Gout diet

Eliminate or drastically reduce alcohol intake. Alcohol consumption influences gout greatly, which is why you should eliminate it completely in order to make the treatment effective. Alcohol causes dehydration, which is one of the things one should avoid in gout treatment.

You should drink as much water as possible and eat foods with high levels of water. Your body will be able to better cope with uric acid, if you drink plenty of water. Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily and try eating foods rich in water, like salads or fruit.

Drinking a lot of fluids is fundamental to successful gout treatment.

What to Avoid During the Gout Diet

Avoiding purine-rich foods and foods increasing uric acid production is of the greatest importance during the gout diet. Some purines exist in the body, whereas others are ingested via the food you eat. By ingesting purine-rich food, you raise your level of uric acid. Therefore, if you avoid consuming purine-rich food, you will significantly lower the risk of gout. The same applies for foods containing animal source protein – reducing the consumption decreases the risk of gout attacks significantly.

Foods rich in purine are usually rich in proteins, too. Besides alcohol, the foods that should be completely avoided if possible include:

Fish and seafood – anchovies, sardines, herring, codfish, trout, mussels, crabs, lobsters, oysters, shrimp

Meat – red meat, bacon, liver, kidneys, brain, meat products, beef, ham, pork

These include foods with moderate levels of purine:

Poultry – chicken, duck

Vegetables- asparagus, beans, lentil, mushrooms, spinach

Once you have eliminated animal source foods, you will probably have no problem eliminating these foods, too.

Eliminate white sugar, since it raises the level of uric acid. The same applies for yeast. Remember, the lower your intake of purine, the lower the risk of gout. In this way, you avoid extreme pain associated with this illness and save money, which would instead be used for gout medication.

Besides alcohol, one of the main causes of gout and other forms of arthritis is food rich in animal source protein. Among animal source foods, avoid foods rich in carbohydrates, since they are entirely composed of protein and fat. Animal source foods increase the level of uric acid, which may in turn cause gout.

What to eat during the gout diet?

Cherries – red, black, sweet yellow or red sour cherries prevent gout, according to expert findings. The research required 20 people to eat ½ kg of cherries or to drink a huge amount of cherry juice, which lowered the occurrence of gout attacks significantly. Owing to the findings of this particular research, experts claim that strawberries, blueberries and other red or blue berries can provide great help during the course of gout treatment.

Other safe and even helpful foods for people suffering from gout include:

Fruit juice – celery, cherry, carrot juice

Celery – recuperates joints, bones, arteries and connective tissue
Tomatoes – helps lower uric acid levels
Other vegetables – savoy cabbage, cabbage, parsley and other green, leafy vegetables
Fruit – banana, cherry, sour cherry and other berries

To sum up, gout is an illness greatly affected by nutrition and can be treated with the help of the gout diet.

If you follow the nutrition instructions provided in this article, you may reduce or eliminate gout symptoms. Remember, this gout treatment is long-term, so visible results take time. However, if you follow the recommendations, you may eliminate gout forever.