gout diet

The appearance 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 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 number 6 is prescribed. It allows you to:

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

Dietary rules for gout

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

1. You should eat several times a day, 3 to 5. This helps prevent sudden 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 have excess weight, you need to get rid of it, but not through strict diets, but gradually.A sudden weight loss can cause a worsening of the patient's condition.Loss of 1 to 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 stage of remission - at least 1.5 to 2 liters per day, in case of exacerbation of the disease - 3 liters.You can drink regular 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 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 deterioration in the condition.The reason lies in the peculiarities of human physiology.

When the food supply is stopped, the body begins to deplete its own reserves.In this case, proteins become the most accessible material.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 settle in the tissues of the body, in the membrane of the synovial joint, which causes a sharp exacerbation of the disease.

The 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 with a high content of purine bases and substances that stimulate the "release" of urates from the blood serum with their 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 drastically limit the amount of certain meat and fish products or 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, preserves, caviar;
• fatty fish in any form (excluded in the acute phase).

When following a gout diet you should also avoid:

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

When following a diet, it is advisable to drastically limit the amount of salt consumed.Promotes the accumulation of urate 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.

• 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 based on various cereals, cereals and pasta are useful.
• Experts advise patients diagnosed with gout to frequently consume dietary cottage cheese and dishes made from it.
• You can include low-fat, salt-free 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.
• Fruits are very beneficial for gout.It is recommended to include apples, pears, plums, oranges, apricots and various types of berries in the daily diet.
• Eating any type of nuts and seeds is beneficial.
• For those with a sweet tooth, we can recommend jam, marshmallows, candies without chocolate and marmalade.
• The gout diet also includes bread, both white and black.
• When choosing oil, it is better to prefer vegetable oil.Olive and linseed are especially useful.The amount of butter should be quite limited.

What can you drink?

Maintaining the correct drinking regimen is very important for gout.Experts recommend drinking large amounts of fluid, which is necessary to eliminate 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;
• wheat bran decoction;
• vegetable, berry and fruit juices;
• fruit drinks, compotes;
• kvass.

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

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 low mineral content in the diet.

Exacerbation period

The recommended diet during gout exacerbation has some features.The following rules must be observed:

1. Completely exclude fatty, salty, fried meats, fish, meat and fish products from the diet.
2. Create 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 gout exacerbation is as follows:

• Vegetarian soups:vegetables, potatoes, dairy, with the addition of cereals, cold (beet soup, okroshka), fruit.
• Meat, fish, poultry of lean varieties.allowed 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 and 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 several dishes based on them.
• egg– in the acute stage of gout, you are allowed to eat 1 egg per day (you can boil it, cook an omelette).
• Flour products, bread:Baked, rye and wheat bread made from grade 1, 2 flour and bran are allowed.
• Snacks:in exacerbation of gout, vegetable, fruit salads, 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 jellies and compotes with them.Nuts are also very useful.
• Sweets: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 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 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 a day.

Sample menu for the day.

• First breakfast:1 soft-boiled egg + allowed vegetable salad + apple and carrot pudding + weak tea.
• Second breakfast:rosehip decoction with honey or jam.
• Lunch:milk soup + potato cutlets + gelatin 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 going to bed:wheat bran decoction.