality research into the link between certain foods and gout attacks. Purines are natural chemicals found in many common foods, especially some meats, vegetables, and legumes like beans. People whose diets are rich in some purines have a higher risk of gout attacks.

What Foods To Avoid With Gout

Because this condition can be extremely painful, any steps you take now to prevent a flare-up are well worth the effort. And one of the most effective ways to control gout is through your diet. There is some evidence that coffee may contribute to helping to lower the total levels of uric acid.

What Foods Should You Avoid?

It can also help boost heart health due to the increased consumption of fiber, fruit, vegetable, and monounsaturated fats. This is important, as studies have shown that people with gout may also have a higher risk of developing heart problems. However, eating plant based foods that contain purines does not appear to have the same effect. The researchers add that consuming dairy products may reduce the chances of developing gout.