What Is Gout And What Causes It
Before we can look at foods to avoid with gout, it is necessary to briefly understand what it is.
Gout is a form of joint inflammation, caused by excessive uric acid in circulation .
When the bodys natural uric acid threshold is exceeded, painful crystals can form in and around the joints. These crystals trigger the characteristic symptoms and pain.
Not everybody with high uric acid levels will get gout, but those who do always have high uric acid levels. This indicates there are other factors at play, but from a dietary perspective uric acid is the focus.
Excessive uric acid in the blood stream is typically driven by two factors: genetic predisposition and the ingestion of high-purine foods. Obviously, the dietary factor we can control.
When purines we eat are broken down and metabolised by the body, uric acid is formed as a by-product of this process. Its normal and healthy for uric acid to be formed, but excessive amounts are problematic.
Therefore, consuming less purine-rich foods should lower uric acid levels in your blood, lowering gout risk.
At least, in theory.
Its actually not that clear-cut because other nutrients appear to aggravate gout symptoms too
Heres a list of foods to avoid if you have gout, based on real scientific evidence.
The Cause Of Gout Is More Than Just Diet
While diet is critical, dont overlook other important factors that affect gout. These include family history, sleep apnoea, and lack of physical exercise to name a few.
Further discussion of best treatment for gout is outside the scope of this article. But there are foods thought to be protective namely dairy, cherries, and coffee, in decreasing order of evidence.
And as much as I prefer focusing on what you should eat to prevent health scares, there are just so many clear trigger foods for gout.
Its important to deal with these factors first and foremost.
About Joe Leech, Dietitian
Joe Leech is a university-qualified dietitian from Australia.
He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in exercise science, followed by a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics in 2011.
Learn more about him on the About page.
Joe Leech, Dietitian
Fun Facts About Watermelon
Since you have come this far, I thought Id round out all this information with some fun facts about the watermelon plant itself. Did you know that
- Watermelons are ready to eat in about 3 months from the time they are planted.
- Watermelons are related to pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers.
- People carve watermelons just like pumpkins. They even have watermelon carving contests.
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Fruit Fructose And Gout
Fructose is what gives some fruits their natural sweetness. Researchers report a correlation between foods high in fructose and gout symptoms, which can include chronic pain. These fruits include apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, prunes, and dates. Its okay to eat these fruits if you have gout as long as you do so in moderation. Limit yourself to one to two cups per day. More importantly, avoid soda or soft drinks and juices that are sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. Drink water or real fruit juices instead .
Watermelon And Gout Is Watermelon Good For Gout
Up to 90% of all gout attacks tend to target men, rather than women. The affection a particular type of arthritis affects people between 40 and 50 years old in general, yet there are no rules about it. Flareups and painful sensations occur when there is too much uric acid in the body. As it cannot be properly eliminated, it ends up deposited around joints the affection mostly affects big toes.
Uric acids deposit crystallize and cause those excruciating pains that feel like glass inside the joints. Now, as you break uric acid down, you will realize that it is the direct consequence of too much purines in the diet. In other words, red wine, beer, mushrooms, turkey and beef are some of the main causes of gout in people.
Like you might have guessed already, removing such foods from your diet is a must to prevent further flareups. But on the same note, you might need to add some extra foods into your diet too. When it comes to fruits, you are not normally recommended natural fruit sugar, yet some doctors will inevitably recommend some of them. At this point, you might ask yourself is there a connection between watermelon and gout?
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Be Choosy About Carbs
Carbs can be helpful or harmful to your gout health. The most helpful carbs are found in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Sweet potatoes, beans, apples, and popcorn can all be served in wholesome and delicious ways as part of a healthy gout diet.
Other carbs come as natural and refined sugars. Candy, sports drinks, some breakfast cereal, and some pasta sauces all contribute to dietary sugar from unhealthy carbs.
Gout Treatment And Diet
Avoiding purine-rich foods is only part of your gout treatment. Losing weight can also help your gout symptoms. Just be sure your weight loss is slow and steady if you lose weight too rapidly, the amount of uric acid in your body may increase. Overall, the best diet is one based on foods that are low in fat and sugar and high in fiber. Talk to your doctor about how to create a gout diet thats right for you.
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How Watermelon Helps With Diabetes
There is a healthy connection between watermelon and diabetes, and that’s mainly because of so many nutrients present in this sweet fruit. Here’s a bit more about why it makes sense to make watermelon a part of your diabetes diet.
1. It Contains Several Nutrients
Vitamin A is great for your eyes and helps maintain the health of your cells. It also has vitamin C that protects your body from infections. Since it has vitamin B1 and B6, it helps make you feel energetic throughout the day. This fat-free and cholesterol-free fruit also contains magnesium and potassium that help improve your blood circulation and protect you from cardiovascular diseases. A cup of diced watermelon contains 170mg of potassium, which reduces the effects of sodium on your blood pressure.
2. It Contains Lycopene
3. It Contains Potassium
The high potassium content makes watermelon one of the best fruits for proper kidney functioning. It helps flush toxic compounds out of kidneys, which in turn keeps your blood uric acid levels on the lower side. This prevents kidney damage. If you’re diabetic, you should have 5-10 serving of fruits and veggies in your diet. You can opt for three servings of watermelon a day mainly because of its high water content. It’s beneficial even if you consume it in the form of a juice.
4. It Contains Amino Acids
Vitamin E Manages Immune System Response
Vitamin E, like vitamins A and C, is an antioxidant that protects the body from free radicals. It is vital in the formation of red blood cells to prevent blood clots from forming in arteries.
The body needs vitamin E to help keep the immune system strong against viruses. By reducing inflammation, delivering more oxygen, and fighting infections, vitamin E strengthens the kidneys in eliminating toxins like uric acid.
In addition, certain studies suggest vitamin E plays a role in reducing inflammation by affecting the immune system responses in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients.
The top fruits for vitamin E are shown in the table below. These fruits rank in the top half of the list .
| Fruit |
|---|
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Avoid Sweets And Sodas
Unlike fruit with its natural sugar, artificial sugars are widely recognized as gout flare dangers. Consuming too many sugary sodas has been found to provoke attacks, but no association has been found with artificially sweetened sodas. Other foods loaded with high-fructose corn syrup can also bring on gout pain.
Watermelon Is Tied To A Lower Risk Of Cancer
As an antioxidant, lycopene in watermelon may help your body fend off a variety of diseases. However, research shows it’s particularly adept at guarding against one in particular: prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in American men second to skin cancer, per the American Cancer Society.
In a meta-analysis of 42 studies, which included nearly 700,000 men, high dietary intake and blood levels of lycopene were associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer, per December 2017 research in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases.
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Oatmeal Has Moderate Amounts Of Purines
Oatmeal has about 50 to 150 milligrams of purines per 100 grams of the food. This puts oatmeal right in the middle of the range of milligrams for purine-containing foods.
While its not as high in purines as organ meats, scallops, or some fish, its still high enough to increase your risk of gout when eaten in excess.
How To Prevent Gout Recurrence
Once the attack has passed, the next step is to help prevent recurrences by addressing triggering factors that can be modified. Patients are best advised to lose weight gradually and progressively , to reduce alcohol consumption and intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and to eat smaller amount of purine-rich foods. Such life style modifications can work if these environmental risk factors are present and prescription of regular urate-lowering medication is not always necessary. However, if the blood uric acid level remains high and if acute attacks continue then long term joint damage is very likely.
Rhazes stated that Prevention of gout can be achieved by abstinence from unhealthy foods and cutting down on healthy food types as prescribed before the other means is expulsion of humoral excess that might aggregate in the body, especially after a healthy meal or excessive intake of food.
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What Are The Methods Of Gout Treatment
Today, several studies indicate that life style modifications such as reducing alcohol intake, losing weight gradually, and limiting protein and purine content in diet , drinking plenty of water throughout the day, always keeping hands and feet well covered and warm in cold months can go some way towards reducing the frequency or likelihood of gout incidence.
Rhazes stated that management of gout can be achieved if these ten procedures are followed: i) Abstinence from restricted diet ii) Compliance with fluid and dietary regimens regarding the emphasis on certain food types and drinks iii) Administration of laxatives iv) Stimulations of emesis v) Bloodletting vi) Application of water to the feet vii) Treatment with salves and poultices viii) Steam baths ix) Taking preventive measures to avoid recurrence of gouty attacks x) Prompt management of incipient gout using counter acting drugs and analgesics.
Roddy et al. indicated that the prevalence and incidence of gout have increased in the last few decades because of life-style and dietary factors. Here again, this idea is in agreement with that of Rhazes
What Foods Are Allowed
If you have gout, it’s essential that you drink a lot of water, about 2 to 3 liters a day, so that the uric acid accumulated in the blood can be eliminated through urine producion. In addition, it’s important to include diuretic foods in your daily diet, such as:
- Watercress, beetroot, celery, peppers, pumpkin, onion, cucumber, parsley, garlic
- Apple, orange, watermelon, passion fruit, strawberry, melon
- Skimmed milk and milk products.
In addition, you can also add some anti-inflammatory foods such as olive oil, which can be used in salads, citrus fruits, flaxseed, sesame seeds, and chia seeds, that can be added to fruit juices or yogurts. These types of food can help decrease pain and joint inflammation.
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A Caution About Vegetables
As good as vegetables are in general, some are high in purines, including asparagus, spinach, cauliflower, peas, and mushrooms. However, high-purine vegetables dont seem to aggravate gout the same way that high-purine animal-based foods do, Sandon says, adding that, as long as its a vegetable source, you can eat it. One further precaution when balancing foods and gout: Some dried beans, particularly fava and garbanzo, are high in purines, and you may find you need to avoid them.
Can Goats Eat Watermelon
Most goats appreciate eating treats, however finding nutritious choices for them that they love can be difficult. There are a few foods grown from the ground that we love which can likewise be solid treat choices for goats. Watermelon is definitely one of those foods.
Can goats eat watermelon? Goats can eat watermelon and there is a decent possibility that your goats will absolutely love it! They can eat all parts of the watermelon including the flesh, rinds, seeds and even vines.
Watermelon is delectable fruit that can be safely fed as a treat to the majority of our caprine companions in restricted amounts. Is it healthy? Well, lets take a look at that in more detail.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Gout
Gout is a very painful condition and a typical gout attack usually develops over a two to three hour period and often resolves within two weeks. The NHS advises that you always see a doctor if you experience the symptoms of gout, which include sudden, severe pain in any joint or red, hot, swollen skin over any joint.
Use Only Fresh Watermelon
If you wouldnt eat it, you probably shouldnt feed it to your goats. Watermelon is best served to your goats fresh. If you have a ton of watermelon, too much to feed to your goats all at once, consider freezing the excess. This will keep it fresh and safe to feed at a later time. Never feed moldy or rotting watermelon.
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Practice Mindfulness And Meditation
The good news: A gout attack is self-limited and will clear in time. In the meantime, according to the Arthritis Foundation, meditation, yoga breathing, mindfulness, and guided imagery can help you deal with the pain.
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Vitamin B9 Helps Breakdown Proteins
Vitamin B9 , like all B vitamins, helps the body convert carbohydrates, fats and proteins into energy. It also helps produce healthy red blood cells. This improves conditions in the skin, hair, eyes, brain, liver, and kidneys.
A deficiency of B9 can lead to fatigue, irregular heartbeat, concentration loss, hair loss, pale skin and anemic symptoms.
A recent study concluded that an increased consumption of foods high in vitamin B9 and B12 lowered uric acid levels. Test results support vitamin B9s role in forming DNA and RNA in protein metabolism and controlling levels of the amino acid homocysteine. Evidently, both processes involve reducing uric acid production.
The best fruits to eat for vitamin B9 are shown in the table below. = 100% DV) These fruits rank in the top half of the list .
| Fruit |
|---|
- *Only for blackberries, strawberries, raspberries
- Avocados contain the most vitamin B9 among fruits that help lower uric acid.
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Should You Eat Avocado If You Have Gout
Gout is an inflammatory arthritis condition that causes pain, swelling, and stiffness of a joint. It usually occurs in one joint at a time and most often affects your big toe, although it can also occur in your wrists, knees, and ankles.
Gout can develop due to high levels of uric acid in your bloodstream, known as hyperuricemia.
Your body creates uric acid when it breaks down purines . It produces these naturally but also gets them from certain foods.
The buildup of uric acid crystals in your joints, fluids, and tissues can lead to gout.
Treating gout involves taking action to lower the uric acid levels in your bloodstream, which can prevent flare-ups. Although theres no cure for gout, you can experience periods of remission when no symptoms are present.
Following a diet that includes plenty of low purine foods and limits high purine foods can help control gout.
A 2017 study found that men who ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, low fat dairy, and whole grains reduced their risk of gout. Limiting the consumption of foods like red meats, fried foods, refined grains, and sweets also contributed to decreased gout risk.
Avocados are a beneficial addition to any healthy diet, including one that can help manage gout.
Theyre naturally low in purines and contain large amounts of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. A
Can You Feed Goats Watermelon Flavored Foods
The digestive system of goats isnt designed to accommodate processed foods that humans choose to eat. While there are certainly many processed foods that are safe for goats to eat, they arent particularly healthy for them.
If you love watermelon flavored foods, its best to keep those in the house and buy whole watermelon for goat treats.
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Can Goats Eat Watermelon Rind
Goats can eat the watermelon rinds. They tend to prefer the flesh instead, but the rinds are safe for them to consume. Most goats will skip over the green outer layer of the rind, preferring instead to dine on the juicy pink flesh, but both are safe.
Overall, the outer rind of the watermelon is high in potassium and fiber than the flesh. This makes the rind actually more nutritious for the goat than the juicy insides.
Because the rind is pretty thick on many watermelons, you may want to consider chopping the watermelon into bite-sized pieces to make it easier for your goats to chew