Diet In Gout
Gout is a condition caused by high level of uric acid in the body. Uric acid can form crystals in joints, causing sudden attacks of severe pain and inflammation in the body. Making the following changes in your diet and lifestyle can help to reduce the levels of uric acid in the body.
- Weight loss – If you are overweight losing weight can help reduce your levels of uric acid, but it must be done slowly. Extreme weight loss or fasting can actually raise uric acid levels, because it speeds up the breakdown of cells in the body.
- Drink less alcohol (especially beer) – as drinking too much alcohol is often associated with acute attacks.
- Drink plenty of water to help flush out excess uric acid.
- Low purine diet – foods that contain a lot of purines may play a part in raising uric acid levels in blood, so cutting down on purine rich foods such as red meat, fish, may be helpful. This can be replaced by other sources of proteins like pulses or low fat dairy products.
Uric acid levels aren’t affected by citrus fruits and in fact higher vitamin C intake may help to reduce the risk of gout attacks. So you can include fruits like oranges and grapes in your diet.