It is a proven fact that following a diet that is free from high levels of the purine in your food can control attacks of gout. This is known as the low purine or gout diet and this article is to help people to identify these types of food to eat, or not.
What is Gout?
Gout was once known as the disease of the rich in Victorian times as was depicted in cartoon strips showing a man having a huge bandage wrapped around his foot and holding a glass of port. Gout or gouty arthritis, as it is known, is extremely painful and has been described as the worst pain a person can suffer. Gout will normally attack the joint of the big toe, fingers and elbow. Most commonly for men it tends to be the big toe. Its starts with redness around the joint associated with minor pain which grows rapidly in intensity along with swelling. What causes these attacks of gout is the body that has too high levels of uric acid in the blood. If the kidneys cannot get rid of this excess uric acid it then forms into crystals and deposit itself around the joints as described. High levels of this acid can also be produced naturally by the body. Some people produce too much and therefore require medications to keep the acid at a normal level. Other factors lead to the production of high levels of uric acid and that is the food you eat on a daily basis. If these foods are purine rich and are consumed constantly then the levels of uric acid will grow and more than likely an attack of gout will occur. People who have poorly functioning kidneys that cannot process the uric acid may also be subjected to gout attacks. In all cases a sensible diet can help.
Foods to Avoid
There are certain foods that are high in purine that produce these high levels of uric acid in the blood. You can discuss diets for gout in detail with your doctor or dietician. However, you can help yourself in the first instance by reducing or stopping such foods as all red meats, namely beef, lamb and pork, herring, anchovies, mackerel etc. It is recommended that all seafood is put on the back burner for a while. During the diet do not consume, any form of alcohol and organ type meats such as brains, liver and kidneys. All yeast products and gravies should not be taken as well. How long you avoid these types of food can be determined by your doctor.
Foods you can Eat
The best cure is prevention, following a gout attack so a sensible diet low in purines will help reduce the chances of an attack reoccurring. For example, cereals, peanut butter, nuts and vegetables are low in purines. Foods like grain breads and white flour are okay along with soups without meat extracts. You can drink coffee, tea, low fat cheese, sugar plus all the fruit and salads you can eat.
To summarize the first major step in prevention of gout attacks is by relooking at your current diet.