Diet is a major control on many health problems including gouty arthritis. Nutritionists have prepared gout food guides to help patients selectively eat foods that are good for gout patients and avoid those that can lead to gout or aggravate its symptoms. Common to all gout food guides is an emphasis on cutting food items rich in purines (a type of nitrogenous compounds).
However, this is not the case with purines found in vegetables. Consumption of low-fat dairy products has been found by some studies to decrease the risk of gout. The generally recommended diet of health experts for gout patients is high in complex carbohydrates (starches), fairly low in protein, and moderately rich in calories (up to 30% maximum) in fat.
Beneficial Foods for Gout
All gout food guides will highly recommend fruits including cherries, apples, strawberries, bananas, and berries. Celery, tomatoes, and vegetables like cabbage, parsley, and green leafy vegetables are also health-friendly for gout patients. Studies show that some vegetarian foods, although relatively rich in purines, do not increase gout risk.
These include spinach, beans, mushrooms, cauliflowers, peas, asparagus, whole-grain breads, and cereals. Eating low-fat dairy products has also been found to reduce the risk of gouty arthritis. However, young women should be careful not to go too low on dairy fats because some studies have related low-fat dairies to an increased risk of infertility among women.
Foods to Avoid
Any gout food guide will warn you against using excess of purines-rich foods, especially those obtained from animal sources or seafood. Some of these, which are ranked as extra high in purines, include: sardines, mussels, heart meat, herring, yeast, and smelt. Then there are foods moderately high in purines but still advised against (especially their excess consumption) like: organ meat (liver and kidneys), salmon, turkey, bacon, mutton, veal, trout, partridge, and scallops etc.
Beverages
According to gout food guides, tea and coffee do not increase the risk of contracting gout. Some herbal teas are used as home remedies for gout, e.g. green tea which contains antioxidants that act as preventive agents against gouty arthritis. Green tea is also effective in reducing the severity of gout symptoms (pain and inflammation). Plenty of pure water (at least eight glasses daily) is the key to removing excess of uric acid from the body.
This significantly brings down the risk of gout (which is the result of uric acid build up in joints and tissues). The beverage that is strictly warned against is alcohol. Since alcohol interferes with the removal of uric acid from the body, it increases the risk of gout and aggravates the inflammation of gout-affected areas.
