Gout is a disease characterized by inflamed joints due to impaired metabolism. Tea for gout has always remained a controversial issue, since the drink is saturated with purines, which provoke the formation of urea. But even tea drinks are different. And, naturally, their composition will be different. Therefore, it is necessary to consider all types of drinks in more detail.
Most people cannot even imagine their life without a cup of morning coffee or tea drink. Or tea at night to relax and forget about the worries of the day and sleep better. If you have gout, you need to control your diet so as not to aggravate your health condition. After all, uric acid negatively affects health, especially joints. And here opinions about tea drinks differ, as some experts recommend it, while others prohibit it due to the presence of purine. But in order to quench your thirst and improve your overall health, you can drink tea, the main thing is not to overuse the product. And you even need to learn how to use tea correctly to get the maximum benefits.
The benefits of this drink for gouty patients:
Drinking too much strong drink can cause constipation.
Some features of use that are fraught with a negative reaction from a weakened body:
Before you get to know each type of drink better, you need to learn the lessons of proper use:
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Herbal teas are not only drinkable, but also necessary. After all, many plants contain beneficial substances that are unique to them. And so, they increase immunity and improve metabolic processes - birch and maple leaves, nettles, blackberries, lingonberries and currants, sea buckthorn berries, rose hips, viburnum and rowan. Strengthen the protective reaction - chicory, hazel, viburnum. strawberry, dandelion. These herbs can be used to prepare drinks for gout, since most plants have a diuretic effect. Can be used either as a mix or separately. It is important to alternate herbs and not take long periods of time. Monastery tea is especially useful for gout.
Drinking green tea is useful in hot weather, as it perfectly tones and relieves thirst. It contains more than 400 microelements. For gout, it has a diuretic effect, removing excess fluid and salts. When there are no problems with the kidneys, you can drink up to 3 cups per day. But here the correct presentation is necessary. Drink without sugar, as it affects the formation of uric acid. And also add milk or lemon, which will slightly dull the properties of all elements. Black tea is rich in purines, which are 100 times higher than normal. If you really use it, then only weakly brewed.
Green tea drink should not be drunk at night to avoid wakefulness.
Hibiscus can be used for gout, as it is a herbal drink made from Sudanese rose. It has diuretic and choleretic properties, removes formed stones and sand from the kidneys, salt, and fights edema. Patients with digestive system should be careful when drinking hibiscus. New types are white tea, which helps cleanse the body of toxins and waste. Even the amount of caffeine in it is beneficial.
Whether it is possible to drink coffee for gout is a controversial issue in medicine. The hot drink, on the one hand, has a beneficial effect on metabolic processes and the circulatory system, which is important in the treatment of joint disease, and on the other, it has a diuretic effect. When creating a diet for each patient, it is necessary to take an individual approach, so only the attending physician should exclude or add caffeine-containing products to the diet.
Doctors' opinions on the use of caffeine-containing drinks for gouty arthritis vary. According to earlier studies, coffee should be categorically excluded from the diet of patients, since it contains a high concentration of purines, the breakdown product of which is uric acid. However, recent studies by European doctors have refuted these theses. Scientists found that in subjects with a daily diet that included at least 4 servings of the vigor drink, the risk of developing arthritis was halved.
Doctors explain the preventive effect of coffee by the content of caffeic acid ester in the drink - CHA, which acts as a natural antioxidant that reduces the concentration of uric acid.
The amount of coffee you drink should not exceed two cups per day.
However, if the benefits of coffee for the preventive effect have been proven, then everything is ambiguous about taking it during the development of the disease. Studies have shown that drinking a hot drink causes an exacerbation of the disease and worsening of the condition. The risk is especially high for people who have not previously consumed large quantities of caffeine. They are strictly not recommended to start drinking coffee to treat gouty arthritis, as this will give the opposite result and harm the body.
Scientists also advise avid coffee drinkers to reduce the daily dose to 1-2 cups per day during periods of exacerbation of the disease, but it is not necessary to completely give up the drink. You can drink coffee, but it is not recommended to exceed the norm of purines in the diet, that is, do not consume more than 150 mg per day, so as not to provoke a relapse of the disease.
A hot drink affects many organ systems, giving different effects:
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During the period of exacerbation of the disease, you should stop drinking the drink, but if the disease proceeds calmly, then in small doses you can consume varieties containing the highest concentration of CHC. The best options for those with gouty arthritis:
Doctors recommend drinking only natural varieties for gout. Instant coffee does not contain CHC and biologically active substances that have healing effects.
The usefulness of the vigor drink for joint inflammation varies depending on the degree of roasting of the grains, since heat treatment helps to destroy chlorogenic acids. Lightly roasted coffee is most beneficial for illness, while at the highest level of heat exposure, CGCs are practically destroyed. The most useless type of coffee drink for gout is espresso, since to prepare it, the beans can be subjected to significant heat treatment. This drink does not contain acids that help with gouty joint disease.
In recent years, medicine has acquired new knowledge about gout. Therefore, adjustments must be made to treatment methods.
It was generally believed that coffee could retain uric acid in the body and increase the risk of gout. Therefore, doctors recommended that people with similar problems give up this drink completely.
However, recent studies by groups of European scientists have proven that coffee not only does not provoke gout, but, on the contrary, helps treat it. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about a drink with or without caffeine. It is not caffeine that has the therapeutic effect, but other components of coffee.
It is noted that coffee has a particularly positive effect on women. If in men it does not increase the level of uric acid in the blood, then in women coffee helps remove this acid from the body.
You can clarify that it is not advisable to deny yourself a drink. For gout, coffee is not harmful.
For a long time, it was believed that gout was a purely male problem. This was explained by the fact that estrogens protect women from gout, namely, they remove uric acid from the body.
But today doctors are not so categorical in their statements. Over the past several decades, gout has become a women's problem. There are several reasons for this:
Diuretics are included in almost any weight loss complex, as well as in many universal biological supplements.
Therefore, you should not gain weight uncontrollably and then use harmful diuretics.
Sugar really does harm the body; its excessive consumption threatens not only weight gain, but also diabetes. Therefore, various sugar substitutes are gaining popularity all over the world.
America was the first to reduce sugar consumption. They first started using fructose there. As a result, a lot of problems arose. Fructose has proven to be harmful to health. Excess weight contributes to gout, but fructose is what causes it.
Sweeteners greatly increase the concentration of uric acid in the body. Therefore, if you have gout, it is better to eat unrefined sugar, such as brown sugar. Fructose should enter the body only from natural products.
Green tea is a drink that is very beneficial for overall human health. Tea contains at least 450 types of microelements.
Green tea, this drink for gout is best drunk with lemon or milk. These foods neutralize the effects of caffeine as well as purines entering the body.
Drinking green tea if you have gout is necessary because it has a diuretic effect. By removing excess fluid, green tea also removes uric acid, which is necessary for gout.
If your kidneys are healthy, you can drink up to three cups of green tea per day. For kidney problems, the amount is reduced to 1 cup. For gout, you can consume no more than 1 cup every 6-7 days.
Green tea also promotes weight loss because it enhances digestion. This is important, since excess weight is one of the provoking factors of gout.
Homemade kvass (without sugar) can be drunk in moderation. You can also use kvass for foot baths. Kvass is poured into a container and the legs are lowered there for 1 hour.
For gout, any vegetables and nuts are allowed to be consumed. Fruits you can eat:
Sweets allowed include marshmallows, Turkish delight, marshmallows, and marmalade. You can also eat jams, preserves and non-chocolate candies.
Bread is allowed white and black. It is necessary to make a choice in favor of only vegetable oil, for example, flaxseed or olive. Butter is not recommended for consumption.
Treatment of gout during exacerbation suggests that fasting days will be very effective. They must be done every other day.
One and a half kilograms of any vegetables and fruits from the list of permitted ones should be divided into 5 doses during the day.
You can choose a cottage cheese-kefir fasting day for yourself. Have to take:
Two ingredients are consumed all day. Such a fasting day provokes the removal of uric acid from the body. However, it is not indicated for people who have blood pressure problems.
We must not forget that when following a diet, it is necessary not only to properly process permitted foods, but also to reduce salt intake as much as possible, and also to significantly increase the amount of fluid consumed. Learn more about how to eat when you have gout in the video in this article.
Gout is a disease in which the body either poorly removes or does not have time to remove a large amount of uric acid, and it is deposited in the joints, most often on the big toe, forming a so-called “bone”. Coffee is known for its diuretic effect, and therefore many are interested in whether it is possible to drink coffee for gout and how it affects the body. The opinions of doctors are quite ambiguous, so you should carefully study all the nuances and navigate the situation.
In 2007, European scientists conducted studies that included more than 45,000 men. Subjects who drank 4-5 cups of coffee daily were almost half as likely to develop gout than those who did not drink coffee at all. At the same time, the same effect was observed when drinking decaffeinated coffee, but tea and other drinks containing caffeine did not have such an effect.
It was found that the effect is due to the presence of chlorogenic acid in coffee, which is a natural antioxidant. It reduces the level of insulin in the blood, and along with it the level of uric acid decreases. Additionally, studies have been conducted that have shown a link between drinking several cups of coffee per day and reducing uric acid levels.
Coffee reduces the risk of gout only when consumed regularly. Drinking coffee occasionally can worsen symptoms in patients.
So, coffee is good for those who want to prevent illness. But if you are already sick, you should not suddenly start drinking coffee and caffeinated drinks. According to research, this only increases the frequency of attacks and increases pain. Although uric acid levels may decrease slightly over time, doctors recommend choosing other treatment options.
Interestingly, coffee affects gout differently on men and women. In men, it prevents uric acid levels from increasing, and in women, it also effectively removes deposits. Perhaps this explains the fact that women are 7 times less likely to suffer from gout than men.
Previously, gout was considered a “male” disease. Women have enough hormones that help remove uric acid, and therefore they are less likely to suffer from pitfalls. But recently, women are especially closely monitoring their weight, going on diets and taking medications (most of which are diuretics), and the regulation of uric acid levels is disrupted. That is why if you are taking diuretics for weight loss, make sure to drink more coffee, and in this case, replace some of your regular coffee with decaffeinated coffee.
Experts recommend drinking only natural coffee; if you drink a lot of it, choose caffeine-free drinks. You can add low-fat milk and occasionally cream. But it is better to avoid sugar and its substitutes, since their effect on gout and acid deposition is not yet fully understood. In any case, drinking 4-5 cups of coffee with sugar throughout the day is not healthy, and it significantly increases your blood sugar.
Avoid instant coffee in any form, especially 3-in-1 concentrates with dry cream and sugar. There is nothing useful there, the share of natural coffee in a bag is sometimes no more than 15% - everything else is additives and chemical components, and they will not help fight or prevent gout.
There are more chlorogenic acids in Robusta than in Arabica, so you can choose mixtures or buy pure Robusta, although its taste and aroma are somewhat poorer than 100% Arabica. When roasting, the amount of chlorogenic acids decreases sharply, and therefore lightly roasted beans are healthier than dark roasted beans for espresso.
When drinking drinks such as coffee and tea, the body processes them and receives substances called purines. According to their purpose, purines are responsible for the circulation of substances, proper functioning, the movement of vitamins, and carry energy throughout the cells. But many consider purines to be the main culprits of the disease. In fact, purines actively participate in the body’s metabolic processes and do not cause harm in themselves. Purines are contained in the body “by default”, so if you stop drinking tea or coffee, the purines will not go anywhere, the body is able to synthesize them on its own. But excess purines are destroyed and excreted by the body.
When purines break down, they form a substance called uric acid. Its excess in the body can lead to gout. Uric acid is eliminated by the body on its own, however, with a serious metabolic disorder or certain genetic diseases, uric acid ceases to be excreted from the body and begins to accumulate. The favorite place for uric acid to accumulate is in the joints. Crystals of uric acid salts accumulate in the tissues of the joints, damaging them, causing inflammation, leading to gout.
The most famous purine today is caffeine. It is found in coffee and different varieties and types of tea. Even green tea contains large amounts of caffeine. Green tea contains even more caffeine than black tea. With normal metabolism - metabolism - caffeine is not dangerous; it is a tonic that instantly distributes useful substances to the cells of the body. When metabolic functions of the body are impaired, caffeine turns into excess uric acid, which settles in the joints. For coffee lovers, those who have been drinking coffee for a long time, there is an excellent harmless alternative to coffee - chicory. Can you drink chicory if you have gout? It is possible and necessary - chicory is useful for gout, it helps the functioning of the intestines, which helps improve metabolism and timely elimination of excess. Chicory tastes like coffee, so it will become not just a substitute, but a useful element of the diet.
The main cause of the disease is genetic inheritance. In other cases, when the disease is acquired, it is associated with poor diet and frequent alcohol consumption. The most dangerous drinks are beer and wine. Beer very often causes gout. Beer contains a large amount of purines, and in a form that is very difficult to remove from the body. In addition, beer contains substances that bind purines into crystals that settle in the joints. Therefore, the first thing that needs to be removed from the diet when gout appears is beer.
Gout attacks occur mainly at night. The joint becomes very hot, painful to the touch, and there is a sharp pain that can last for a long time. The most common manifestation of gout is damage to the joints of the big toes. Visually, a lump or inflammation forms at the junction of the phalanx of the finger and the bone of the foot. This makes it difficult to wear shoes, causing pain. If gout is not treated, the disease begins to affect other joints, as well as the kidneys and urinary tract.
To confirm or refute the diagnosis, you should contact a rheumatologist. A blood test will show your uric acid levels, and your doctor will conduct a qualified examination. Sometimes it may be necessary to take x-rays and take joint fluid for examination.
The disease is developing rapidly. The first symptoms of gout are tingling in the joint. After some time, the tingling will develop into serious inflammation and begins to rapidly affect other joints and the genitourinary system.
During exacerbation of joint inflammation, it is recommended to adhere to the following gastronomic restrictions. What foods should be excluded from the diet:
Meat products contain very high amounts of purines, which will lead to even greater accumulation of uric acid. With this disease, it is necessary to categorically exclude alcohol, especially alcoholic drinks such as dessert, sparkling wines, beer, and cognac. As mentioned earlier, alcohol, and especially beer, is the main cause of gout.
The following drinks are useful for this disease:
When drinking green tea for gout, it is best to drink it with milk or lemon, as these products largely neutralize the effects of caffeine and, accordingly, the amount of purines entering the body. It is necessary to drink green tea for this disease, as it has a diuretic effect on the body, removes excess fluid, which goes away along with excess uric acid, which is appropriate for gout.
Kvass should be consumed in limited quantities and only at home. It is better if the kvass is prepared without sugar. You can also use kvass in the form of foot baths. Pour the kvass into a container and soak your feet there for an hour. During an attack, this should relieve pain and reduce the temperature.
Any vegetables are allowed for consumption. As for fruits, you should not limit yourself to apples; you can eat plums, pears, apricots, oranges, and various berries and nuts are also allowed for consumption.
Sweets lovers can enjoy marshmallows, marmalade, marshmallows, and Turkish delight. You can also use preserves, jams, and non-chocolate candies.
Black and white bread is allowed. Only vegetable oil, preferably olive or flaxseed oil. Butter should be excluded from the diet.
Today we offer an article on the topic: “Coffee and tea for gout.” We tried to describe everything clearly and in detail. If you have any questions, ask at the end of the article.
“Her father is wine, food is her mother, and her midwife is Venus.” What is this? This is gout. Hippocrates spoke even more clearly: “The disease of Sunday evening and Monday morning.” Apparently, even then there was a custom of spending the last day of the week in merry feasts, which has safely survived to this day. Attacks really often happen exactly on Monday night! Also a kind of hangover. As for the midwife Venus, the goddess of love, there is truth here too: there are no eunuchs among gouty people. And... bald. The smartest representatives of humanity suffered from gout. And never fools. Great people suffered from it, endured great torment and left such great descriptions of their suffering that gout rightfully has its own pantheon. These are Alexander the Great and Columbus, Ivan the Terrible and Michelangelo, Turgenev and Maupassant, Newton and Darwin.
...An old friend called and puzzled me with the question, what should he drink? The question is not as funny as it seems at first glance. Recently his big toe hurt, he was treated by a surgeon for two weeks, then little by little everything began to return to normal. I recommended that, just in case, he take biochemistry. It turned out that it was not in vain - the level of uric acid is really greatly elevated, which means that the baby has gout and toe disease - the first attack (which is very typical for this disease). I sent him for a consultation to the Institute of Rheumatology, where the diagnosis was confirmed, treatment and diet were prescribed. The main goal of the diet is a complete abstinence from beer, wine and, especially, tea and coffee (well, this is understandable - they contain a high content of purines - theine, caffeine, etc., precursors of uric acid, which, falling out in the form of crystals, affects the joints and internal organs, primarily the kidneys). Well then, what should you drink? Refreshed my knowledge of herbal medicine. It turns out this:
From traditional teas, everything is eliminated - black and red, yellow and white. Everywhere there is a high content of theine (the chemical formula is identical to caffeine in coffee) and its weight composition is greater than in coffee. A small exception is pu-erh (in China, all our “black” teas are considered red and only pu-erh is considered black) - here due to the maximum number of treatments (its technology is unique - collected, fixed, twisted, sun-dried, steamed and pressed, then aged like good cognac for 10-20 years) the theine content decreases, so it can be consumed in small quantities for gout.
Next come the so-called “tea” drinks. The first one I hear is mate, which is also not suitable (by the way, the emphasis is correct on the first syllable). The alkaloid mateine contained there is close in composition to caffeine, but does not cause palpitations, its action is 2-3 times longer than that of caffeine, but these are still purines, precursors of uric acid. And the consumption of hot mate is recognized as “presumably carcinogenic to humans” and is included in the IARC list of group 2A carcinogens. A study conducted at the Montevideo Institute of Oncology confirmed the link between yerba mate consumption and esophageal cancer, previously discovered by scientists in Uruguay. Judging by the results, this relationship is equally strongly influenced by two different mechanisms: on the one hand, this is the carcinogenic effect of the substances that make up mate; and on the other hand, chronic thermal damage to the esophagus as a result of drinking very hot mate.
Kudin is also a kind of mate, only of Chinese origin :). These are the leaves of Holly broadleaf - a subtropical evergreen plant, which, like Paraguayan mate, belongs to the Holly genus. The purine content is slightly lower, but not by much (they may decompose more intensively during manufacturing).
What remains (from what I know) is hibiscus, rooibos (rotbush, rooibos, rooibos), lapacho and herbal teas (chamomile, rosehip, currant, St. John's wort tea, oregano and thyme tea, etc.).
Hibiscus contains no caffeine, but contains oxalic acid, which is not very good for gout (though in moderation). The taste, however, is so hackneyed - they stick it everywhere where it is needed and where it is not needed, that many simply cannot digest it.
Rooibos contains no caffeine at all, very little oxalic acid, and contains more antioxidants than green tea (a powerful stable antioxidant, superoxide dismutase (SOD) - extremely effective at neutralizing free radicals). Useful in the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes, atherosclerosis, allergic epidemics, liver diseases and cataracts. The anti-spasmodic properties of rooibos can relieve colic and stomach cramps, as well as help with skin conditions such as eczema, rashes and acne. Three cups of rooibos have been shown to provide one-third of a person's daily iron requirement. And two cups of the drink fulfill the body’s daily need for vitamin C, which is extremely important for the immune system. Rooibos contains an optimal ratio of sodium and potassium. The body needs to replenish these elements both during physical activity and stress.
From the same legume family, Honeybush (botanical name Cyclopia intermedia) grows on the mountain slopes in the Kedaberg and Langloof areas. It is like a variety of tea. So all the properties are the same.
In South Africa, Rooibos is simmered for 30 minutes, then strained and served hot or cold. We need to insist for at least 10 minutes.
Lapacho is an Inca tea, a drink made from the bark of the Lapacho tecome tree, which grows in the tropical jungles of Argentina, Mexico and Peru. This tree lives up to 700 years, and the recipe for this drink was known to the Incas. Outside of South America, parquet made from lapacho wood is better known than the drink made from its bark. Lapacho contains many vitamins and microelements: iron, potassium, copper, calcium. Lapacho contains 18 different quinones, which are rarely found in a single plant. There is no caffeine. The Incas called lapacho the “tree of life” and used a drink made from its crushed bark to treat almost all diseases: intestinal inflammation, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, anemia, asthma, impotence, hair loss, etc. Today the plant is used in clinics in Brazil to treat patients with leukemia, diseases that reduce immunity. The antitumor effect explains the presence of an antioxidant such as carnasol in lapacho. The presence of tecomine helps reduce blood sugar levels. And thanks to the presence of tecomin in the composition, it helps remove toxins from the body. True, the taste is quite unique: something from a decoction of oak bark with a taste of anise drops and absinthe :). Perhaps lapacho is the only tea-like drink that is boiled for preparation. The preparation method is simple: boil a liter of water and add 3-4 teaspoons of lapacho, then boil for another 5 minutes and let the tea steep for another 15 minutes. The result is a light brown, refreshing drink with a peculiar bitter taste. You can drink it either warm or cold.
Well, herbal teas are almost all characterized by the absence of caffeine. Exceptions are well known. This is common viburnum. Due to the high purine content, viburnum fruits are contraindicated for gout and kidney disease. Due to their high purine content, raspberries are contraindicated for gout and kidney disease. This also includes sweet clover.
Of the plants not recommended for gout, rhubarb is not prescribed to patients with gout and patients suffering from kidney stones with oxalate stones. Sour sorrel contains purine substances and oxalic acid. It is not recommended to use sorrel if salt metabolism is impaired (rheumatism, gout). Tomatoes are distinguished by a high content of purines and calcium salts of oxalic acid. The significant content of purines in legumes (beans, peas) limits their use in the diet of people suffering from gout. Spinach, lettuce, cauliflower and…honey and watermelons are also contraindicated.
Plants that have the ability to remove excess uric acid from the body come to the fore. This category includes birch buds, burdock (root), common heather, Veronica officinalis, madder, tenacious and true bedstraw and some other plants.
In general, the most suitable drink for gout is plain water (still), rooibos, lapacho, herbal teas; for acidic urine - periodic courses of alkaline mineral waters (medium mineralization - Borjomi, Lugansk.)
PS In a word, lord's disease (gout) - from the Greek podagra, which literally means “foot trap” or “leg that has become a victim” - a good reason to switch to a dairy-vegetable diet.
One of the courtiers noted that gout is the only disease that gives a person even more weight in society. Mirabeau immediately chimed in: “Of course! It’s like the cross of St. Louis, given for success with the ladies!”
PSS Good drawings on gout by anna_warvick
http://anna-warvick.livejournal.com/181670.html and here is the article from which the drawing
Many middle-aged and elderly people are faced with a disease such as gout. This disease affects the joints, inflaming them. Gout is a form of arthritis that occurs more often in males.
When drinking drinks such as coffee and tea, the body processes them and receives substances called purines. According to their purpose, purines are responsible for the circulation of substances, proper functioning, the movement of vitamins, and carry energy throughout the cells. But many consider purines to be the main culprits of the disease. In fact, purines actively participate in the body’s metabolic processes and do not cause harm in themselves. Purines are contained in the body “by default”, so if you stop drinking tea or coffee, the purines will not go anywhere, the body is able to synthesize them on its own. But excess purines are destroyed and excreted by the body.
When purines break down, they form a substance called uric acid. Its excess in the body can lead to gout. Uric acid is eliminated by the body on its own, however, with a serious metabolic disorder or certain genetic diseases, uric acid ceases to be excreted from the body and begins to accumulate. The favorite place for uric acid to accumulate is in the joints. Crystals of uric acid salts accumulate in the tissues of the joints, damaging them, causing inflammation, leading to gout.
The most famous purine today is caffeine. It is found in coffee and different varieties and types of tea. Even green tea contains large amounts of caffeine. Green tea contains even more caffeine than black tea. With normal metabolism - metabolism - caffeine is not dangerous; it is a tonic that instantly distributes useful substances to the cells of the body. When metabolic functions of the body are impaired, caffeine turns into excess uric acid, which settles in the joints. For coffee lovers, those who have been drinking coffee for a long time, there is an excellent harmless alternative to coffee - chicory. Can you drink chicory if you have gout? It is possible and necessary - chicory is useful for gout, it helps the functioning of the intestines, which helps improve metabolism and timely elimination of excess. Chicory tastes like coffee, so it will become not just a substitute, but a useful element of the diet.
The disease is developing rapidly. The first symptoms of gout are tingling in the joint. After some time, the tingling will develop into serious inflammation and begins to rapidly affect other joints and the genitourinary system.
Diet for the treatment of gout
In addition to complex therapy prescribed by a doctor (as a rule, these are diuretics), during an exacerbation of gout, the load on the affected joint should be reduced as much as possible. Get as much rest as possible and stick to your diet. The most effective way to eliminate the symptoms of the disease and alleviate the condition during an exacerbation is not medications, but a sorted diet. But this does not mean that you should give up movement. The development of the disease is negatively affected by a sedentary lifestyle, since the joints must bear some kind of feasible load.
During exacerbation of joint inflammation, it is recommended to adhere to the following gastronomic restrictions. What foods should be excluded from the diet:
It is necessary to drink enough water and green tea. A good balance of water in the body helps remove excess uric acid. You need to monitor your weight and, if necessary, reduce it, doing this only under the guidance of a doctor. Any incorrect methods of losing weight can aggravate and worsen the situation.
You should eat 4 times a day; fasting and irregular eating can provoke another attack or exacerbation of the disease. The best option for a gout patient is a vegetarian diet. Refusal of all meat, cooking dishes based on vegetables and dairy products. Vegetables can be consumed in any form, prepare vegetable broths, soups, stew, bake, boil and eat raw. Greens are also useful, but green onions and parsley should be consumed sparingly. The consumption of dairy and fermented milk products is encouraged: milk, kefir, fermented baked milk, sour cream, whey, cottage cheese. All these products should have low fat content.
The following drinks are useful for this disease:
Cucumber juice is a good way to get rid of excess purines; you need to drink 1 glass of it a day. It is advisable to consume mineral and alkaline waters only with low mineralization.
Is it possible to drink green tea?
In case of exacerbation of the disease, fasting days will be a good, effective remedy. They should be done every other day. Divide 1.5 kg of any desired fruits and vegetables into 4-5 doses throughout the day. This will be the entire diet for unloading. You can use a curd-kefir fasting day, but it will not work if you have problems with blood pressure. 400 g of low-fat cottage cheese and 0.5 liters of kefir spread throughout the day. Such fasting days help accelerate the excretion of uric acid.
Do not forget that when adhering to a diet, it is necessary not only to properly prepare the permitted foods, but also to radically reduce the use of salt in dishes and increase the volume of liquid consumption.
Be sure to consult your doctor before treating any illness. This will help take into account individual tolerance, confirm the diagnosis, ensure the correctness of treatment and eliminate negative drug interactions. If you use prescriptions without consulting your doctor, it is entirely at your own risk. All information on the site is presented for informational purposes and is not a medical aid. All responsibility for use lies with you.
Gout is a disease characterized by the deposition of uric acid crystals and urates in tissues and organs.
Gout is a common companion to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Those who are familiar with gout know what unbearable suffering pain in inflamed joints can cause, how unsightly gouty nodules on the hands look and how unpleasant it is to evaluate food every time not by its taste, but by whether it will lead to a new attack of gout or No.
If you have not yet experienced the agony of pain in your big toe and simply know that you have high uric acid, think about the consequences of your eating habits. For the time being, an incorrect lifestyle and diet will not cause you much physical discomfort. For the time being, that means until the first attack of gouty arthritis. And here you will have no choice but to follow a strict diet and take all the medications prescribed by your doctor.
The diet aimed at reducing uric acid levels is quite strict. This is the exclusion of any types of animal protein (meat, fish, seafood), the exclusion of legumes, red vegetables and fruits, coffee, tea, chocolate, any alcoholic beverages, and so on. But in 2015, therapists and nutritionists around the world began to revise their recommendations. The HPFS and NHANES III studies have revised some dietary and lifestyle recommendations for people with gout and elevated uric acid levels.
I suggest you familiarize yourself with the new recommendations. This will be useful not only for those who already suffer from gout, but also for those who want to live the healthiest and most enjoyable life possible.
Engage in daily physical activity and lose weight
High amounts of fatty tissue in the body are associated with higher levels of uric acid and an increased risk of developing gout. In the healthy eating pyramid, daily physical activity and weight control are at the base.
This is because obesity has many important health consequences. These include cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, kidney and gallstones. Many patients with gout are overweight or obese, and losing weight through gradual calorie reduction and exercise can significantly reduce uric acid levels and the risk of gout attacks.
A pleasant bonus from losing weight will be a significant reduction in the risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as the development of type 2 diabetes. Well, or for those who already suffer from type 2 diabetes, normalization of glycemia will be a plus.
Limit your consumption of red meat
Consumption of red meat is directly linked to increased uric acid levels and an increased risk of developing gout. Thus, according to metabolic experiments, a clear link has been established between the immediate consumption of large amounts of red meat, for example, a good cut of steak, meat pie or cutlets, with a clear increase in uric acid levels.
In addition, red meat is a major source of saturated fat, which reduces the sensitivity of the body's cells to insulin (causing insulin resistance), and increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Also, poor cell sensitivity to insulin leads to an increase in the level of “bad cholesterol” - LDL-c, which worsens the condition of blood vessels and causes or increases the degree of atherosclerosis.
Consumption of large amounts of animal fat is, among other things, associated with the development of coronary heart disease (this is a precursor to myocardial infarction). And daily consumption of red meat increases the risk of developing colon and rectal cancer.
So you shouldn’t rely on meat 7 days a week, and red meat should be completely eliminated
Add fish and seafood to your diet
“But how can that be?” — you ask, “After all, seafood was forbidden to us all the time!”
Yes, eating seafood increases uric acid levels and increases your risk of developing gout in the future. This is due to the high purine content in seafood. Increased consumption of fatty fish and other types of fish and shellfish has been associated with an increased risk of gout.
But consuming fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids has a pronounced positive effect on the body, reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and reduces bad cholesterol. Therefore, we doctors can no longer recommend completely eliminating it from the diet.
You can eat fatty fish and seafood if you try to follow other recommendations for lifestyle changes. For example, losing weight or eliminating red meat. This is especially true for people who already suffer from gout or cardiovascular diseases.
If you cannot tolerate fish and seafood at all, or despite all the restrictions, they continue to cause you gout attacks, you can use plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids or dietary supplements with eicosapenaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
In experiments on rats, it was shown that a diet rich in linolenic acid and EPA significantly reduced inflammation caused by uric acid crystals, which had a protective effect and reduced the incidence of gout attacks.
Drink milk and consume other low-fat dairy products
Those people who ate two servings of low-fat dairy products per day (a serving of cottage cheese for breakfast and a glass of kefir for dinner, for example) had lower levels of uric acid in the blood and a lower risk of developing gout in the future. Moreover, consumption of low-fat dairy products, according to completed studies, is associated with a decrease in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks and strokes), type 2 diabetes, premenopausal breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Low-fat dairy products are also part of the DASH diet, designed to lower blood pressure.
Please note that we are talking about low-fat dairy products, and not low-fat dairy products. These include:
Of course, all dairy products should be free of sugar, dyes and flavors. Give preference to natural products and add fruits or berries to them. If you don't have diabetes or have good control over your blood sugar, you can add a teaspoon of honey to taste.
*In the article about the beneficial properties of fatty foods, I cited a study on the protective effect of full-fat dairy products on the development of diabetes. There is no discrepancy between these two conclusions. Indeed, when considering the effect of fatty dairy products on the body, the study included healthy volunteers without increasing uric acid levels
Consume plant-based protein, nuts, legumes, and purine-rich vegetables
Previously, when elevated levels of uric acid in the blood were detected or when a diagnosis of gout was made, doctors forbade eating legumes and vegetables that contain relatively high amounts of purines, such as tomatoes. However, recent evidence suggests they do not increase the risk of gout. These foods (especially nuts and legumes) are an excellent source of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals.
People who consumed large quantities of plant protein (2 servings per day or more) had a 27% lower risk of developing gout compared to those who consumed less.
Consumption of nuts , for example, is associated with several important health benefits, including a reduction in cardiovascular disease, sudden coronary deaths, a reduction in the incidence of gallstones, and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
According to the new recommendations, nuts and legumes should be consumed 1-3 times a day
This is quite applicable among patients with gout and hyperuricemia. They are great for snacking between meals or before a workout.
However, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that nuts are a high-calorie product and you should not consume more than 50 g of nuts per day!
In terms of increasing the amount of legumes in the diet, the only limitation is the intestinal microflora, which is unprepared for a large amount of fiber. Read about how to improve its condition and increase the amount of fiber in your diet here.
Drink less alcoholic drinks
Consuming more than 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day in men and 1 alcoholic drink in women was associated with increased uric acid levels and the risk of developing gout.
According to the results of more than 60 prospective studies, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a 25-40% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease. But I note that the general beneficial effects of alcohol on the body disappeared when consuming more than 1-2 servings of alcoholic beverages per day in men and when consuming more than 1 serving of alcohol daily in women.
1 serving of alcohol = 30 g of strong alcoholic drinks (40%) = 100 ml of dry wine = 300 ml of beer.
It is recommended to completely exclude strong beer, cocktails and liqueurs due to their high sugar content.
I note that those who are trying to abstain from alcohol should not immediately start drinking to improve their health, because similar positive effects can be achieved by regular exercise and a healthy diet
Limit your consumption of sugary waters and soft drinks
These include: juices (including directly pressed), fruit drinks, kvass, soda.
The fructose contained in these drinks increases uric acid levels and the risk of developing gout. Moreover, fructose consumption is associated with the development of insulin resistance and an increase in calorie intake. And this leads to weight gain, the development of obesity, diabetes mellitus 2, symptomatic gallstone disease and an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer.
As for sweet fruits, such as apples, oranges, tangerines, pears and so on, they also increase uric acid levels and the risk of developing gout. However, due to the fiber and vitamins they contain, the health benefits of consuming them make it unjustified to recommend limiting their intake in patients with gout.
You can continue to drink coffee if you have already consumed it
If you love coffee, but your doctor tells you that your uric acid levels are elevated and you may be developing gout, don't give up your favorite drink right away. Thus, according to studies, drinking both regular and decaffeinated coffee was associated with a decrease in uric acid levels and the risk of developing gout.
Regular coffee consumption also reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, kidney stones, symptomatic gallstones, and Parkinson's disease. Great news for coffee lovers!
However, remember that caffeine is a diuretic and removes calcium and potassium in the urine. Thus, drinking more than 4 cups of coffee per day can increase the risk of fractures in women after menopause (calcium is “washed out” of the bones), cause increased heart rate or arrhythmia (due to decreased potassium levels or caffeine overdose). Moderation is important in everything!
For those who do not drink coffee, but want to start doing so, it is important to know that you need to start gradually. Caffeine is a xanthine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine), and most likely its protective effect is similar to that of allopurinol (via inhibition of xanthine oxidase). A lot of scary words, I understand =)
This means that irregular coffee consumption or sudden consumption of large doses of caffeine can trigger a gout attack.
So, if you already have gout and decide to drink coffee regularly to lower your uric acid levels, start with small doses and gradually increase them. If you just want to try a new coffee drink, choose a small portion of weak coffee, for example with low-fat milk, but without sugar, and enjoy the taste
Take Vitamin C
In clinical studies, consuming 500 mg or more of vitamin C per day reduced uric acid levels and was associated with a reduced risk of gout attacks.
Vitamin C also protected against the development of cardiovascular disease. This is very important for people suffering from gout. Those who want to reduce the risk of developing gout should consume 500-2000 mg of vitamin C per day. 2000 mg is the upper limit of vitamin C intake according to the American Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Guidelines.
Excessive intake of vitamin C can lead to the development of urolithiasis and increased body temperature, insomnia and anxiety, so again.
In conclusion, I want to say that everything in life requires a reasonable approach. You shouldn’t immediately stop taking medications prescribed by your doctor and indulge in coffee and alcohol while eating fatty fish. Start by increasing your physical activity regimen, stop eating fatty red meat, reduce your alcohol intake to the levels described above, and gradually introduce previously prohibited foods into your diet.
Treat your body to variety and enjoy how healthy eating and physical activity improve your well-being.
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Diet for gout is an important part of the treatment of this unpleasant disease . It is known that, unfortunately, it is impossible to completely cure gout, but with the help of therapeutic measures and diet, periods of remission can be prolonged and exacerbations can be prevented.
The combination of treatment and diet in the treatment of a gout patient can significantly improve his well-being and allow him to live a full life.
A diet for gout helps normalize purine metabolism, reduces the formation of uric acid and its salts in the body and prevents alkalinization of urine.
The diet for gout is regular; you need to eat 4-5 times a day at the same time, without starving or overeating, so as not to provoke an attack. Of course, for patients with gout it is undesirable to be overweight, but it is not advisable to sharply limit your diet in order to lose weight; it would be better to lose excess weight slowly, gradually.
The diet for gout prescribes the patient to drink plenty of fluids - in normal times, a patient with gout should drink at least 2 liters of fluid per day, during an exacerbation - up to 3 liters. Drinks such as mineral waters, fruit drinks, compotes, and rosehip decoction are very useful for gout patients. It is not advisable to drink drinks during meals; it is better to do this 30 minutes before or 30-40 minutes after meals.
A diet for gout should provide the patient with physiologically complete nutrition, it contains a limitation of animal proteins (they are replaced by vegetable protein), the fat and carbohydrate content is normal. The diet for gout excludes foods rich in purine compounds, foods containing alkaline radicals (plant foods, dairy products) are introduced into the diet, and salt intake is also slightly limited. If the patient is overweight, the gout diet moderately limits the amount of carbohydrates in his diet.
Culinary processing of products is usual; boiled and steamed dishes in unchopped form are recommended.
The gout diet recommends excluding the following foods and dishes from your diet::
The gout diet recommends including the following foods in your diet::
For gout, treatment and diet during an exacerbation completely excludes meat and fish ; fasting days are recommended every other day:
It is recommended to steam or boil food. We should not forget about the need to consume at least 3 liters of water per day during exacerbations of gout.
Breakfast: vegetable salad with olive oil, soft-boiled egg, apple-carrot pudding with millet, tea.
Second breakfast: rosehip decoction.
Lunch: milk soup with noodles, fried potato cutlets, jelly.
Afternoon snack: fresh apples.
Dinner: baked cheesecakes, cabbage rolls with rice and vegetables, tea.
At night: bran decoction.
Separately, I would like to say about uric acid in the diet for gout.
Uric acid in the form of sodium salt is found in the blood plasma and is synthesized in the liver. Uric acid is excreted by the kidneys, but if kidney function is impaired, the level of uric acid and sodium salts in the body begins to increase, causing damage to the internal organs of the body. Testing the level of uric acid in the body is of great importance for diagnosing gout, since gout may be asymptomatic at the onset of the disease.
Why is uric acid dangerous? Its crystals can be deposited in the subcutaneous tissue, kidneys, joints, and organ tissues, which contributes to the development of gout and chronic arthritis.
Accordingly, one of the main goals of a diet for gout is to reduce the level of uric acid in the body. Uric acid is a product of the metabolism of purine substances, therefore, to reduce the level of uric acid in the diet for gout, foods rich in purine compounds are limited .
The following foods contain the most purines:
Prolonged heat treatment can significantly reduce the purine content in foods, so it is recommended to boil meat, fish and poultry in a gout diet for a long time before consumption.