If you have gout, you have one of the most painful forms of arthritis. Fortunately, it's also one of the most treatable. Some two to five million people in the United States suffer from this condition, which is caused by high levels of uric acid in your blood. Excess urate can crystallize in a joint, leading to inflammatory arthritis. If you are predisposed to gout, a poor diet can raise your risk for gout. If you already have gout, avoiding certain foods can help cut down on the number of attacks you suffer and their severity.
Meat
Your body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines, which are found in many foods. Eating purine-rich meats raises your risk of gout. Many meats have a high purine concentration. These include pork, beef, lamb and organ meats like liver, brains and kidneys. Eating a diet rich in these types of meat may raise your risk for developing gout by 40 percent, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. If you are following a gout diet to help control attacks, you also need to avoid meat broths, extracts and gravies.
Seafood
Seafood is another top source of the purines you want to avoid if you have gout. This includes tuna, lobster, shrimp and scallops. Also avoid sardines, anchovies and smoked fish. You even need to scale back on the fatty fish often recommended for heart-health diets due to their omega-3 content. That's because all animal protein, whether it comes from the land or the sea, contains purines. Limit overall animal protein content to 4 to 6 oz. daily.
Alcohol
Limit your alcohol intake if you have gout, and avoid it altogether if you are having an attack. Drinking alcohol can lead to lactic acid accumulation, which in turn inhibits secretion of uric acid. This may lead to an acute attack of your gout, according to "Total Nutrition," by Victor Herbert and Genell J. Subak-Sharpe. Beer is especially likely to spark a gout attack. That's because it's the only alcoholic beverage that has a high purine content; thus, it can raise the uric acid concentrations in your blood. Limit yourself to one to two 5-oz. servings of wine if you are not suffering an attack.
Sugar and Saturated Fat
Saturated fat indirectly contributes to obesity and gout, according to Mayo Clinic. Same goes for foods high in sugar. Debate still exists as of 2011 as to whether sugar directly affects your uric acid levels. However, even if it does not, too much sugar increases your chances for obesity, which in turn is one of the factors associated with a higher risk for gout.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Gout Diet
- Johns Hopkins Health Alerts: Diet and Gout
- "Total Nutrition"; Victor Herbert and Genell J. Subak-Sharpe; 1995
- "Nutrition Almanac": John D. Kirschmann; 2006
- Drugs.com: Obesity, Alcohol Among Factors Linked to Women's Gout Risk; March 2010
- American Heart Association: Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids
