subject: How A Low Uric Acid Diet Can Prevent Agonizing Gout [print this page] A completely natural way to help prevent gout is to follow, what some folks call, a 'low uric acid diet.' The purpose of such a diet is to help lower the uric acid levels in the body and hence reduce the risk of gout. Here you'll discover the foods to be avoided and reduced, as well as the foods to eat, as part of a healthy gout diet...
WHAT IS URIC ACID?
Uric acid is produced as a by-product of the breakdown of purines during your body's metabolizing process. Purines are natural chemical compounds found in the body and in the food we eat at varying concentrations.
When your kidneys are working well they are able to process excess acid out of your body, mainly through urine, but also a small amount through stools.
WHAT CAUSES HIGH URIC ACID?
There are 2 main causes for high uric acid in the blood:-
1. Kidneys which aren't working effectively are unable to properly process the uric acid and excess can be left circulating in the bloodstream.
2. But even if your kidneys are working correctly, should there be the situation where your body is producing too much acid for your kidneys to cope with, then again you are left with excess uric acid in your blood.
This can build up over time to such a level that urate crystals can form out of the high acid levels and deposit themselves in your joints and connecting tissue, thus causing the horrible symptoms of gout.
The condition of high uric acid levels in the blood is called "hyperuricemia."
HOW DOES A URIC ACID DIET HELP?
Since purines exist in our food as well as our bodies then one way to help reduce the amount of uric acid that your body is producing is to reduce the amount of purines we eat.
Luckily, not all foods contain the same concentrations of purines, so by avoiding or reducing the foods with high levels of purines we are able to reduce the amount of purines being digested and therefore lower the amount of uric acid being produced in our bloodstream.
WHICH FOODS ARE TO BE AVOIDED OR REDUCED?
So which foods should gout sufferers avoid or, at the very least, considerably reduce? The prime suspects are:-
- red fatty meats
- organ meats
- game
- fish (e.g. roe, herrings, mackerel, and sardines)
- shellfish (particularly scallops, mussels, shrimps and prawns)
- poultry (especially turkey and goose)
- meat extracts
- mincemeat
- yeast and yeast extracts
- broth
- consomme
- gravy
The above are high to very high in purines and are best avoided completely. However, where this is difficult to do - for whatever reason - then at the very least you should reduce considerably portion size and how often you eat a particular food. But abstinence is best with these foods.
The following are moderately high in purines and so may be eaten, but again with smaller portion sizes:-
- spinach
- mushrooms
- cauliflower
- asparagus
- lentils
- oatmeal
- dried
- peas
- soy
BUT WE AREN'T ALL THE SAME
But the above is still really just rules of thumb because everybody is different. For example, there are people at risk of gout who can eat shellfish without any problems, whereas there are others for whom shellfish is almost certain to trigger an attack. And the same for the other foods.
This is why you need to discover your worst 'trigger' foods. This is best done by keeping a daily food diary. Once you've isolated the worst foods for your particular metabolism then avoid those completely.
WHAT FOODS GO TOWARDS A HEALTHY URIC ACID DIET?
So now you know the list of foods to avoid or cut down on, what low-purine foods can you consume? Here's a short list to consider:-
- Essential fatty acids like nuts, seeds, flaxseed.
- Certain fish for essential fatty acids such as very small portions of salmon or tuna.
- Low-fat dairy products.
- Foods packed full of vitamin C like oranges, mandarins, red bell peppers, potatoes, red cabbage, etc.
- Complex carbohydrate foods along the lines of vegetables, fruit, cereals, rice, pasta, etc.
- In terms of fruits, cherries, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and pineapple are especially good.
- For vegetables, green leafy vegetables such as cabbage, parsley are great, but avoid those ones above.
- It is also essential to stay well-hydrated. It's more difficult for crystals to form in a well-hydrated body. Drink at least 3 litres of water per day, perhaps more, in very hot weather.
Experiment with the food lists above and, using your food diary, you'll soon be able to make up a weekly meal plan that will work for you: your very own low uric acid diet plan.
Of course there's a lot more to preventing gout than just a low uric acid diet. That's just one key element. There are other important things to consider such as lifestyle, your weight position, family history, alcohol consumption, medical conditions, some medicines, serious dangers of recurring gout, and more...
