Diet for gout

The appearance of this severe 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 applied therapy allows you to avoid exacerbations and achieve a fairly long period of remission.

An irreplaceable condition for improving the condition of patients is adherence to a diet.When diagnosing gout, as with urolithiasis, diet No. 6 is prescribed. It allows you to:

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

Diet rules for gout

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

1. You need to eat several times a day - from 3 to 5. This helps to prevent peak spikes in the maximum concentration of purine bases in the blood.
2. You should not consume excess food.
3. Starving is also unacceptable.
4. If you are overweight, you should get rid of it, but not through strict diets, but gradually.Sudden weight loss can worsen the patient's condition.Losing 1-2 kg per month is considered normal.
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 or mineral water, tea, fruit drinks, rosehip 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.However, in reality, the result is exactly the opposite: fasting provokes a sharp deterioration of the condition.The reason lies in the peculiarities of human physiology.

When the supply of food stops, the body begins to use up its own reserves.In this case, proteins become the most available material.Already in the 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, which provokes a sharp 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 disorder 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 of the body.First of all, it is planned to sharply limit the amount of certain meat and fish products or to completely abandon them.The ban applies to:

• broths: meat, fish;
• meat, especially young animals;
• viscera: kidneys, liver, lungs, brain;
• semi-finished meat products;
• smoked meats;
• sauces;
• animal fats;
• from fish products: salted or fried fish, canned food, caviar;
• oily 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 broths;
• vegetable sauces;
• various spices: black pepper, mustard, horseradish;
• cheeses with a salty and spicy taste;
• chocolate, cream cakes, sweets;
• any products that contain 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 must sharply limit the amount of salt consumed.It promotes the accumulation of urate in tissues and joints.

Allowed 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, shrimp and squid are allowed.
• Chicken and quail eggs are also recommended for gouty arthritis.
• Porridges based on various cereals, cereals, as well as pasta are useful.
• Experts advise gout patients to frequently consume dietary curd and dishes made from it.
• 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 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.
• The fruits are very useful in gout.It is recommended to include apples, pears, plums, oranges, apricots and various types of berries in your daily diet.
• Eating all kinds of nuts and seeds is beneficial.
• For those with a sweet tooth, we can recommend marmalade, marshmallows, non-chocolate candies and jam.
• The diet for gout also includes bread - both white and black.
• When choosing oil, it is better to prefer vegetable oil.Olives and flaxseed are especially useful.The amount of oil should be quite limited.

What can you drink?

Maintaining a proper drinking regimen is very important in gout.Experts recommend drinking a large amount of liquid, which is necessary to remove uric acid compounds from the body.

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

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

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

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

It is important to include alkaline mineral water with low mineral content in your diet.

Period of exacerbation

The diet recommended 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 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 is not starving.
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 dietary menu for gout exacerbation is as follows:

• Vegetarian soups:vegetables, potatoes, dairy products, 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 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– Based on them you can prepare different dishes.
• An 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:Baking, rye and wheat bread from 1st, 2nd grade flour and bran is allowed.
• Snacks:in case of exacerbation of gout, salads from vegetables, fruits, vinaigrettes and vegetable caviar are useful.
• vegetables:It is recommended to include a large amount of fresh vegetables or any cooked vegetables in your diet.
• Fruits and berriesYou can eat them fresh, make jelly and compotes from them.Dried fruits are also very useful.
• sweets:The gout diet (even in the acute phase) does not exclude the use of creams, marshmallows, jam, honey and sweets (except for chocolate).
• Drinks:tea (weak) with milk, lemon, rosehip decoction, dried fruits, wheat bran.

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

1. Fruits and vegetables.You are allowed to eat up to 1.5-2 kg of non-prohibited vegetables and fruits.
2. Cottage cheese 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-vegetable stuffing + baked cheesecakes + tea (with honey).
• Before going to bed:decoction of wheat bran.