Gout's arthritic symptoms are caused by uric acid crystals that gather around joints in the body. If you have gout, you should be aware that diet can affect your symptoms. Purines are found in many common foods. The body metabolizes them into uric acid. Consuming high purine foods may exacerbate gout symptoms. There are a number of foods you may wish to forgo in order to avoid the redness, inflammation and intense joint pain of gout.
Meats
Fried liver lovers, if you've got gout, you may want to sit down for this next bit of news. Organ meats are listed among the top foods to avoid due to their high purine content. The George Mateljan Foundation specifically mentions that brains are very high in purines. Brains and sweetbreads contain up to 1,000 mg per 3.5-oz. serving. Two other organ meats, tripe and calf tongue, are listed as high to moderately high in purine, at up to 100 mg per 3.5 oz.
More commonly consumed meats such as pork, beef and lamb are on the list, too. In fact, all animal protein contains purines. MayoClinic.com suggests limiting your intake of animal proteins to less than 6 oz. per day.
Fish
Seafood aficionados don't fare much better than meat lovers when it comes to avoiding purines. Numerous varieties of fatty, salted or pickled fish influence uric acid levels in the body when consumed. If you want to avoid purines, you'll have to give up seafood conveniences such as sardines, which are listed as a food very high in purines. Canned tuna and pickled herring, as well as luxury fish items like shrimp, lobster and scallops, fall into the moderate to high category at up to 100 mg per 3.5-oz. serving.
Booze
Alcohol consumption is one of the leading causes of increased risk of gout in women, according to EurekAlert!. Alcohol promotes increased purine metabolism, increasing the formation of uric acid in the blood, while at the same time impairing its excretion. In this way alcohol encourages uric acid to accumulate and form crystals around the joints. Beer drinking has been often implicated as a contributing factor in attacks of gout. The University of Maryland Medical Center suggests that binge drinking, or heavy alcohol drinking of any kind, should be avoided by those with gout.
