Diet for gout

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 cure the disease completely, but correctly 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 to follow a diet.In the diagnosis of 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 the urine towards alkalinisation.

Dietary rules for gout

Adherence to certain nutritional principles can significantly improve the condition of patients.

1. You should eat several times a day - from 3 to 5. This helps prevent 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 severe weight loss can lead to a worsening of the patient's condition.Losing 1-2 kg within a month is considered within normal limits.
5. With gout, an important condition for normalizing the condition is to drink a large amount of liquid: in the remission stage - at least 1.5-2 liters per day, in case of exacerbation of the disease - from 3 liters.You can drink plain water or mineral water, tea, fruit drinks, rose hip decoction, compotes.
6. Drinking alkaline mineral water is simply necessary for this pathology: it promotes alkalinization of the blood, due to which urates are eliminated from the body.

Fasting is a forbidden 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.But in reality the result is exactly the opposite: fasting causes a sharp worsening of the condition.The reason lies in human physiology.

When the food supply stops, the body begins to use up its own reserves.In this case, proteins become the most available material.In the very 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 tissues of the body, in the synovial joint membrane, which provokes a sharp worsening of the disease.

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

What foods should you not eat if you have arthritis?

Since this disease is caused by a violation of purine metabolism, the diet for gout is primarily aimed at reducing the amount of foods with a high content of 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 acid-base balance in the body.First of all, it is planned to sharply limit the amount of certain meat and fish products or completely abandon them.The ban applies to:

• broth: meat, fish;
• meat, especially young animals;
• offal: kidneys, liver, lungs, brains;
• semi-finished meat products;
• smoked meat;
• sauces;
• animal fat;
• from fish products: salted or fried fish, canned food, caviar;
• fatty fish in any form (except in the acute stage).

When following a gout diet, you should also avoid:

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

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

Authorized products

The optimal 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, prawns and squid are allowed.
• Chicken and quail eggs are also recommended for gout.
• Porridge based on different cereals, cereal products and pasta are useful.
• Experts advise patients diagnosed with gout to frequently consume cottage cheese and dishes made from it.
• You can include low-fat and unsalted varieties of cheese in your diet.
• Sweetened milk is not prohibited, but should be consumed with caution.
• If you follow a diet for arthritis, you can eat almost all types of vegetables: potatoes, zucchini, white cabbage, eggplant, carrots.
• The amount 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.
• Fruits are very beneficial for arthritis.It is recommended to include apples, pears, plums, oranges, apricots and various types of berries in your daily diet.
• Eating any kind of nuts and seeds is beneficial.
• For those with a sweet tooth, we can recommend marmalade, marshmallows, non-chocolate candies and marmalade.
• The diet for gout also includes bread - both 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 fluid, which is necessary to remove uric acid compounds from the body.

While following the diet, you must drink the following beverages:

• green tea;
• weak black tea with milk or lemon;
• rose hip decoction;
• chicory-based beverages;
• decoction of wheat bran;
• vegetables, berries, fruit juice;
• fruit drinks, compotes;
• kvass.

For patients with gout, fruit drinks made from cranberries or lingonberries are particularly helpful.

It is also recommended to consume cucumber juice, which helps to 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 mineral water with a low mineral content in your diet.

Exacerbation period

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

1. Completely exclude fat, salt, fried meat, fish, meat and fish products from the diet.
2. Build a menu based primarily 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.
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 worsening gout is as follows:

• Vegetarian soups:vegetable, potato, dairy, with the addition of cereals, cold (beetroot soup, okroshka), fruit.
• Meat, fish, poultry of lean varietiesallowed three times a week: 150 g of meat or 180 g of cooked fish.Boiled meat products can be used to prepare various dishes: baked, stewed, cutlet-based products.
• Dairy products and fermented milk products:cottage cheese, cottage cheese dishes, low-fat sour cream, cheese, milk (in very limited quantities, with caution).
• Cereal- You can prepare different dishes from them.
• Egg– in the acute stage of gout, you must eat 1 egg a day (you can boil it, cook an omelet).
• Flour products, bread:Baking, rye and wheat bread made from grade 1, 2 flour and bran is allowed.
• Snacks:when aggravating gout, salads from vegetables, 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.
• Fruit and berriesYou can eat them fresh, make jellies 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, jam, honey and sweets (with the exception of chocolate).
• Beverages:tea (weak) with milk, lemon, rose hip decoction, dried fruits, wheat bran.

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

1. Fruit and vegetables.You may 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 soft-boiled egg + vegetable salad from permitted vegetables + apple and carrot pudding + weak tea.
• Second breakfast:decoction of rose hips 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 with rice and vegetable filling + baked cheesecakes + tea (with honey).
• Before bedtime:decoction of wheat bran.