What tasty foods to eat and which ones to avoid? Many gout sufferers are confused. Don’t worry, here is a list of gout foods to eat and gout causing foods to avoid in your diet. But, to determine a gout diet that you can eat, we must first understand the cause of gout.
Now, most people know that gout symptoms are due to uric acid crystals that have formed in the joints and connective tissue. And these are formed from higher than normal concentrations of uric acid in the blood.
But what most people probably don’t know is that uric acid is formed during your body’s normal metabolism process, through the breakdown of compounds in your body called “purines.” However, purines also exist in food in varying concentrations.
As a gout patient trying to lower uric acid, it would make no sense to continue a diet that is likely to be too high in purines. (You’ll see why I say ‘probably’ when you see the list of foods that cause flavor below!)
Therefore, you need to differentiate between foods in your diet that are high/very high in purines, i.e. foods that cause gout, and those that are relatively low in purines, i.e. foods you can eat for gout. drop. Let’s start with the foods to avoid for gout…
FLAVOR CAUSING FOODS TO AVOID
Basically, the foods to avoid fall into the following food groups; game, red meat, organ meats, shellfish, poultry, vegetables and yeasts.
But even within these food groups there are variations in the amount of purines present. Therefore, you need to dig deeper and identify individual foods that have high or very high purine levels. Here are just a few to get you started…
Deer, pheasant, capercaillie, partridge, fatty red meat, mincemeat, meat extracts, heart, kidneys, liver, sweetbreads, gravy, broth, mackerel, herring, anchovies, fish roe, sardines, scallops, prawns, prawns, dried pulses , bakery and brewer’s yeast, yeast extracts. Plus, avoid alcohol, beer in particular.
TRY THE FOODS TO EAT
The groups that contain relatively low purine foods that you can eat are; foods rich in vitamin C, complex carbohydrates, low-fat dairy products, essential fatty acids, green leafy vegetables and fruits. Typical tasteful foods to eat are…
Potatoes, red cabbage, red peppers, cereals, rice, pasta, bread (avoid white flour products), low-fat cheese, yogurt, milk (not soy), tuna, flaxseeds, walnuts, green cabbage, parsley , kale (not cauliflower, asparagus, or spinach), cherries (excellent), strawberries, grapes, blueberries, pineapple, oranges, tangerines, etc.
As I said at the beginning, your diet is extremely important, but it is not the only issue that needs your attention. There are other considerations like your weight, lifestyle, family history of arthritis or gout, medications, medical conditions, etc.
And you should do everything in your power to prevent frequently recurring gout attacks, as these can lead to permanent joint damage, including kidney stones and other kidney problems, in the future.
