Gout Treatment

Content

• Dietary Supplements: What You Need To Know
• What Is Gout? And What Are Purines?
• How Can I Manage My Gout And Improve My Quality Of Life?
• Foods That May Help Prevent A Gout Attack

You may also have a urinalysis if your healthcare provider thinks that you have a kidney stone. The urinalysis looks for blood, white blood cells, and crystals. This test measures the amount of uric acid in your blood. Find out everything you need to know about weight loss drugs in our prescription weight loss pill guide. We asked Emer Delaney, a dietitian who has worked in some of London’s top teaching hospitals, to explain how diet and lifestyle can affect the condition.

Dietary Supplements: What You Need To Know

The drug most often used to return blood levels of uric acid to normal is allopurinol . In interventional studies, PBDs were successfully used to prevent and treat severe coronary heart diseases , type 2 diabetes , early, low grade prostate cancer , and obesity . Studies of centenarians across diverse geographical locations consistently associate a PBD pattern with a low incidence and mortality of cancer and cardiovascular diseases .

What Is Gout? And What Are Purines?

Take allopurinal if you have recurrent or severe symptoms. If you have frequent gout flare-ups, joint damage, or kidney stones, your doctor will prescribe a drug that reduces the uric acid in your blood. Of these medications, allopurinal is the most commonly prescribed. You’ll most likely start by taking 50 to 100 mg orally per day, then your doctor will gradually increase your dose to 200 to 300 mg. Believe it or not, there is research that suggests moderate coffee intake may help reduce the risk of gout attacks.

Research has shown that fish oil supplements, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, can reduce arthritis pain and inflammation. For overweight and obese people who have gout, a 2017 review of 907 patients from 10 studies found that those who lost from 6 to 75 pounds lowered their uric acid level by about 0.3 to 1.9 mg/dL. For people who already have gout, however, the same may not be true. A 2013 study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism found that participants with gout who took 500 mg of vitamin C daily for eight weeks did not significantly lower their uric acid levels. Pseudogout Pseudogout, a form of arthritis, results when deposits of crystals collect in and around the joints. Symptoms of pseudogout include pain, stiffness, warmth, and joint swelling of the knees, ankles, hips, shoulders, and/or wrists.

But the overall health benefits of eating fish may outweigh the risks for people with gout. Avoid meats such as liver, kidney and sweetbreads, which have high purine levels and contribute to high blood levels of uric acid. Staying hydrated can help reduce the risk of gout attacks. That’s because excess weight can make you more resistant to insulin, leading to insulin resistance. In these cases, the body can’t use insulin properly to remove sugar from the blood. If you have gout, carrying excess weight can increase your risk of gout attacks.

The diet, often with medication, can lower uric acid levels. Some people can lower their uric acid levels through diet alone. Purines make up 15 percent of the uric acid found in the body. Too much uric acid can lead to problems, including kidney stones and gout. When you hear people talk about gout and diet, they’re most likely talking about purines—substances that are found in foods high in protein.

Foods And Drinks That May Be Good For Gout

The association between a purine-rich diet, increased plasma UA, and gout has long been recognized but a purine-rich diet may be responsible for only 59–118 µmol/L of serum UA . Thus, dietary purine content alone does not represent the major impact on serum UA concentration. A diet rich in purines from certain sources can raise uric acid levels in the body, which sometimes leads to gout.

Plant-based vegetarian diets have been shown to decrease the risk of gout, according to two separate prospective cohort studies. Foods high in vitamin C include citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and grapefruit, cherries, spinach, kale, broccoli, strawberries, sweet bell peppers, and tomatoes. If you have an increased risk for kidney stones , it is not recommended to consume high doses of supplemental vitamin C on a regular basis. A prospective study published in 2009 followed nearly 47,000 men for 20 years, and examined their risk of gout in relation to their vitamin C intake.

Find out which foods to eat and which to avoid if you have gout. A healthy, balanced diet built around a variety of colorful, whole foods while limiting highly processed foods is not only beneficial for gout, but overall health as well. Finding out your individual gout triggers by trialing specific foods and amounts can go a long way in offering more flexibility to your diet. Foods, such as vegemite, as well as supplements containing yeast should be avoided in order to keep uric acid levels down. Fresh, frozen, juice or extract forms are commonly consumed, however there are no defined amounts to eat per day for gout prevention. Studies vary widely in the amounts of cherries researched, such as servings of 1/2 cup of fresh cherries or 1 cup of cherry juice per day.

Is Orange Juice Good for Gout?

Orange Juice and Gout Risk
Many sugar-sweetened juices can increase your risk for gout, but naturally-sweetened juices like orange juice may also be a gout risk trigger.

Your doctor may want to check your serum insulin level in addition to your blood glucose level if insulin resistance is suspected. Individuals with a condition called prediabetes may also have high insulin levels and a higher risk for type 2 diabetes. Have your blood sugar level checked when you visit your doctor. This is important even if you don’t have diabetes mellitus.

To lower uric acid, you can eat more foods with lower purine levels, like cherries. Purines are found in high levels in foods like shellfish, organ meats, high-fructose corn syrup-sweetened soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages. Dietary changes, however, can also be a valuable part of your gout treatment plan. If you have gout, a painful type of arthritis, you may be trying to limit purines in your diet. Gout Slideshow Gout attacks are caused by crystals of uric acid deposits. Learn about symptoms, causes, treatments and medication for this painful condition.