How Can Gout Diet Help You
The importance of a proper gout diet can not be understated.
Although there are other causes of gout, including genetics, being overweight,
and kidney disorders, a diet high in purines can lead to the production of more uric acid
than the body can manage.
A proper gout diet can help reduce the levels of purine in the body.
But a truly beneficial gout diet also needs to be addressing some of these other factors.
Chiefly, losing weight is of paramount importance.
Purines
Just to help you understand this a bit better, let’s have a brief science lesson about purines.
Purine is the name for a particular chemical structure which is a molecule with two rings and
is pretty much the same as some of the most important chemicals in your body.
Being the compounds that make up your ribonucleaic acid and deoxy-ribonucleaic acid.
You might know these better by their acronyms: DNA and RNA.
DNA and RNA are made up from four basic chemicals, two of which are purines and the other
two being pyrimidines.
The two purines in DNA and RNA are Adenine and Guanine.
When you ingest purines they are often put to work in
the forms of Adenine Monophosphate and Guanine Monophosphate in your DNA and RNA.
Any left over purines that are not put to this use are broken down into uric acid.
So basically – if you eat too many purines, you may find that you have increased uric acid levels.
The body only needs so many purines to function, and any that are eaten but not utilized will
get converted to uric acid.
Too much uric acid increases the concentration to the point that the urate crystallizes
and deposits in the joints, and it is this that triggers the gout attack.
So first thing to adjust in your gout diet is the level of purine intake.
High Purine Foods
There are certain foods that are high in purines which need to be avoided as a part of a gout diet.
At the very least a gout sufferer should cut down on them.
* beef, bacon, lamb and pork* seafood, anchovies, mussels, herring, tuna* organ meat such as liver, kidney, sweetbreads
* yeast products, marmite, vegemite* game, pheasant, partridge, goose* and some vegetables are also high in purines:
peas, beans, mushrooms, cauliflower
Alcohol should also be avoided.
Beer contains some purines, but it is not this that causes the problems.
Alcohol itself is implicated in high urate levels by impairing the excretion of uric acid
from the system.
Low Purine Foods
Replacing these high purine foods with low purine foods in your gout diet will have the effect of lowering your overall uric acid
concentrations over time.
Some low purine foods are:
* Fresh berries (cherries are considered to be particularly good for gout)
* Apples and Bananas
Some low purine foods are:
* High vitamin-C foods (citrus fruits, peppers, red cabbage)* Tomato* Celery
Some low purine foods are:
* Leafy vegetables* Pineapple* Dairy products (choose low fat)* Pasta, rice, cereal* Nuts and seeds
As you can see, this low purine gout diet consists of a lot of what would be
otherwise considered “healthy” food.
As a result of eating a low purine diet, your intake of fruit and vegetables will increase, and that of fatty high-protein foods will decrease.
Weight Loss
If the gout diet is managed properly, then as well as a direct reduction in uric acid levels, it is
likely that weight loss will also occur.
Being overweight is actually one of the single biggest predictors of a high urate level.
A high urate level leads to crystals depositing in the joints and subsequent
gout attack inflammation.
However it is really important to lose weight gradually. Rapid weight reduction can lead the production of ketones (ketosis), which
can lead to higher uric acid levels.
Also, as a part of any healthy diet, but in particular a gout diet, it is vitally important to drink enough
water to help flush out the system.
This assists with weight loss by helping achieve a sense of being full.
Gout Diet
In summary a gout diet has a couple of goals.
Chiefly the purpose of a gout diet is to reduce the level of purines ingested, and hence the
amount of uric acid produced.
But at the same time, weight loss is also important in reducing the chance of future gout attacks.
Thankfully both of these goals can be achieved at the same time with a well
managed gout diet.
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