Gout Diet

The occurrence of this serious metabolic pathology is associated with the accumulation of uric acid salts (urates) in the body.It is not possible to completely cure the disease, but correctly administered therapy makes it possible to avoid exacerbations and achieve a fairly long period of remission.

An indispensable condition for improving the condition of patients is following a diet.When diagnosed with gout, as in the case of urolithiasis, diet No. 6 is prescribed. It allows you to:

• normalize purine metabolism;
• reduce the amount of uric acid and its salts formed in the body;
• change the pH of urine towards alkalinization.

Diet rules for gout

Compliance with certain nutritional principles can significantly improve the condition of patients.

1. You should eat several times a day - from 3 to 5. This helps to avoid spikes in the maximum concentration of purine bases in the blood.
2. You should not consume excess food.
3. Fasting is also unacceptable.
4. If you are overweight, you need to get rid of it, but not through strict diets, but gradually.A sharp loss of weight can lead to a worsening of the patient's condition.Losing 1-2 kg in a month is considered within normal limits.
5. With gout, an important condition for normalizing the condition is drinking a large amount of fluids: in the remission phase - at least 1.5-2 liters per day, in case of worsening of the disease - from 3 liters.You can drink regular or mineral water, tea, fruit juices, rosehip decoction, compotes.
6. Drinking alkaline mineral water is simply necessary for this pathology: it promotes alkalinization of the blood, as a result of which urates are eliminated from the body.

Fasting is a prohibited technique

Some patients mistakenly believe that refusing food can help cleanse the body of excess purine bases and alleviate the course of the disease.However, in reality, the result is exactly the opposite: fasting causes a strong deterioration in the condition.The reason lies in the peculiarities of human physiology.

When the food supply is interrupted, the body begins to deplete its own reserves.In this case, proteins become the most accessible material.In the first days of refusing food, a sharp increase in the level of uric acid in the blood serum is observed.Its excess begins to be deposited in the body's tissues, in the synovial joint membrane, which causes a sharp worsening of the disease.

The accumulation of urates in the synovium and glomeruli of the renal tubules can lead to the development of acute gouty nephropathy.

What foods should you not eat if you have gout?

Since this disease is caused by a violation of purine metabolism, the diet for gout is mainly aimed at reducing the amount of foods rich in purine bases and substances that stimulate the “release” of urates from the blood serum with subsequent deposition in tissues and joints.It is also necessary to control the consumption of foods that contribute to changes in the body's acid-base balance.First of all, it is planned to drastically limit the amount of certain meat and fish products or completely abandon them.The ban applies to:

• broths: meat, fish;
• meat, especially young animals;
• offal: kidneys, liver, lungs, brain;
• semi-finished meat products;
• smoked meats;
• sauces;
• animal fats;
• of fish products: salted or fried fish, preserves, caviar;
• fatty fish in any form (excluded in the acute phase).

When following a gout diet, you should also avoid:

• legumes of all types: peas, lentils, soybeans, beans, beans;
• fats of animal origin;
• mushroom broths;
• vegetable sauces;
• various spices: pepper, mustard, horseradish;
• cheeses with a salty and spicy taste;
• chocolate, creamy cakes, sweets;
• any products containing cocoa in large quantities;
• spinach, sorrel, fresh herbs;
• of fruits: figs, grapes, raspberries;
• alcoholic beverages, especially wine and beer;
• strong coffee, tea, cocoa.

When following a diet, you should drastically limit the amount of salt consumed.Promotes the accumulation of urates in tissues and joints.

Authorized Products

The best way to eat for gout is a vegetarian diet based on various milks and vegetable soups, fermented milk products and fruit infusions.

• Dietary varieties of meat are recommended for the meat diet: turkey, chicken, rabbit.
• Boiled fish, shrimp and squid are allowed.
• Chicken and quail eggs are also recommended for gouty arthritis.
• Porridges based on various grains, cereals and pasta are useful.
• Experts advise patients diagnosed with gout to consume dietary cottage cheese and homemade dishes often.
• You can include low-fat and unsalted varieties of cheese in your diet.
• Whole milk is not prohibited, but should be consumed with caution.
• If you follow a gout diet, you can eat almost any type of vegetable: potatoes, zucchini, white cabbage, eggplant, carrots.
• The quantity of some vegetables should be limited.This applies to celery, radishes, peppers, asparagus, cauliflower, parsley and chives.During the period of worsening of the disease, it is better to avoid them.
• Fruits are very beneficial for gout.It is recommended to include apples, pears, plums, oranges, apricots and various types of berries in your daily diet.
• Eating any type of nuts and seeds is beneficial.
• For those with a sweet tooth, we can recommend marmalade, marshmallow, non-chocolate candies and jelly.
• The gout diet also includes bread - white and black.
• When choosing oil, it is better to give preference to vegetable oil.Olives and flaxseed are especially useful.The amount of butter should be quite limited.

What can you drink?

Maintaining the correct drinking regime is very important for gout.Experts recommend drinking large amounts of fluids, which is necessary to remove uric acid compounds from the body.

When following the diet, you can drink the following drinks:

• Green Tea;
• weak black tea with milk or lemon;
• rosehip decoction;
• chicory-based drink;
• wheat bran decoction;
• vegetables, berries, fruit juices;
• fruit drinks, compotes;
• kvass.

For gout patients, fruit juices made from cranberries or blueberries are especially helpful.

It is also recommended to consume cucumber juice, which helps remove excess purines from the body.You can drink up to 200 ml of freshly squeezed juice per day.

An important point is to include alkaline and low-mineral mineral water in your diet.

Exacerbation period

The recommended diet for the period of gout exacerbation has some characteristics.The following rules must be observed:

1. Completely exclude fatty, salty and fried meat, fish, meat and fish products from the diet.
2. Create a menu based mainly on liquid foods: include liquid cereals, fermented dairy products, fruit and vegetable juices, weak tea with lemon and milk.
3. It is very important to ensure that the patient does not starve.
4. Give the patient at least 2 liters of fluid per day.
5. Be sure to include alkaline mineral water in your diet.

An approximate diet menu for gout exacerbation is as follows:

• Vegetarian soups:vegetables, potatoes, dairy products, with the addition of cereals, cold cuts (beetroot soup, okroshka), fruits.
• Meat, fish, poultry of lean varietiesallowed three times a week: 150 g of meat or 180 g of boiled fish.Cooked meat products can be used to prepare various dishes: roasts, stews, cutlet-based products.
• Dairy and fermented dairy products:cottage cheese, cottage cheese dishes, low-fat sour cream, cheese, milk (in very limited quantities, with caution).
• Cereals– You can prepare various dishes based on them.
• Egg- in the acute phase of gout it is allowed to eat 1 egg a day (you can boil it, make an omelet).
• Flour products, bread:Baking, rye and wheat bread made from grade 1, 2 flour and bran are allowed.
• Snacks:in exacerbation of gout, vegetable salads, fruits, vinaigrettes and vegetable caviar are useful.
• Vegetables:It is recommended to include a large amount of fresh vegetables or cooked vegetables in your diet.
• Fruits and berriesYou can eat them fresh, make jellies and compotes from them.Dried fruits are also very useful.
• Candy:The gout diet (even in the acute phase) does not exclude the use of creams, marshmallows, jams, honey and sweets (with the exception of chocolate).
• Drinks:tea (weak) with milk, lemon, rosehip broth, dried fruits, wheat bran.

In the exacerbation phase of the disease, the stabilization of the patient's condition is facilitated by fasting days:

1. Fruits and vegetables.You can eat up to 1.5-2 kg of non-prohibited vegetables and fruits.
2. Curd and kefir.The daily diet consists of 500 g of low-fat cottage cheese and 0.5 kg of kefir.
3. Kefir.You should drink up to 2 liters of kefir per day.

Sample menu for the day

• First breakfast:1 boiled egg + permitted vegetable salad + apple and carrot pudding + weak tea.
• Second breakfast:rosehip decoction with honey or jam.
• Lunch:milk soup + potato cutlets + jelly or boiled meat (fish) with vegetable salad.
• Afternoon snack:baked or fresh apples.
• To have lunch:cabbage rolls with rice and vegetable filling + baked cheesecakes + tea (with honey).
• Before bed:wheat bran decoction.