Gout And Diet

Content

• How Your Diet Impacts Gout
• Avoiding Alcohol
• Foods To Limit
• Avoid Some Fish
• Weight Management And Exercise

Your body produces uric acid as a byproduct of breaking down a class of organic molecules called purines. Purines are the chemical basis for certain nucleotides that make up DNA and RNA as well as a large range of important compounds in your body. DNA stores genetic information in your cells, which helps produce RNA, the template for creating the proteins that make up your body's structure and carry out biochemical reactions. Purines are found in high amounts in animal muscle tissue.

However, losing weight fast can do more harm than good for gout, as rapid weight loss can raise uric acid levels in your bloodstream. Consider consulting a dietician, who can help you choose a diet plan that works for you. Gout Buildup of uric acid crystals in a joint causes gouty arthritis. Symptoms and signs include joint pain, swelling, heat, and redness, typically of a single joint. Gout may be treated with diet and lifestyle changes, as well as medication. Combining medical treatment with a healthful, low purine diet can help manage symptoms by reducing the levels of uric acid in the body.

How Your Diet Impacts Gout

For example, fish can be a very healthy part of a balanced diet. Gout diets may include fish lower in purines or small amounts of purine rich fish mentioned above. Gout is a type of arthritis caused by having too much uric acid in your blood. Uric acid is formed when your liver breaks down a protein called purine, found naturally in many foods and drinks.

Avoiding Alcohol

Other foods loaded with high-fructose corn syrup can also bring on gout pain. Studies suggest that purines found in meats and seafoods may provoke gout episodes in some people. Diets rich in animal purines are five times more likely to lead to gout than diets rich in plant purines. Indeed, the purines from plants that we eat have not been shown to present any greater gout risk.

Increasing your water intake is another particularly helpful diet modification that will help address hyperuricemia, as it helps the kidneys process it and excrete it as urine. Purine intake from animal sources – such as red meat, organ meat, and various fish and shellfish—was shown to increase the likelihood of a recurrent gout attack by up to five times. The impact of purines from animal sources persisted across designated subgroups including age, alcohol use, and use of medications (e.g. NSAIDs, allopurinol). It is unclear whether purines derived from plant sources have less of an impact, or these diets simply tend to contain less purine rich plants. Sugar, specifically fructose, was first implicated with foods that cause gout in a study done by Dr. Hyon K. Choi at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Is coffee bad for gout?

There's very little evidence that suggests coffee intake causes gout or increases the risk of a gout flare-up. Although the majority of evidence is in favor of drinking coffee to reduce gout risk, there's still room to continue to expand the research.

Limit foods and beverages high in purines, especially during an attack, and refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages. Diets high in fructose have also been shown to incite attacks of gout, as fructose impedes the body’s excretion of uric acid and thus promotes attacks of gout. Fructose is not only found in fruit and sugary soft drinks, but also in numerous standard grocery store products such as fruit yogurt, ice cream or pizza. Cherry juice has surprisingly been found to decrease levels of uric acid. Incorporating cherries or cherry juice (without added sugar of course!) into the diet may help prevent disease flares.

Red Meat, Organ Meat, And Seafood

Inadequate treatment can lead to chronic joint inflammation, kidney stones, kidney weakness or even kidney failure. Most notably, cherries and cherry juice extract have been shown to decrease the likelihood of recurrent gout attacks. This is due to anthocyanins, which are a pigment in the skin of the fruit that has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Learn which foods to avoid—plus what to eat to prevent a flare. Fish, poultry, and other meat should be eaten in moderation to avoid gout attacks. Some nutritionists recommend four to six ounces a day of these foods.

Tips For A Healthy Gout Diet

A gout diet helps to control the production and elimination of uric acid, which may help prevent gout attacks or reduce their severity. If you look at uric acid crystals under a microscope, they look like tiny round balls with spikes all around them. Many patients say gout flare ups feel like hot needles stabbing them. Most cannot even tolerate the weight or touch of a bedsheet on the affected area. The diet is not a treatment for gout, but may help you control the number and severity of attacks.

We use cookies to optimize and personalize your experience, provide relevant content and analyze online traffic. We also share information with our analytics and website partners, who may use it to inform decisions about current or future services. By clicking “Agree,” you consent to use cookies if you continue to our website. You can manage your cookie settings by clicking the "cookie preferences" button.

Foods To Limit

People currently experiencing gout should avoid alcohol and those who have experienced gout in the past should limit their intake to around 1 or 2 units a day. Alcohol reduces the elimination of uric acid from the body. Beer, in particular, should be avoided, as it contains higher levels of purines than drinks such as spirits and wine.

The disease, however, is one of the most controllable forms of arthritis. It can be effectively managed with early diagnosis, medications and lifestyle changes. Farro is an ancient type of wheat that is high in fiber, protein, and other nutrients. People should speak to their doctor for advice about dietary changes.

Though it was previously considered best to avoid all types of alcohol with gout, recent research has shown that wine, in moderation, may not contribute to increased risk of gout. A 2017 study looked at gout incidence in people who followed either a Western diet or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet. The researcher found the DASH diet was associated with a lower risk of gout, whereas the Western diet was associated with a higher risk of gout.

Weight Management And Exercise

Self-management is what you do day to day to manage your condition and stay healthy, like making healthy lifestyle choices. The self-management strategies described below are proven to reduce pain and disability, so you can pursue the activities important to you. They tend to start at night and extreme pain and swelling may waken you. Sometimes the gout episode is tied to a stressful event or an illness. For most people, gout episodes clear up in three to ten days without any treatment.