Tips for gout preventionDIETARY TIPS FOR GOUT PREVENTION These are the dietary tips to follow to maintain normal uric acid levels, which is an important part of long term gout prevention. If you’ve had a gout attack, preventing gout attacks in the future means your application of these ideas needs to be more rigorous. Avoid or reduce high purine foods. Swap them for medium or low purine foods. A 2001 Brazilian study looked at the effects of a low purine diet, a low purine diet plus Allopurinol, and Allopurinol treatment only, on uric acid levels. Patients in the study did NOT have gout, but they did have hyperuricemia,(high uric acid), hypertension and were overweight or obese. All three treatments reduced uric acid levels, but after 36 weeks, the low purine diet reduced uric acid levels the most. The low purine diet in the study avoided high purine foods, and allowed medium purine foods in most patients. During the period of the study no patient developed gout.
Visit the purines/uric acid page for details of the purine content of foods
If your body pH is acidic (i.e low pH) ask yourself whether you consume a lot of highly acidic foods and beverages (such as colas). If so consider cutting them down or out. Use pH test strips to find pH levels.
Click on this link to learn generally which foods are more alkaline and which are more acidic.
Drink milk and orange juice Drinking milk has lowered uric acid levels in a number of studies, or shown that the risk of gout is lower if you drink a glass a day. Just one glass a day lowered uric acid levels by 0.25mg/dL, and more milk than this should decrease uric acid by more.
Read about milk and gout here.
So too has orange juice in a study, it seems by a little more than milk.
Read about orange juice for gout here.
Berries may help in preventing gout – our top four rated berries for gout are elderberries, strawberries, blueberries and bilberries. And in any case these four berries are a five star food for a diet to prevent gout because they contain high levels of antioxidants, are low purine, and are not very acidic. Top berry? Probably strawberries. At the very least take a multivitamin tablet daily. Select a high strength one, and make sure it also has alkalizing minerals such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, especially if you are over 40. Always buy quality vitamins. If you are overweight, reduce your weight to its ideal level. This is probably the most important gout prevention tip of all and also the most difficult.
Take Vitamin C. 500 mg of Vitamin C daily has been found in one study to act as a gout preventor. Click on this link to find out more.
Reduce refined carbohydrates and simple sugars in your diet. For gout prevention - monitor these vitamins Niacin is sometimes used to reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The amount you take should be watched because it competes with uric acid for excretion from the body. Less than 50 mg of niacin daily should not be a problem. Click here for a list of the amount of niacin in foods, courtesy of the USDA National Nutrient Database. Molybdenum Although molybdenum is an important mineral for the body, there is more than a suspicion that high levels of molybdenum stimulate uric acid production. Dr.Robert Atkins (the Atkins diet) believed in the connection between molybdenum and uric acid. So much so, that if a patient had low uric acid levels, he precribed molybdenum. Molybdenum levels in multivitamin tablets should not be a concern, neither should molybdenum intake from foods. It may only be a concern if you take extra molybdenum for another reason. Exposure to molybdenum at a place of work may lead to increased uric acid levels and may trigger a gout attack. Brewers Yeast is a dietary supplement taken because it is high in proteins and minerals. However Brewers Yeast is also high purine and should be avoided. Selenium is a mineral which is a strong antioxidant, but some supplements of it are derived from brewers yeast. Some people take it to deter some kinds of cancers and to produce the very important antioxidant glutathione. If you take selenium, check the label to see from what it's derived. However, Selenium supplements are measured in micrograms, not milligrams, so it should not be a problem. DRUGS TO AVOID FOR GOUT PREVENTION The Loop and Thiazide Diuretic class of drugs. These are used to treat high blood pressure. They raise uric acid levels. They also lower potassium and magnesium levels which is likely to be undesirable in gout patients. Avoid if possible. Cyclosporine used to prevent rejection of organ transplants. Ethambutol, an anti tuberculosis (TB) medication, can trigger gout attacks. LIFESTYLE TIPS FOR GOUT PREVENTION Wrap up warmly in cold weather. Ensure blood pressure is at normal levels. Avoid dehydration i.e. drink those eight to twelve glasses of water a day. Add an extra glass of water for every cup of regular coffee, because caffeine is a diuretic. On the other hand, a recent study found that drinking four or more cups of coffee daily helps reduce the risk of gout. That means drinking also an extra four glasses of water or two glasses of ionized (alkaline) water. And add an extra glass of water for a similar amount of alcohol you drink. Avoid crash dieting. Avoid going hungry for too long. During the day, a maximum of five hours between meals. Exercise, but avoid heavy exercise. Flying is dehyrating. Keep drinking water whilst flying. If you feel any thirst during a plane journey make sure you immediately ask the flight attendants for water. MEDICAL CONDITIONS LINKED TO GOUT Kidney disease, because less uric acid is removed and uric acid levels are likely to rise.Diabetes and pre diabetes (insulin resistance). High blood pressure.Heart disease.
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