What Is The Gout Diet And Can It Ease Gout Symptoms?

Content

• Reduce Meat, Poultry And Fish Intake
• Eat Less Meat
• What Increases Your Chances For Gout?
• Drinks You Should Avoid On Gout

It often takes a combination of changes – medicine, diet, exercise, and rest, to manage gout. Resting, elevating the affected area, and applying ice to the affected area are simple but effective ways to reduce your gout symptoms. Knowing what foods trigger your gout can help you take back some control over your disease.

Uric acid crystals form more readily in joints if the surrounding tissue doesn’t contain enough fluid. Beer in particular contains a relatively high amount of purines too, which could also be a factor. Studies have found that vitamin C may lower uric acid levels. People with gout may be helped by adding citrus fruits and other foods rich in vitamin C to their diet. Some evidence suggests that eating cherries can reduce gout attacks and improve pain. These findings are not conclusive, but there's no harm in adding cherries to your diet.

Reduce Meat, Poultry And Fish Intake

Although these foods can help make a difference in lowering your uric acid levels, you need to check your expectations. Gout can be caused by a combination of factors—not just a poorly balanced diet. But there are certain foods you should eat—and others you should avoid such as those high in purines—to help prevent both gout in general and gout attacks. “When a patient has a good diet it can definitely help decrease their risk for gout flares, ”says Randall N. Beyl Jr., MD, a rheumatologist in Albertville, Alabama. And while researchers continue to explore the best diet for those with gout, purines remain of interest.

Drink at least 12 cups of fluids per day, which helps flush out uric acid and reduces the risk of kidney stones, Dr. Brennan advises. Additionally, the DASH diet, which encourages many low-purine foods, has been associated with a lower risk of gout. Uric acid is a waste byproduct of purine breakdown in the body. Purines are naturally produced in the body, as well as found in some foods.

Eat Less Meat

Be sure to eat lots of fruits that are rich in vitamin C as it helps the kidneys remove uric acid from your system. You should aim to eat at least five fruits and vegetables every day. Even fruits that are high in fructose can be enjoyed in moderation without provoking gout flares. Although some studies have shown that fruit juice can provoke gout attacks, this has not been supported by all research.

An outlier to the rule is purine-rich vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, or mushrooms. Fruits, especially cherries, are recommended as alternatives to other sugary snacks. White meat, like chicken, is generally better to eat than red meats and turkey. “But, any kind of meat should be consumed in moderation.” Dr. Hiltz warns. Use of this website and any information contained herein is governed by the Healthgrades User Agreement.

Uric acid is then excreted in the urine via the kidneys. Consuming heart-healthy oils such as flaxseed oil and olive oil can reduce inflammation. Talk to your health care provider about the benefits of taking fish oil supplements. Research has shown that fish oil supplements, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, can reduce arthritis pain and inflammation.

Is chocolate good for gout?

Chocolate can lower uric acid crystallization, according to a 2018 study . Lowering uric acid crystallization can be key to controlling your gout. Chocolate has polyphenols associated with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Inflammation reduction is helpful in providing relief from a gout attack.

Regular physical activity can also reduce the risk of developing other chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Learn more about physical activity for arthritis.Go to effective physical activity programs. Classes take place at local Ys, parks, and community centers. These classes can help people with arthritis feel better.

Therefore, researchers recommend drinking plenty of water to avoid increased serum uric acid levels after activities that cause heavy sweating. Many plant-based foods are low in purines, making them an excellent choice on a gout-friendly diet. Plant-based vegetarian diets have been shown to decrease the risk of gout, according to two separate prospective cohort studies. However, there has been no research to look at the effects of coffee intake on the risk of recurrent gout attacks.

Because of this, treatment for gout used to involve severe dietary restrictions, which made the gout diet hard to stick with. 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. A diet rich in purines from certain sources can raise uric acid levels in the body, which sometimes leads to gout.

Similarly, high fructose corn syrup is an artificial sweetener that is up to 55% fructose, and so causes the same problems. Alcohol—especially beer—is bad for gout sufferers for two reasons. First, these beverages require the kidneys to work at drawing alcohol out of the blood stream, leaving more uric acid in the blood. 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. Beer also stimulates the production of uric acid in the liver.

Patients with gout are generally advised to include both animal and vegetable sources of protein in their diet. Research suggests that a diet rich in vegetable purines is significantly less likely to cause gout. Consuming foods or drinks sweetened with fructose increases uric acid levels and the number of gout attacks. Sweetened condiments should also be avoided, as many manufacturers now use high-fructose corn syrup.

This is important, as studies have shown that people with gout may also have a higher risk of developing heart problems. Overall, a plant based diet is more likely to be beneficial than a high fat diet with a focus on meat to help stabilize uric acid levels. The study indicates that consuming animal based foods that are high in purines might increase the risk of developing gout. Fill up on lots of green veggies and other non-meat proteins.

Drinks You Should Avoid On Gout

Weight loss will also reduce stress placed on joints such as the hips, ankles, and knees. Alcoholic drinks tend to be high in purines and consuming more than the recommended amount can increase the risk of a gout attack. It is thereforerecommended to limit alcohol intake, avoid binge drinking and avoid all alcohol if you have painful gout or are having a gout attack. Try limiting alcohol to a maximum of 14 units per week for both men and women and 1-2 units per day with a minimum of two alcohol-free days a week. Beer, stout, port and fortified wines tend to be higher in purines and should be restricted.

The key is to switch out at least some of your refined carbs for whole grains, i.e. start making sandwiches on whole wheat instead of white bread. Organ meat—like sweetbreads, liver, kidney, tongue, and heart—are especially high in purine, and should be avoided to prevent gout attacks. Gout is a form of arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in the blood and crystalizes in joints . Gout causes pain, inflammation, and tenderness where it strikes. Drinking plenty of fluids, particularly water, can help remove uric acid from the body and prevent crystals from forming in the joints. Gout sufferers should aim to drink around 8 glasses of non-alcoholic fluids per day.