People with gout should consult their doctors about developing individualized meal plans.
Diets should take into account all aspects of medical nutrition therapy, especially for people with heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes. General dietary guidelines for people with gout include:
-Limit protein consumption from meat and replace it with low-fat or non-fat dairy products and soy products, such as soybeans and tofu.
-Consume dairy products low in fat rather than those high in fat.
-Since carbohydrates help increase the excretion of uric acid, carbohydrates should be about 50% of total calories consumed. To accomplish this, persons should eat six to ten servings a day of breads, pasta, cereals, and other starchy foods, and five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
-Fat consumption should be limited to 30% of total calories consumed.
-Cholesterol intake should be limited to 300 milligrams (mg) per day.
-Maintaining a healthy body weight is essential.
-Alcohol, especially beer, should be avoided.
-It is important to stay hydrated by drinking eight to ten eight-ounce glasses of fluids, preferably water, every day.
Dietary management of gout is centered around reducing uric acid in the body and managing conditions that often occur in people with gout, including diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
A diet of foods low in purines is recommended for most people with gout, although it is not possible to completely eliminate purines from the diet. The Arthritis Foundation recommends that people with gout learn by trial and error which foods cause problems and what their personal limits of these foods are.
Laura Rall, a nutrition researcher at Tufts University in Boston, advocates the trial and error method of developing a gout diet.
‘‘Begin by eliminating foods in the high-purine category, while reducing your intake of foods in the moderate-purine category, If you don’t have gout attacks after trying this, you may add more foods from the moderate category, or occasionally try a food from the high category.
Using these guidelines, you may be able to determine a safe level of purine consumption and enjoy some of your favorite foods without experiencing (gout) attacks.’’
