Do Certain Foods Cause Gout
There are many misconceptions about diet and gout. For example it is commonly thought that foods such as citrus foods cause gout. There is no evidence that this is true. However several studies have shown that people with gout are more likely to eat certain foods. These foods tend to contain high levels of purines, a substance that can be made into uric acid in the body. Purine-rich foods include:
- meat particularly red meat and offal, such as liver, kidneys and heart
- seafood particularly shellfish, scallops, mussels, herring, mackerel, sardines and anchovies
- foods containing yeast such as Vegemite and beer.
Foods High In Purines
The body produces purine compounds, and people also ingest them from food.
Purines can increase the risk of urate crystals forming in the joints and tissues, so avoiding them in food can help manage the condition.
Arthritis Foundation advises which foods and drinks contain high or moderate amounts of purines:
- all types of alcoholic drinks
- some fish, including sardines, anchovies, trout, herring, and haddock
- shellfish and seafood, such as mussels, scallops, crab, lobster, oysters, and shrimp
- high purine meats, such as bacon, turkey, veal, sausage, and venison
- moderate purine meats, such as beef, chicken, pork, duck, and ham
- organ meats, such as liver, kidneys, and sweetbreads
Whole Grains Bread And Pasta
A study published in the European Journal of Nutrition found that a diet rich in whole grains can help regulate uric acid levels. The researchers looked at the effects of a whole-grain diet on uric acid levels and found that eating three servings of whole grains per day was enough to reduce serum uric acid levels by nearly 10 percent.
The researchers measured the urinary excretion rate of uric acid, which is the amount of uric acid lost from the body in urine each day. They found that the UER decreased significantly with increasing consumption of whole-grain foods.
The researchers also found that low fat dairy products were able to lower serum uric acid levels by nearly 4 percent compared to those who ate no dairy products at all. This suggests that dairy products may also play an important role in regulating blood uric acid levels.
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What Foods Should You Eat
Although a gout-friendly diet eliminates many foods, there are still plenty of low-purine foods you can enjoy.
Foods are considered low-purine when they have less than 100 mg of purines per 3.5 ounces .
Here are some low-purine foods that are generally safe for people with gout (20,
- Fruits: All fruits are generally fine for gout. Cherries may even help prevent attacks by lowering uric acid levels and reducing inflammation (
- Vegetables: All vegetables are fine, including potatoes, peas, mushrooms, eggplants and dark green leafy vegetables.
- Legumes: All legumes are fine, including lentils, beans, soybeans and tofu.
- Nuts: All nuts and seeds.
- Whole grains: These include oats, brown rice and barley.
- Dairy products: All dairy is safe, but low-fat dairy appears to be especially beneficial (
- Beverages:Coffee, tea and green tea.
- Herbs and spices: All herbs and spices.
- Plant-based oils: Including canola, coconut, olive and flax oils.
Meat Did Not Increase Uric Acid
In the study of gout and Atkins diet, meat ingestion was not decreased, although participants already had gout. There are some instances where gout attacks were not experienced for 16 weeks, and the frequency of the attacks has dropped significantly, it was not because of low purine diet.
And after one year, five participants had not experienced another gout attack. The study started with participants experiencing at least two gout attacks in the past four months. Among the 5 participants who had not suffered another attack, neither had the fish they were advised to eat at least four times a week.
Robert Atkins, the founder of Atkins diet, reported that patients on a diet were not expected to reduce their uric acid. According to him that most of the patients in the study have been eating meats. And this study the meat did not raise uric acid. Thus it does not mean that if you consume more pork and gout attacks, the meat causes it. Other factors might have triggered it.
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Can Physical Workouts Reduce Your Uric Acid Level
High uric acid is responsible for mortality risks. Researchers have found that the serum uric acid of more than 7 mg/dL can increase your mortality risk by 22%. The risk can be higher for those who are physically inactive. Thus, you must do physical workouts regularly.
In most cases, patients go for drug therapy when they have kidney stones and gout. Some patients also like to avoid medications due to their fear of side effects. However, they must rely on physical workouts to control their uric acid levels.
To stay fully active, you must do your physical workouts for at least 150 minutes every week. You will be considered low active, while your weekly exercise duration is below 90 minutes.
Frequent exercising can help you in controlling uric acid and gout symptoms. You can lose weight, manage your stress, and stay healthy. However, for gout patients, we need to share one important thing. They must not exercise until their inflammation and pain are reduced.
But, being new to physical workouts, you must consult your doctor. He will give you tips on how to stay active. Researchers have observed that our body fat carries more uric acid compared to our muscles. Thus, by reducing body fat, you may control your blood uric acid levels. You will also have better cardiovascular health for regular exercising.
What Else Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider
If you have a uric acid stone, ask your provider:
- What treatment will work best?
- Will I need surgery?
- How can I prevent a stone from forming again?
- What diet is right for me?
- Should I avoid any foods or beverages?
- Do I need to take any supplements?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Uric acid stones are a type of kidney stone. When you have a high level of uric acid in your blood and urine, small stones can form. These stones can block the passage of urine out of your body, causing pain and other symptoms. Many uric acid stones pass on their own. Your provider may prescribe medication to help the stone pass. For larger stones, your provider may recommend noninvasive or minimally invasive procedures. These treatments include shockwave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy and PCNL. Treatments are successful, but uric acid stones may come back. Avoid or limit foods high in purines to reduce your risk. If you have pain in your side, burning when you pee or see blood in your urine, talk to your healthcare provider. The right diagnosis and treatment can help you feel your best.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 08/19/2021.
References
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Health Conditions And Treatments
Certain drugs, health problems, and lifestyle choices can trigger gout, too.
Medications. Aspirin, certain diuretics for high blood pressure , and drugs for people who had organ transplants can trigger gout. After a flare, go over all the medicines you take with your doctor. If needed, they should be able to find another option.
Being overweight. When you slim down, you can protect yourself from another flare.
Fasting or crash diets. If you lose weight too quickly or fast, you could raise your chances of an attack.
High blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, and heart disease. These health conditions make you more likely to have gout, especially if you donât get treatment. Work with your doctor to keep them under control.
Injuries or surgery. When your body is stressed or sick, youâre more likely to have a flare. Of course, you canât always avoid this trigger. But if you need to have an operation, make sure your doctor knows youâve had gout in the past.
What To Eat To Prevent Gout And Reduce Your Uric Acid Level
Learn how to keep at bay the painful condition called gout.
I had my first gout attack 10 years ago. The episodes became more and more frequent, and went from my big toe to my knees, reveals Pakri, 52, an architect. The pain is excruciating. When it happens, it feels as if my foot is on fire and someone is constantly stabbing it! I cant even put on my shoes. Even though I have given up alcohol and taking high doses of allopurinol, my gout just keep coming back.
What is gout?
Gout causes sudden and severe pain in your joints. It usually affects joints in the feet , ankle, knees, hands and elbows. Whenever a flare-up occurs, the affected joint becomes red, warm, swollen and, of course, excruciatingly painful. As a result, you may find it difficult to put even very light pressure on or move the affected joint. It usually takes about a week for the pain and swelling to subside.
What causes gout?
Your joint becomes painfully inflamed when your body deposits a waste product called uric acid in the form of hard crystals into your joints. Much of the uric acid in your body is the result of consuming foods rich in purine, although high uric acid level can be due to inherited genetics.
Besides eating a lot of purine-rich foods, such as meat, beer and nuts, other contributing factors include being overweight, diabetic, having high cholesterol level, suffering from high blood pressure, taking certain medication for high blood pressure, and not drinking enough water.
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Will The Dash Diet Reduce My Risk Of Gout
Though the recent study suggests that following a DASH diet may reduce uric acid levels, it is still a small amount compared to the impact that taking medication for gout can have on reducing uric acid.
Additionally, there were several limitations to the study that warrant a need for more research.
To start, participants were not screened for gout when the blood samples were originally taken, nor were they assessed for gout attacks during the eight-week study span. Additionally, the diets were adjusted to minimize weight loss among participants, thus underestimating the full impact of diet on uric acid in the setting of weight loss. Finally, because the study tested dietary patterns, researchers could not isolate which specific food groups or micronutrients may account for the reduction in uric acid.
Future studies must be conducted to better understand the potential role of the DASH diet in the management of gout. That said, the findings suggest that eating a well-rounded healthy diet that is good for the heart is also good for gout.
It may be the case that people with gout are better off focusing on an overall healthy eating pattern than on eliminating high-purine foods.
We hope our study continues to highlight the importance of healthy diet, specifically the DASH diet, as a strategy for greater health among adults with gout, Dr. Juraschek told Healio.
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Can I Drink Alcohol
Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of a gout attack as it can raise the level of uric acid in your blood. While it is possible to control gout attacks without completely cutting out alcohol, try to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink and avoid binge drinking . Talk to your doctor or read the Australian government guidelines on recommended alcohol intake.
What Is The Dash Diet
The DASH eating plan emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat or fat-free dairy while limiting saturated fats and processed foods. DASH is an abbreviation for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The diet is intended to be a lifelong healthy eating plan to lower high blood pressure and be good for the heart. People with gout are also at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
For this study, Dr. Juraschek and his coauthors retrieved stored blood samples from the original DASH trial. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1997, the original DASH trial compared the effects of three different diets a typical American diet, a fruit- and vegetable-rich diet, or a DASH diet on blood pressure in 459 adults. The researchers looked at participants levels of uric acid at the beginning and the end of the eight-week study.
They found that the samples from people on the DASH diet had less uric acid at the end of the trial compared to people on the typical diet.
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List Of Foods That Reduce Uric Acid
Fact Checked
A gout attack can be very painful. While there are a number of reasons why your uric acid levels may be elevated, making changes to your diet to reduce the amount in your blood may help prevent flare-ups. Consult your doctor to discuss uric acid in your diet.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
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Diet For High Uric Acid Levels
Nowadays, there are a lot of patients that suffer from a high level of uric acid in their body and the first question that arises in their mind is how to reduce uric acid? Uric acid is formed due to the breakdown of purines by the body. Hence, patients suffering from a condition of high uric acid level should focus on reducing the intake of purine-rich foods and create a diet chart for high uric acid levels in the blood.
Purines are found in a variety of food, drinks and can also be produced by the body. Hence, the answer to the question How to reduce uric acid is to avoid food and drinks that are rich in purines. High uric acid levels in the blood-streams can lead to a common form of arthritis called gout. To prevent gout, it is essential to maintain a good diet for gout and high uric acid levels and have proper medication.
If uric acid is not eliminated normally which is seen in gout sufferers, it can build up in the bloodstream leading to joint inflammation and pain. A person who has a high level of blood uric acid level should follow a strict uric acid diet pattern that would help in decreasing its level in the body. These food items included in the diet for lowering uric acid level, it contains foods and drinks items that can control the level of uric acid.
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What Are The Disadvantages Of A Low
- Its limiting. For people with hyperuricemia, a low-purine diet is a long-term lifestyle change. It also happens to target many favorite indulgences, including sugar, sweets and alcohol. For some people, giving these up indefinitely may seem unrealistic, especially when its only a complementary therapy. Like most diets, you do have to stick to it to reap the benefits.
- It limits omega-3 sources. Seafood is among the most important dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and the low-purine diet limits many of these. Omega-3s have many known health benefits in particular, alleviating inflammation and joint pain from arthritis. Many Americans dont get enough omega-3s, and limiting seafood can make it even harder. However, fish-oil supplements are ok on this diet. Salmon, sardines and mackerel are also good sources and relatively low in purines.
- Its not a cure. Diet may move the needle a little on uric acid levels in your blood, but not as much as medications do. The best approach is to combine them. Some people argue that the benefits of the diet arent proven to be worth the trouble when compared with medication. But medication alone is often not enough to manage gout effectively. In these cases, many people appreciate having something they can do proactively to reduce their symptoms.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Add Cherries To Your Everyday Diet
There is no need to make a big adjustment to your diet to curb your uric acid level. One of the best tips for you is to eat some cherries daily. The delightful taste of cherries will never let you say NO to these red fruits.
According to a study, cherries can reduce gout attack risks by more than 35%. However, cherries can work better when you consume them with the anti-gout drug. The combination of cherries and drugs will make your treatment more effective. You may also reduce inflammation and uric acid.
But, you must not take any medications without a physicians consultation.
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Achieve A Healthy Weight
Obesity may be a primary consideration to reduce levels of uric acid in the blood. Insulin resistance is commonly seen in those who are obese and it may be involved in the development of gout. Insulin resistance has been shown to decrease the amount of uric acid that is cleared in the urine. A condition known as the ‘metabolic syndrome’ is a cluster of symptoms which includes insulin resistance, along with tummy obesity, high blood pressure and abnormal blood fats – for example, high cholesterol. This condition is strongly associated with high uric acid levels, which can be improved with slow, gradual weight loss.
Weight loss has been shown to improve insulin resistance and therefore reduce uric acid levels in the blood. However, it is important to avoid strict diets such as low-carbohydrate and high-protein diets. These may increase consumption of purines, a compound that breaks down into uric acid. Additionally, rapid weight loss through strict dieting can result in breakdown of tissue. This can temporarily cause a rise in uric acid levels. A gradual, safe weight loss of 1-2 lbs a week can help to achieve an optimal body weight.