If you have gout, you know all too well what it feels like to have attacks of pain in your joints.
The pain can be sudden and severe. Sometimes, sufferers wake up in the middle of the night feeling like their joints are on fire.
You want your joints to be flexible, strong, and painlessly aid the movements of your body. But gout steals all that from you. You’re left with stiffness and pain.
What Causes Gout?
This discomfort is caused by the buildup of uric acid in joints. Uric acid is normally in your urine and is a normal metabolic byproduct of purine, a component of a variety of foods but mainly found in animal products. This acid crystallizes in joints if too much of it builds up, resulting in inflammation and pain.
Foods play a huge role in the buildup of uric acid, so it should be no surprise that what you eat determines how much uric acid builds up in your joints.
In order to have healthy joints, you need to know which foods to avoid because they contribute to the buildup of uric acid in your body.
Avoid These Foods
To keep your uric acid levels low, avoid:
1. Sardines
Sardines have high amounts of purines compared to other foods. For people who don’t have gout, sardines can be a healthy source of anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats, but they are loaded with purines that turn into uric acid. They are bad news if you have gout!
2. Beef
Cow’s meat is not nearly as high in purines as sardines, but it is still quite high. Beef has 100 mg per 100 g, compared to over 400 mg in sardines. You still need to minimize animal products (like meats) if you want to keep the uric acid levels down.
3. Anchovies
Anchovies are another tasty small fish that will try to seduce you with its rich salty flavor. But beware, it’s also high in purines (over 230 mg per 100 g).
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4. Chicken Breast
Chicken breast with skin clocks in at around 175 mg of purines. It’s a common food and might be a challenge to avoid at first, but you’re better off cutting it out of your diet if you’ve got gout.
5. Soft Drinks
It’s not only meat that you have to avoid if you have gout.
Soft drinks are terrible for your body, especially if you have gout. Fructose-heavy soft drinks are “strongly associated” with gout in men and women 2,3. Consuming a lot of sugar in one beverage puts a huge strain on your body, and it’s bad for your joints.
6. Beer and Cocktails
You can have a little bit of wine, but beer and spirits are linked to gout 4.
Alcohol causes sharp increases in uric acid, but there’s good news in all of this. Moderate wine consumption does not appear to increase the risk of gout like other types of alcohol do 4,5.
7. Liver
If you’re thinking about eating liver, whether from beef, chicken, or another animal, think again! Liver has some of the highest amounts of purines. It’s right up there with sardines. Chicken liver does have fewer purines than beef liver, but it’s best to stay away from both.
8. Beans
If you want to be super strict and get rid of nearly all purines in your diet, you could also cut out beans, including soy and its different forms (tofu, tempeh, etc.) However, some research shows that purines in plant foods aren’t as harmful as those in meats, partially because purines in meat aren’t excreted in your urine as easily 6.
9. Mushrooms
For a plant food, mushrooms are extremely high in purines, over 400 mg per 100 g (similar to sardines).
10. Tuna
Unfortunately, a lot of tuna these days is filled with toxic heavy metals. It’s also full of purines, around 290 mg per 100 g.
Tired of regular gout flare-ups?
If so, I’ve got some goods news…
The cause of gout is simply too much uric acid buildup in your joints. Before you rush to the doctor, you can take steps to fight back against too much uric acid, the safe and natural way!
Nutritionist Evan Burns reveals a dozen ways to fight excess uric acid -- without prescriptions or steroids --in his FREE report!
You’ll also get to read about which foods actually help reduce uric acid levels.
