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 treatment allows you to avoid exacerbations and achieve a fairly long remission period.

An indispensable condition for improving the condition of patients is following a diet.If gout is diagnosed, 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 urine pH toward alkalization.

Diet rules for gout

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

1. You need to eat several times a day - from 3 to 5. This helps to avoid 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.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. In case of 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 plain or mineral water, tea, fruit drinks, rosehip decoction, compotes.
6. Drinking alkaline mineral water is simply necessary for this pathology: it promotes blood alkalization, due to which urates are removed 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.But in reality, the result is exactly the opposite: fasting causes a sharp deterioration in the condition.The reason lies in the peculiarities of human physiology.

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

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 aimed primarily at reducing the amount of foods rich in purine bases and substances that stimulate the “release” of urates from 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 acid-base balance of the body.First of all, it is planned to severely limit the quantity of certain meat and fish products, or even abandon them altogether.The ban applies to:

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

When following a gout diet, you should also avoid:

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

When dieting, you should severely limit the amount of salt consumed.It 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 milk 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 made from various cereals, cereals, as well as pasta are useful.
• Experts advise patients diagnosed with gout to frequently consume dietary cottage cheese and cottage cheese dishes.
• 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 are on a gout diet, you can eat almost any type of vegetable: potatoes, zucchini, white cabbage, eggplant, carrots.
• The quantity of certain 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.
• Fruits are very beneficial against 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, marshmallows, non-chocolate candies and jam.
• The gout diet also includes bread, white and black.
• When choosing oil, it is better to give preference to vegetable oil.Olives and flax seeds are particularly useful.The quantity of butter should be quite limited.

What can you drink?

Maintaining a correct drinking regimen is very important for gout.Experts recommend drinking large amounts of fluid, necessary to eliminate uric acid compounds from the body.

While following the diet, you are allowed to drink the following drinks:

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

For patients suffering from gout, fruit drinks based on cranberries or lingonberries are especially 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 alkaline mineral water with a low mineral content in your diet.

Exacerbation period

The recommended diet for the period of exacerbation of gout has certain peculiarities.The following rules must be respected:

1. Completely exclude fatty, salted and fried meat, fish, meat and fish products from the diet.
2. Build a menu based mainly on liquid foods: include liquid cereals, fermented milk products, fruit and vegetable juices, weak tea with lemon and milk.
3. It is very important to ensure that the patient does not starve to death.
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 exacerbation of gout is as follows:

• Vegetarian soups:vegetables, potatoes, dairy products, with the addition of cereals, cold (beetroot soup, okroshka), fruits.
• 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 products, stewed, from cutlets.
• 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 from them.
• Egg– in the acute stage of gout, it is allowed to eat 1 egg per day (you can boil it, cook an omelet).
• Flour products, bread:Pastries, rye and wheat bread made from grade 1, 2 flour and bran are allowed.
• Snacks:with exacerbation of gout, vegetable salads, fruit salads, 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 jelly and compotes from them.Dried fruits are also very useful.
• Candy:The diet for gout (even in the acute phase) does not exclude the use of creams, marshmallows, jams, honey and sweets (except chocolate).
• Drinks:tea (weak) with milk, lemon, rosehip decoction, 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 are allowed to 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 lean cottage cheese and 0.5 kg of kefir.
3. Kefir.You should drink up to 2 liters of kefir per day.

Example of daily menu

• 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.
• Dinner :cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and vegetables + baked cheesecakes + tea (with honey).
• Before going to bed:decoction of wheat bran.