As a rule of thumb, the foods to avoid for gout are foods that are high in protein. But this is just a general rule, because different foods have different ‘purine’ content. Here, you’ll learn what purine is and some of the high-purine foods that you should avoid in order to beat gout.
Foods To Avoid For Gout
First, what are purines? They are chemical compounds in your body’s cells and in the food you eat. During the metabolizing process, they help to change your food into energy, and, produce the protein that you need, as well as several other benefits.
During this process, uric acid is produced and circulated in the blood. And uric acid is also beneficial, e.g. it looks after your blood vessel linings, for one thing. Your kidneys control the level of uric acid in your blood by processing and expelling excess uric acid out of your body.
Unfortunately, sometimes they cannot do this effectively enough and you end up with higher-than-normal levels in your bloodstream. This can result in the formation of uric acid crystals in your joints — in the big toe the majority of times — which leads to excruciating gout. Eventually these crystals can ‘clump together’ to form kidney stones.
So gout suffers have to watch what they eat very carefully. Because they have high uric acid levels, they can’t afford to eat foods that are high in purines, because this only produces even more uric acid.
So you, as a gout sufferer, have to avoid foods that have high concentrations of purines.
List of High Purine Foods to Avoid
The following list of foods should be eliminated from your gout diet:
- fatty red meat
- venison
- pheasant
- grouse
- partridge
- squirrel
- heart
- liver
- kidneys
- gravy
- bouillon
- broth
- meat extracts
- mincemeat
- goose
- turkey
- mussels
- scallops
- shrimps
- sardines
- anchovies
- mackerel
- herring
- dried legumes
- yeast (baker’s, brewer’s, extracts)
These are just some of the high-purine foods that need to be avoided if you have gout. The actual list is far too long for this post. You’ll discover a more complete list of foods to be avoided, along with detailed lists of foods that may be consumed in moderation and foods that are safe to eat, in Gout Rescue.
