Ditch The Coconut Oil If You Have Osteoarthritis
The type of fat you consume can make a big difference in how you feel when you have osteoarthritis. In a study published in 2018 in Arthritis Care & Research, researchers followed over 2,000 individuals with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis for four years. Participants filled out a questionnaire about their eating habits and the researchers took X-rays of their knees at yearly intervals to measure the amount of space in their knee joints .
In the end, the study authors found that higher levels of total fat and saturated fat intake were associated with greater losses in joint space, while those who ate more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats didn’t lose as much space in their joints. Those who ate the least amount of saturated fat lost only 0.25 millimeters of space in their knee joint, while those who ate the most saturated fat lost 0.37 millimeters.
While you probably know that meat and dairy products are high in saturated fat, you might not realize that coconut oil is as well. In fact, 80 to 90 percent of the fat in coconut oil is saturated .
If You Have Rheumatoid Arthritis Avoid Soda And Other Sugary Beverages
Add rheumatoid arthritis to the long list of conditions that are made more difficult to manage by eating a diet high in added sugar. In a 2018 study published in Arthritis Care & Research, researchers polled 217 individuals with RA about the ways 20 common foods affected their RA symptoms. Sugar-sweetened soda was the most troublesome food, with 12.7 percent of respondents saying it worsened their symptoms. Desserts came in as a close second, with 12.4 percent of respondents linking sweet treats to RA flare-ups.
Another study, published in 2014 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, tried to determine if drinking sugar-sweetened soda increased risk for developing RA in women. They followed nearly 187,000 women for an average of 18 years. The researchers found that women who consumed one or more sugary sodas a day had a 63 percent increased risk for developing seropositive RA. This is the most common type of RA, in which a blood test detects antibodies the immune system produces against body tissue . Soda consumption appeared to have no impact on potential for developing seronegative RA, the other main form of RA in which antibodies can’t be detected but an individual still has RA symptoms.
Avoid These Foods If You Have Gout
Our roundup of the 5 worst foods for goutthe worst offenders also happen to be common in Western diets, so youve got your work cut out for you! If youre here, we can probably assume that you know gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that develops when theres too much uric acid in the blood.
The uric acid forms needle-like crystals that build up in the big toe joint causing intense pain, swelling, and stiffness. It is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis for men, although it also occurs in some women who are postmenopausal.
Thankfully, gout is a manageable condition and there are several things you can do to help lessen its symptoms. In addition to medications that treat the inflammation and prevent the formation of uric acid crystals, it also helps if you can avoid these top five foods which are bad for gout.
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Controlling Gout: 6 Foods To Avoid
May 18, 2017
Gout is a form of arthritis that happens when the uric acid levels in your blood get too high. Uric acid forms needle-like crystals in your joints. Commonly affected joints include your big toe, ankles, elbows, knees, wrists, and fingers.
Purine is a chemical in the body that is broken down into uric acid and then removed from the body through urine. Too much purine can lead to too much uric acid.
Though you cannot cure gout with diet changes, you can decrease the risk of gout flare-ups and long-term damage to your joints. Here are a few rules of a gout diet, including foods to avoid and foods to eat more of when you have gout.
Which Foods Should You Avoid When You Have Gout
Purines are compounds that are found in specific food and drink and they change to uric acid in the body. Most meat and seafood are high in purine and can increase uric acid levels in the body. These therefore should be limited during episodes of a gout attack and portion size should be reduced. Common examples of foods high in purine include anchovies, sardines, offal foods such as liver, kidney, sweetbreads, game, goose, minced meat, mussels, partridge, roe, scallops, herring, gravies, stock cubes and meat and yeast extracts.
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How Is Gout Affected By Diet
Gout is a type of arthritis that is associated with elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. High levels of uric acid can cause crystals to form in the joints, causing pain and swelling. Uric acid is a normal waste product formed from the breakdown of food, particularly compounds called purines. It is believed that lowering uric acid levels through small changes in your diet may help reduce the chance of future gout attacks.
A healthy, balanced diet may help reduce the risk of gout attacks.
Best Diet For Gout: What To Eat What To Avoid
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Gout is a type of arthritis, an inflammatory condition of the joints. It affects an estimated 8.3 million people in the US alone (
Fortunately, gout can be controlled with medications, a gout-friendly diet and lifestyle changes.
This article reviews the best diet for gout and what foods to avoid, backed by research.
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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.
Do I Need To Stop Eating Meat If I Have Gout
No, but practice moderation, Dr. Burg reiterates. Avoid organ meats such as liver because they have higher levels of purines, which can cause flare-ups. Moderate intake of lean meats such as chicken and turkey should not affect your condition. Seafood such as shrimp and lobster tends to be higher in purines, though, so dont make it a regular part of your diet.
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Foods To Avoid With Gout
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Gout is a type of arthritis caused by having too much uric acid in your blood. Uric acid is formed when your liver breaks down a protein called purine, found naturally in many foods and drinks. When purines are broken down, whats left is uric acid.
If you consume a lot of food and drinks with a high purine content, your uric acid levels will rise and your kidneys may not be able to get rid of it all in your pee.
And if your uric acid levels remain high for some time, this may cause crystals of uric acid to form in the soft tissue around your bones and in your joints. Its these crystals that cause the pain and swelling associated with an attack of gout, as they build up around the joints and under the skin.
If you have gout, you may need to make changes to your diet to reduce the risk of a flare-up. This typically involves limiting food and drinks that are high in purines. However, its still important to follow a balanced diet.
You may also need to lose weight if you have a body mass index above 25, as being overweight increases the amount of uric acid produced in your body. Losing weight will also reduce stress on your joints.
Pathogenesis Of Acute Gouty Arthritis
Deposition of UA crystals in the joint cavity is the triggering cause of gout. These crystals initiate the inflammatory process by being engulfed by synovial phagocytic cells leading to release of lysosomal enzymes and production of inflammatory chemokines. Another mechanism is that UA crystals change the stability of cell membrane of phagocytic cells by direct crosslinkage with membrane lipids and glycoproteins. This involves the triggering of G protein, phospholipase A2, C and D, tyrosine kinase and other kinases such as mitogen-activated kinases and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. This interaction leads to increased IL-8 in phagocytes resulting in activation of neutrophils , .
The pathogenesis of gouty arthritis involves initial activation of monocytes and mast cells followed by neutrophils. Before the first attack of gout and in the inter-critical period, macrophages engulf UA crystals. Well-differentiated macrophages have the capability to contain these crystals without inducing an inflammatory response. While less-differentiated monocytes produce abundant amounts of TNF, IL-1, IL-6 and IL-8 along with endothelial activation following phagocytosis of urate crystals. Also, mast cells are key players in inducing the acute gouty attack by producing histamine and IL-1. This results in increasing vascular permeability and vasodilatation. Interestingly, it is thought that may even end the inflammatory phase by engulfing the crystals and the inflammatory debris , .
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Impact Of Systemic Diseases On Uric Acid
Gout seems to affect osteoarthritic joints more often. This observation shows that cartilage damage resulting from OA induces formation of MSU crystals. Interestingly, UA crystals seem to affect the cartilage from its outer surface. Oppositely, pseudogout crystals appear inside the cartilage. Accumulation of UA crystals in the joint results from decreased vascularity and susceptibility of the synovial membrane to pass the crystals. Thus, gout tends to affect peripheral joints such as the big toe .
Hypertension is known as a risk factor for hyperuricemia and gout. Increased systemic blood pressure results in reduced glomerular filtration rate leading to decreased glomerular blood flow and decreased excretion of UA . However, recent data suggest that hyperuricemia leads to increased blood pressure and that uric acid is a true modifiable risk factor for development of essential hypertension .
Diabetes mellitus is also a significant risk factor for hyperuriceamia and gout. Failure of oxidative phosphorylation increases adenosine levels resulting in increased production of uric acid and reduction of its renal excretion. Insulin treatment increases SUA by increasing its renal reabsorption from renal tubules. Metabolic syndrome is also associated with hyperuriceamia and gout .
Steer Clear Of Organ Meats To Avoid Gout Flare
If you’re an adventurous eater who’s prone to gout, you’ll probably want to steer clear of organ meats. Most organ meats are considered high-purine foods. A 100-gram serving of calf’s liver, for instance, contains enough purines to produce 460 milligrams of uric acid, while the thymus gland of a calf has a staggering 1,260 milligrams .
In general, livers and spleens of different animals top the list of purine-containing foods. But a number of other organs are considered moderately high in purines. These include chicken livers, calf and pig kidneys, and calf and ox lungs. If you struggle with gout but don’t want to give up organ meat, try cervelle de veau , which contains fewer than 100 milligrams of uric acid per 100-gram serving and is considered low in purines, per Elevated Health.
While it may be hard to find and even harder to convince yourself to try, this organ meat is quite nutritious. According to Medical News Today, they contain omega-3 fats and nutrients known as phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine, which play an important role in the health of the nervous system.
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What Else Should You Do To Avoid Gout
As well as limiting foods high in purines, you should:
- follow recommended alcohol guidelines that suggest drinking no more than 14 units per week, spread across the week, with at least 2 days a week where you dont drink alcohol. However, if you have gout or youre at higher risk, try to restrict how much alcohol you drink be guided by a doctor
- avoid binge drinking as this has been known to trigger attacks of gout in some people
- stay hydrated as this will help your kidneys to function effectively and water down uric acid in the blood to help remove it from your body. Aim for 6 to 8 glasses of water a day, though other fluids do count, including tea or milk
- get regular exercise to help you maintain a healthy body weight or lose weight if you need to. Try to do low-impact sports like swimming or cycling, as these place less pressure on your joints
- avoid dieting or fasting as this can make it harder for your kidneys to get rid of uric acid
By doing this you should be able to reduce your risk of further attacks of gout, but you may still require medication to help control the condition.
If You Have Gout Opt For Wine Instead Of Beer
Historically, gout was often associated with overindulgent royalty who ate huge, lavish feasts full of meat and alcohol . But, as it turns out, not all alcohol is created equal when it comes to purine content.
According to a 2014 study published in PLoS One, wine has significantly less impact on levels of uric acid in the blood when compared to beer. Researchers followed 589 healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 to see how different types of alcohol consumption affected their uric acid levels. While the researchers were looking specifically at the presence of high levels of uric acid in the blood as a predictor for a condition known as metabolic syndrome, they acknowledged that uric acid levels also directly correlate to gout flare-ups.
The study authors noted that alcohol is innately hyperuricemic, meaning it raises uric acid levels in the blood. Beer, specifically, is very high in purines, creating a double whammy effect on uric acid levels. Wine, on the other hand, is low in purines and contains plant compounds called polyphenols that appear to counteract the hyperuricemic effects of alcohol. In fact, study participants who consumed wine experienced no change in their uric acid levels.
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What Is The Recommended Diet For Gout Sufferers
There are no foods that can completely prevent the symptoms of gout, but a diet low in purines may help to reduce the frequency of attacks. Following a nutritionally balanced, healthy diet that is low in saturated and trans fats and rich in unprocessed foods can help to reduce the risk of gout attacks. Care needs to be taken with certain vegetables such as asparagus, beans, cauliflower, lentils, mushrooms and spinach as these contain medium levels of purines.
While these dont need to be avoided completely, portion size is important a moderate intake should not increase the risks of gout. All other vegetables should be eaten freely. There is also evidence to suggest that a high consumption of low-fat dairy products , limiting sugary drinks and having a daily vitamin C supplement of 500mg may reduce the risk of gout. Speak to your GP before starting new supplements or altering your diet to manage gout.
It is important to note that it is the quantity of purine-rich food consumed that is more important than the purine content in each food. However, if a patient is keen to measure quantities of food, a maximum total daily purine intake of around 200mg is recommended.
Foods To Eat And 7 To Avoid For Arthritis
If you think arthritis is something you won’t have to worry about until you’re much older, think again. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 54 million Americans are affected by arthritis, and 60 percent of them are between the ages of 18 to 64. In fact, arthritis is a leading cause of disability, with 8 million adults unable to work because of their arthritis.
While many often think of arthritis as a single condition, it’s actually an umbrella term for a number of conditions affecting the joints. The most common forms include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout. According to the CDC, “symptoms of arthritis are pain, aching, stiffness, and swelling in or around the joints.” While symptoms can vary from person to person and day to day, one in four Americans with arthritis experiences severe joint pain. Arthritis often goes hand in hand with other chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes and can make these conditions harder to manage.
Arthritis has many different causes and just as many options for managing symptoms. Diet can play a major role in either minimizing or exacerbating symptoms, so if you have some form of arthritis, it’s important to choose the foods and beverages you consume wisely.
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