Gout is a condition that from the medicin point of view is represented by a form of arthritis that is very painful and incomfortable. Over time, gout was associated with diet. The diet usually had overindulgence at seafood, alcohol or meat. The gout diet is hard to hold on to, because in its treatment included strong restrictions. Nowadays exist a lot of medications to help the treatment of the gout and as a result they minimize the need for such a restrictive diet.
Gout appears when in the body is a high level of uric acid; in the blood are formed crystals because of the uric acid which are gathering in one point. In the body, the uric acid has two sources: the body produces uric acid when the purines are broken and also the body gets the purines from foods like asparagus, herring, anchovies organ meat or mushrooms.
The gout diet minimizes the consumption of foods that have purines at a high level. Usually this food is represented by animal products. Alcohol is restricted with a special emphasize on beer which was found in a strong relationship with gout problems. A fast and rapid loss of weight can help the appeareance of the gout. Also you have to drink liquids to intensify the elimination of the uric acid out of your body. Another thing that you have to avoid are diets that are based on losing weight through high protein because they are creating more uric acid (named hyperuricemia).
Steps that you have to follow:
- diminish the fish, poultry and meat that you eat – they contain a lot of purines. You also have to avoid: organ meats, or fish like herring, mackerel or anchovies; red meat like lamb, pork meat or beef meat, fish or seafood (scallops, lobster, shrimp or tuna). The intake of the meat should be limited somewhere between 110 and 170 grams per day.
- reduce the fat – the saturated fats helps the body to reduce its capacity to cut out the uric acid. What is helping the body to increase the elimination of the uric acid is the use of protein based on plants like legumes, beans or dairy products that are low in fat.
- drink a lot of fluids – as the liquids help the elimination of the uric acid from you body you should drink up to 2 liters of water a day.
- avoid or even restrict alcohol because alcohol prevents the body from eliminating the uric acid. Avoid especially beer because there have been observed some connections between the gout attacks and people who drink beer. If you are not having an attack you can serve small quantities of wine, which is not increasing the risk of having an attack.
- restrict fructose – because this is a carbohydrate that is increasing the uric acid. All foods that are sweetened with corn syrup, which is rich in fructose should be eliminated from the eating habit. There are juices that are natural 100% which did not stimulated the production of uric acid as much as those that contain fructose.
- you should intake complex carbohydrates by eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and lessen the quantity of refined carbohydrates that are found in bread, cakes and candies.
- eat low-fat dairy products or even fat-free diary products because it was demonstrated that this products help lowering the appereance of gout.
As an example of one day menu, beneath you can find a menu and you can take it as a guide on how you can prepare a meal:
Breakfast: you can have a coffee, drink some 100% natural fruit juice, some whole-wheat toast with margarine that contains unsaturated fat (which contains the trans isomer), whole-grain or cereals without sugar, with milk (low-fat of course) and some fruits that are fresh.
Lunch: you can enjoy small quantities of meat (lean), poultry meat or fish, with some lettuce and tomato, bread that is made out of whole-wheat; you can eat some carrots with celery sticks , have an easy soup of vegetables and a small side salad; always if you are having milk it has to be skim or low-fat; the fruits that you eat have to be all the time fresh and the favorite fruits are pear, apple or orange
Dinner: as for lunch small quantities of chicken, vegetables that were steamed, some backed potatoes if you pour some sour cream, it should be low-fat; a green salad with some tomatoes would be great next to a low-fat dressing; berries, melon as fruits and a warm tea or some water for drink.
You can add some snacks but only in the case if there are made some wise choises as: fruits, vegetables, or whole grains and you can try from time to time small quantities of nuts, but you always have to stay in the limit of the calories.
There are not many risks inolving this diet because is on the same line with healthy eating habits.The result of the diet should be a help to your body so that the uric acid will be limited and it will be increased its removal from the body. The diet helps you lower the number of gout attack and together with the medicins can lower the uric acid from your body. Overall, following this diet can help your general health of your body and maintain a constant weight.