Diet for gout

The onset of this serious metabolic disease is associated with the accumulation of uric acid salts (urates) in the body.It is not possible to completely cure the disease, but properly administered therapy allows you 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 gout is diagnosed, as in the case of urolithiasis, diet No. is prescribed.6. It allows you to:

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

Diet rules for gout

Compliance with certain nutritional principles can significantly improve patients' conditions.

1. You should eat several times a day, 3 to 5. This helps prevent peaks 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 have excess weight, you need to get rid of it, but not through strict diets, but gradually.Sharp weight loss 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 to drink a large amount of fluid: in the remission phase - at least 1.5-2 liters per day, in case of exacerbation of the disease - from 3 liters.You can drink ordinary or mineral water, tea, fruit drinks, rosehip decoction, compotes.
6. Drinking alkaline mineral water is simply necessary for this pathology: it promotes the alkalinization of the blood, thanks to which urates are eliminated from the body.

Fasting is a prohibited technique

Some patients mistakenly believe that refusing to eat 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 sharp worsening of the condition.The reason lies in the peculiarities of human physiology.

When the food supply stops, the body begins to use up its reserves.In this case, proteins become the most accessible material.In the very first days of food refusal, a sharp increase in the level of uric acid in the blood serum is observed.Its excess begins to be deposited in the tissues of the body, in the synovial joint membrane, causing a strong exacerbation of the disease.

Accumulation of urate 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 gout diet is primarily aimed at reducing the amount of foods rich in purine bases and substances that stimulate the "release" of urate from the blood serum with subsequent deposition in the tissues and joints.It is also necessary to control the consumption of foods that contribute to changing the body's acid-base balance.First of all, it is planned to drastically limit the quantity of some meat and fish products or to abandon them completely.The ban applies to:

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

When following a gout diet, you should also avoid:

• legumes of all types: peas, lentils, soya, beans, broad beans;
• fats of animal origin;
• mushroom broths;
• vegetable sauces;
• various spices: pepper, mustard, horseradish;
• cheeses with a salty and spicy taste;
• chocolate, cream cakes, pastries;
• all products that contain cocoa in large quantities;
• spinach, sorrel, fresh greens;
• from fruit: figs, grapes, raspberries;
• alcoholic beverages, in particular wine and beer;
• strong coffee, tea, cocoa.

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

Authorized products

The optimal way of eating for gout is a vegetarian diet based on various milk and vegetable soups, fermented milk products and fruit infusions.

• For the meat diet, dietary varieties of meat are recommended: turkey, chicken, rabbit.
• Boiled fish, shrimp and squid are allowed.
• Chicken and quail eggs are also recommended for gouty arthritis.
• Porridges made from various cereals, cereals and pasta are useful.
• Experts advise patients diagnosed with gout to frequently consume dietary cottage cheese and dishes based on it.
• You can include low-fat, 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, courgettes, white cabbage, eggplant, carrots.
• The quantity of some vegetables should be limited.This applies to celery, radishes, peppers, asparagus, cauliflower, parsley and green onions.During the period of exacerbation of the disease, it is better to avoid them.
• The fruits are very useful 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 jams, marshmallows, non-chocolate candies and jams.
• The gout diet also includes bread, both white and black.
• When choosing oil, it is better to prefer vegetable oil.Particularly useful are olives and flaxseeds.The quantity of butter must 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 are necessary to eliminate uric acid compounds from the body.

During the diet it is allowed to drink the following drinks:

• green tea;
• weak black tea with milk or lemon;
• rosehip decoction;
• chicory-based drink;
• wheat bran decoction;
• vegetable, berry, fruit juices;
• fruit drinks, compotes;
• kvass.

For gout patients, fruit drinks made from cranberries or cranberries are particularly useful.

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

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

Period of exacerbation

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

1. Completely exclude fatty, salty, fried meat, fish, meat and fish products from the diet.
2. Build a menu based mainly on liquid foods: include liquid cereals, fermented dairy products, fruit and vegetable juices, light 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 fluids per day.
5. Be sure to include alkaline mineral water in your diet.

An approximate diet menu for exacerbation of gout is as follows:

• Vegetarian soups:vegetables, potatoes, dairy products, with added cereals, cold (beetroot soup, okroshka), fruit.
• Meat, fish, poultry of lean varietiesallowed three times a week: 150 g of meat or 180 g of boiled fish.Boiled meat products can be used to prepare various dishes: baked, stewed, cutlet-based products.
• Dairy and fermented milk 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, cook an omelette).
• Flour products, bread:Baking, rye and wheat bread made from grade 1, 2 flour and bran are allowed.
• Snacks:when gout exacerbates, vegetable salads, fruits, vinaigrettes and vegetable caviar are useful.
• Vegetables:It is advisable to include a large amount of fresh vegetables or possibly cooked vegetables in your diet.
• Fruits and berriesYou can eat them fresh, make jellies and compotes from them.Dried fruit is also very useful.
• Sweets:The diet for gout (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 decoction, dried fruits, wheat bran.

In the exacerbation phase of the disease, fasting days contribute to the stabilization of the patient's condition:

1. Fruits and vegetables.It is allowed to eat up to 1.5-2 kg of non-prohibited fruits and vegetables.
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

• Breakfast:1 soft-boiled egg + allowed vegetable salad + apple-carrot pudding + light tea.
• Second breakfast:rosehip decoction with honey or jam.
• Lunch:milk soup + potato cutlets + jelly or boiled meat (fish) with vegetable salad.
• Afternoon snack:cooked or fresh apples.
• Dinner:cabbage rolls with rice and vegetable filling + baked cheesecake + tea (with honey).
• Before going to bed:wheat bran decoction.