How Do You Avoid Getting Gout

Foods You Can Eat In Moderation

Aside from organ meats, game meats and certain fish, most meats can be consumed in moderation. You should limit yourself to 46 ounces of these a few times per week .

They contain a moderate amount of purines, which is considered to be 100200 mg per 100 grams. Thus, eating too much of them may trigger a gout attack.

• Meats: These include chicken, beef, pork and lamb.
• Other fish: Fresh or canned salmon generally contains lower levels of purines than most other fish.

Summary: Foods you should eat with gout include all fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, eggs and most beverages. Limit your consumption of non-organ meats and fish like salmon to servings of 46 ounces a few times weekly.

Foods That May Trigger A Gout Attack

Physicians recommend avoiding or limiting consumption of14:

• Alcoholic beverages, especially beer
• Sugary foods and beverages, particularly those made with high fructose corn syrup, such as sodas15
• Meat, particularly organ meat or sweetmeats, such as liver, and game meats6
• Seafood, particularly scallops, anchovies, and herring16

Alcohol increases the amount of uric acid in the blood and limits the bodys ability to process and eliminate uric acid.17

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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Five Ways To Prevent Gout

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Did you know that Podagra was the name of an ill-tempered mythological virgin torturer of feet? Not coincidentally, it is also the name for the most common type of gout, which affects the big toe. Back in the 13th century, people used to think that gout was caused by a “drop of bad humor” in an inflamed joint. Later, gout was called the “disease of kings,” because it afflicted those who ate a diet of rich foods. Since then, doctors have discovered the actual causes of gout.

Gout, a painful, red, and inflamed joint, is a type of arthritis that occurs when uric acid crystals build up in the affected area. It is most common among people with a family history, especially men. The risk of getting gout increases with age, obesity, insulin resistance, and high blood pressure.

The condition affects about 8.3 million people, or 4 percent of the U.S. population, each year. It can be painful and even debilitating, especially if risk factors go unchecked. The good news is that science has uncovered a few ways you can prevent gout and, at the same time, decrease your risk for other health problems.

Number 1: If you have had a gout attack, start by avoiding high-purine foods. These include scallops, mussels, and other seafood, like herring, codfish, and haddock. Venison, veal, turkey, bacon, liver, and other organ meats also have a lot of purines.

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Drink Fluids But Avoid Alcohol

One way to prevent a new gout attack is to consume 16 cups of fluids per a single day. I actually use this method for some time and the results are impressive. The gout attacks are rarer than ever and they are less painful than ever before. The main reason why this method is so effective is the fact it reduces the levels of uric acids. It also keeps you safe from kidney stones, which is an issue commonly related to the high levels of uric acid.

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When I said fluids, I meant water or natural juices. Alcohol must be avoided at all cost. It is rich in purines which will increase the levels of uric acid, so they will also be responsible for new gout attacks. Keep in mind that this refers to all types of alcohol.

Besides alcohol, avoid shellfish, processed food, and red meat. They are also rich in purines, the ingredient you must avoid at all cost.

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What Else Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider About Gout

Consider asking your healthcare provider:

• What is causing the gout?
• Do I have any joint damage?
• What can I do to prevent future attacks?
• Can any gout medications help me?
• How long will I need to take gout medications?

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Gout is a painful form of arthritis. Extra uric acid in your body creates sharp crystals in the joints, leading to swelling and extreme tenderness. Gout usually starts in the big toe but can affect other joints. Gout is a treatable condition, and the uric acid level can be decreased by medication and lifestyle changes. Talk to your healthcare provider about medications that can reduce uric acid levels. They can also discuss changes you can make to your diet and lifestyle to prevent and reduce gout attacks.

Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 11/15/2020.

References

Take Care Of Yourself

Get regular exercise and stay at a healthy weight. If you’re overweight or obese, your body has more uric acid. Weight loss may help lower it.

Get other health conditions under control. Gout is linked with high blood pressure, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and kidney disease. If you have any of those problems, get treatment.

Ask your doctor if you need to make changes to the medications you take. Aspirin, diuretics for high blood pressure, and drugs for people whoâve had an organ transplant can trigger gout. Your doctor can help you find other alternatives.

Drink more fluids. You may lower your odds of gout if you drink at least eight glasses of fluids a day. Make sure that at least half of that is water.

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Can Dietary Supplements Help

People with gout are sometimes advised to take vitamin C supplements because they are believed to lower uric acid levels. But there has only been one good-quality study on the effectiveness of vitamin C in gout. That study found that vitamin C had a weak effect on uric acid levels, but the researchers didnt look into whether that also lowered the risk of gout attacks.

What Happens At Your Appointment

The GP may ask about your diet and if you drink alcohol.

They may refer you to see a specialist and arrange a blood test and scan. Sometimes a thin needle is used to take a sample of fluid from inside the affected joint, to test it.

The blood test will find out how much of a chemical called uric acid there is in your blood.

Having too much uric acid in your blood can lead to crystals forming around your joints, which causes pain.

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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.

How Is Gout Treated

Gout can be effectively treated and managed with medical treatment and self-management strategies. Your health care provider may recommend a medical treatment plan to

• Manage the pain of a flare. Treatment for flares consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, steroids, and the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine.
• Prevent future flares. Making changes to your diet and lifestyle, such as losing weight, limiting alcohol, eating less purine-rich food , may help prevent future attacks. Changing or stopping medications associated with hyperuricemia may also help.
• Prevent tophi and kidney stones from forming as a result of chronic high levels of uric acid. Tophi are hard, uric acid deposits under the skin. For people with frequent acute flares or chronic gout, doctors may recommend preventive therapy to lower uric acid levels in the blood using drugs like allopurinol, febuxostat, and pegloticase.

In addition to medical treatment, you can manage your gout with self-management strategies. Self-management is what you do day to day to manage your condition and stay healthy, like making healthy lifestyle choices. The self-management strategies described below are proven to reduce pain and disability, so you can pursue the activities important to you.

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Drink Plenty Of Water

This wont likely provide immediate relief, but inadequate hydration is known to contribute towards the creation of urate crystals.

Drinking water may flush uric acid crystals out of your system.

Preliminary research suggests that adequate water consumption during the 24-hour period before a gout flare can decrease recurrent gout attacks.

Lifestyle Tips For Gout

How to Live With Gout

Although you cant predict when a gout attack will occur, there are several things you can do to try to prevent an attack. Developing a healthy lifestyle is one of these things.

The lifestyle tips below play a major role in preventing a gout attack. As an added bonus, they may also help prevent some complications of gout such as kidney disease and heart disease.

What stress management techniques work for gout? Try relaxation techniques, such as meditation and deep breathing. A little bit of stress relief can go a long way.

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How Can I Stop Recurring Gout

Things you can do to prevent gout coming back

What Should I Consider If I Take Medication

There are certain medications that can raise the levels of uric acid, thereby increasing the risk of gout. These include diuretics , acetylsalicylic acid and some medications that are taken after an organ transplant. Levodopa and some cancer medications can also increase the risk of gout.

If you take any of these medications, it’s best to discuss with your doctor whether it would be possible to switch to a different medication.

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What Are The Typical Symptoms Of Gout

This form of arthritis starts suddenly with the flares lasting for days or even weeks. Once the symptoms disappear, it may take extended periods, like months or even years, before experiencing another flare. This condition usually attacks one joint at a time especially the big toe. Other joints that may be affected include the ankle, knee and lesser toe joints.

Flares usually come with the following symptoms

• Intense pain around the affected joints
• Swelling of the joints
• Redness
• Heat and tenderness

Sometimes gout may develop into more severe complications like kidney stones in case uric acid crystals accumulate in the urinary tract and recurrent gout with regular recurrences that cause more and more damage to the specific joints and tissues surrounding them.

Which Other Lifestyle Factors Can Affect Gout

While there are no controlled studies or evidence on the effect of lifestyle changes on the incidence of gout, expert opinion is that positive changes in lifestyle can be beneficial to the management of gout. Being overweight is not recommended for gout suffers and the available evidence indicates that losing weight may helpful. Dietary modifications to achieve a healthy body weight are recommended, however the use of crash, high-protein and low-carbohydrate diets should be avoided. Slow and steady weight loss is ideal and support from a dietitian should be sought to help develop a sustainable and balanced weight loss plan. Rapid weight loss is not recommended as it can increase the amount of uric acid in the body leading to an increased chance of a gout attack.

Regular exercise such as swimming or walking is also recommended as it may help reduce the frequency of gout attacks. In addition, it may have a beneficial effect on associated co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and insulin resistance.

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Get Tested For Sleep Apnea

Untreated sleep apnea can increase the risk of gout.12,13 Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes the body to take in less oxygen while sleeping, which in turn causes the body to produce more purines.12,14 Sleep apnea is typically treated with a continuous positive airway pressure machine or other device that increases oxygen intake while sleeping.

Who Is Affected By Gout

Gout can affect anyone. It usually occurs earlier in men than women. It generally occurs after menopause in women. Men can be three times more likely than women to get it because they have higher levels of uric acid most of their lives. Women reach these uric acid levels after menopause.

People are more likely to get gout if they have:

• Obesity, or a lot of extra weight.

You are also more likely to develop gout if you:

• Consume a diet high in animal proteins
• Consume a significant amount of alcohol
• Are on water pills .

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About Uric Acid And Gout

The symptoms that characterize gout pain, inflammation, tight, reddened skin and warmth are caused by abnormally high levels of uric acid in the blood. This substance is a waste product that is produced by the body as it metabolizes purines, which are compounds naturally present in the body and in a wide variety of common foods. When levels of uric acid in the bloodstream are excessive, uric acid crystals can form, and in gout, these sharp, needle-like crystals accumulate in and around joints, causing an inflammatory response.

Gout usually begins in a single joint, often the one at the base of the big toe, and onset of symptoms, which frequently occurs at night, is typically very sudden and swift. Symptom flare-ups can last from several days to several weeks. After that initial gout attack, most people will go on to have others, and those attacks may affect any of a number of joints, most commonly those in the instep or heel of the foot, or in the fingers, wrists, elbows, ankles or knees. Some gout sufferers will develop hard nodules, called tophi, in joints and around joints, bones, cartilage and tendons, which are made up of uric acid crystals and may be visible as lumps under the skin.

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