Lifestyle Changes To Reduce The Risk Of Gout Attacks

Content

• Fish And Most Seafood
• Alcohol Is The Biggest Risk Factor For Gout
• Sleep Apnea Increases The Risk For Gout, Study Suggests
• Alert: Updated Visitor Policy In Place 7 A M. Wednesday, May 26. Learn More.
• Foods To Eat When You Have Gout

Several studies have tested coffee and tea against uric acid levels and found that people who regularly drink coffee have lower uric acid levels, but tea drinkers do not. Pistachios are a healthy snack for many reasons, and their low purine levels are just one. At least one study demonstrated a decrease in uric acid levels, in individuals who added pistachios to their diet on regular rotation. Studies have shown that a high glycemic index results in higher uric acid levels. In fact, lowering your overall carb intake can increase uric acid levels. 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.

Fish And Most Seafood

Over time, uric acid can accumulate and form crystals in the joints and other tissues—leading to painful flares. Untreated, gout can lead to permanent bone, joint and tissue damage, and other serious health issues, including kidney disease, heart disease and diabetes. In addition to increasing your consumption of these five foods and drinks, be sure to continue to watch your intake of the foods that can contribute to gout attacks. Avoid red meat, beer, organ meats, and high fructose products like soda, candy, and fast food.

Does oatmeal cause gout?

Oatmeal has moderate amounts of purines
While it's not as high in purines as organ meats, scallops, or some fish, it's still high enough to increase your risk of gout when eaten in excess.

Use the charts below for foods to choose and avoid when following a low-purine diet. Drink 8 to 12 cups of fluid every day to help reduce kidney stone formation. For this reason, doctors often recommend a low-purine diet help with these problems, and sometimes for people who have had an organ transplant. While all plants and meats contain purines, certain foods contain higher concentrations. In addition, certain other foods may affect the body’s production and metabolism of purines.

Alcohol Is The Biggest Risk Factor For Gout

As always, be sure to talk with your healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet or treatment plan. Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. More specifically, foods high in purines tend to result in more symptom flare-ups. By sharing your experience, you’re showing decision-makers the realities of living with arthritis, paving the way for change. You’re helping break down barriers to care, inform research and create resources that make a difference in people’s lives, including your own. Every gift to the Arthritis Foundation will help people with arthritis across the U.S. live their best life.

Fructose intake has been strongly linked with gout, and these beverages add the greatest amounts of fructose to the diet. It is unclear if the increase in gout is caused directly by fructose or indirectly through another mechanism such as obesity. Obesity, diuretic use, and family history of gout can put you at an increased risk of developing this chronic condition.

Gouty arthritis is usually an extremely painful attack with a rapid onset of joint inflammation. The inflammation is precipitated by the deposition of uric acid crystals in the lining of the joint and the fluid within the joint. Intense joint inflammation occurs when white blood cells engulf the crystals of uric acid and release chemicals that promote inflammation. The resulting inflammation causes pain, heat, and redness of the joint. Sugar-sweetened beverages can increase uric acid levels in the blood. A 2020 review of studies found that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was significantly associated with an increased risk of gout and hyperuricemia in adults.

Lifestyle measures, such as dietary changes, can help lower levels of uric acid, the chemical that deposits in joints and causes gout. However, for most people, changes in diet alone are not enough to prevent gout. To reduce uric acid levels enough to stop attacks, medication is usually needed. Still making changes in what you eat can lead to fewer gouty flares.

A diet low in salt is a well described treatment for people with these conditions and is literally prescribed for this purpose. This includes any soda that’s not ‘diet’ along with most fruit juices and energy drinks. It’s so easy to forget that what we drink is an important part of our diet. However, it’s easy for calories and additional additives like fructose to slip by and all too quickly add up. Acute flares of pain usually require anti-inflammatories and other medications in addition to diet. Oily fish like salmon, or fatty acids in flax seed or olive oil or nuts may reduce inflammation too.

Alert: Updated Visitor Policy In Place 7 A M. Wednesday, May 26. Learn More.

(Once a week, great. Every day, not so much.) The same is true of mushrooms and spinach, which contain high amounts of purines—at least by vegetable standards. While some of the gout research on these veggies is mixed, if you want to play it safe, they’re probably best consumed sparingly. White meats are generally better than red meats if you struggle with gout. Red meat can be a once-in-a-while food if you want to control your gout with diet. While some studies show that caffeine can actually protect against gout pain, others find that sudden spikes in caffeine intake can trigger a gout attack. It’s not necessary to avoid all high-purine foods if you have gout.

While some of these foods can be healthy in people who do not have gout, it is recommended that they are in general minimized in people who suffer from the disease. 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. Though some vegetables such as mushrooms, seaweed, tofu, and spinach are high in purines, researchers seem to think these foods don’t actually increase uric acid levels.