This article is about the List Of Foods To Avoid With Gout but before delving into this, let’s first understand what gout is.
Gout develops once a person’s uric acid levels rise above 6mg/dL. That is when the crystals begin attacking the joints within the body, causing gout-attack symptoms such as:
▪ Intense pain in and around a joint
▪ Redness of skin within the affected area
▪ Sudden swelling of lymph nodes surrounding these joints
The uric acid levels rise due to excessive purines, which are nitrogen-containing compounds found in muscles and all living tissues.
What Is Purine?
“Purine is a component of DNA and RNA. Purines are converted to uric acid, which causes your body’s pH balance to change. The kidneys normally metabolize uric acid into the urine; however, when this process gets overloaded with purine-rich foods and a poor diet, the excess uric acid ends up in your joints.
When you suffer from gout, the most important thing is to avoid foods with a high level of purine, as this stimulates uric acid production. These foods that are rich in purine ultimately provide you with uric acid, which further affects your body’s uric acid level”.
Gout occurs when there is an anomalous accumulation of uric acid crystals around the joints. It triggers severe flakiness and swelling in the affected part.
The most affected areas are the toes, hands, and wrists. Gout can be excruciating and severe, associated with flakiness, redness, and swelling in the joints.
List Of Foods To Avoid With Gout
- Red meat: You should not eat it more than once a week because it contains purines and promotes the deposition of uric acid in your bloodstream. Some red meat examples include beef, grouse, mutton, pork, ham, chicken, partridge, pheasant, goose, duck, and turkey.
- Seafood: The higher the risk of gout, the more you should avoid seafood. Shrimp, mussels, tuna, sardines, anchovies, crab legs, herring, mussels, mackerel, codfish, scallops, trout, and haddock are high in purines leads to an increase in uric acid levels in your blood.
- Alcohol: Alcohol is one of the worst foods for dealing with gout because its metabolism includes the consumption of uric acid forming all by itself. Alcoholics are especially prone to gout attacks.
- Dairy: Some people with gout have also been reported to suffer from lactose intolerance, and those who do not consume dairy products show better results in treating their condition. You can try goat milk which is known for being easier to digest than cow milk.
- Asparagus: High in purines, only eat it once a week and make sure you don’t overcook it, converting them into uric acid crystals.
- Eggs: Those who suffer from gout should avoid eating hard-boiled eggs because they contain a lot of sulfur, a component that converts to uric acid when metabolized.
- Spinach: It contains huge amounts of purines, so limit its consumption to once a week and make sure you don’t overcook it.
- Brown Sugars: You should limit the intake of brown sugars like molasses or cane sugar because they are high in uric acid, although fructose is kinder to your gout.
- Coffee: Some gout sufferers have reported that they are intolerant of caffeine, so if you suffer from this condition as well, it might be a good idea to switch to decaf. If you have the time and desire, growing some tea leaves in your garden is a natural way to get the maximum health benefits.
- Alcoholic Beverages: You should avoid alcoholic beverages completely, so drink moderately and don’t overdo it with wine or beer.
Why Eating Too Fast Can Cause Gout?
Eating too fast can cause gout because the blood circulation system does not work properly; as a result, there is an insufficient supply of oxygen to all parts of your body.
The food you consume will have trouble digesting and processing in your digestive tract, leading to an accumulation of waste products and uric acid; this irritates the joints and causes gout.
Your food is not adequately absorbed in your intestinal tract. When you eat too fast, the food is not broken down and digested properly. You might also suffer from gout if you have been overeating or eating unhealthy foods for a long time.
Since it takes about three hours for your stomach to process one meal, this means that any more than three meals in a day will cause acid reflux in your stomach, so the food is not broken down properly.
High-fat foods can also cause acid reflux and are responsible for gout attacks.
How Do Animal Proteins Affect People With Gout?
Animal proteins, such as red meat or fish, are often rich in purine, a compound. When our body metabolizes these compounds, it increases uric acid and purines that can then be deposited into your bloodstream.
Purine metabolism also results in uric acid levels increasing in the blood, so those who suffer from gout should limit their animal protein intake.
Eating no more than one serving a day is recommended, and there are plenty of plant-based proteins that can take their place, such as tofu or soy.
If you are on gout medication like Allopurinol, your doctor may recommend that you limit the intake of animal proteins.
For example, the American College of Physicians advises against consuming more than 4 ounces a day if you have an acute attack of gout or you’re taking allopurinol.
However, in many cases, doctors advise their patients not to eat red meat at all.
Though some people have found that poultry may be more tolerable when it comes to gout, it’s best to stay away from most animal products during a flare-up.
What About Alcohol?
It’s well known that alcohol increases the risk of developing gout. This is because it increases your uric acid levels, which can cause a rapid onset of acute gout attacks.
Avoiding alcoholic drinks can help you reduce your chance of an attack, but their doctor often advises those who drink less than the recommended daily amount.
Some alcoholic drinks are also high in purine and should be avoided when you have gout; these include beer, ale, stout, port wine, and sherry.
How Does Coffee Affect People With Gout?
Coffee is a well-known trigger of gout attacks. Only black or dark brown coffee triggers gout, not the espresso coffee with cream and sugar that some people drink. The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine, and there are also other chemicals present in coffee that act as diuretics (hydrate the body).
As well as increasing the elimination of calcium from the body these chemicals act as purines which stimulate the kidneys to produce uric acid.
Anything that causes an increase in uric acid levels will result in more crystal formation and thus a potential for gout.
For those diagnosed with hypertension, high blood pressure coffee has been attributed as one of the main contributing factors.
It is advisable to limit one’s daily intake of caffeine. When trying to reduce build-up, slowly withdrawing from coffee over several weeks will help minimize withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches or fatigue.
Water is the best alternative for those who must consume caffeinated beverages.
I hope you like our List Of Foods To Avoid With Gout, also read Immediate Gout Pain Relief>>