GOUT

Dietary Considerations:
The Purine Content of Foods
In the News: Meat and Seafood Raise Risk of Gout; Dairy Foods Lower It

 

.PURINE CONTENT OF FOODS

Purine from food accounts for only 15% of uric acid; 85% is endogenous, formed from purine metabolism in the body independent of diet. Certain dietary restrictions are still helpful. Alcohol, especially binge drinking, increases production and decreases excretion of uric acid. During acute bouts of gout, most of the protein in the diet shoud come from cheese, milk, eggs, and low purine vegetables

PURINE-RICH FOODS
Anchovies
Beer and other alcoholic beverages
Bouillon
Broth
Consomme
Goose
Gravy
Herring
Legumes
Meat extracts
Mince meat
Organ meats (brain, kidney, liver, sweetbreads)
Patridge
Roe (fish eggs)
Sardines
Scallops
Yeast (as supplement) and yeast extracts

MODERATE-PURINE FOODS
Asparagus
Beans (dried)
Fish
Lentils
Meat
Mushrooms
Peas (dried)
Shellfish
Spinach

LOW-PURINE FOODS
Bread
Butter, polyunsaturated margarine, & other fats
Cereals
Cheese
Chocolate
Coffee
Cream soups made of low purine vegetables
Eggs
Fruit and fruit juices
Milk, milk products and eggs
Noodles
Nuts
Olives
Peanut butter
Rice
Salt
Sugars, sweets and gelatin
Cherries contain an enzyme that helps to break down and cause the excretion of uric acid. Eat one cup cherries every day to relieve the pain and cup daily to prevent future attacks. Look for fresh raw cherries first. Frozen or canned unsweetened cherries or 100% pure cherry juice may work too.

SOURCES
ASYMPTOMATIC HYPERURICEMIA:TO TREAT OR NOT TO TREAT . CLEVELAND CLINIC JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. AUG 2002
Intricacies in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Gout. Patient Care . July 15, 2001
Donna Tinnerello MS,RD,CDN. August 1999

 

MEAT AND SEAFOOD RAISE RISK OF GOUT; DAIRY FOODS LOWER IT
Internal Medicine News. June 1, 2004. Mary Ann Moon

A 12-year study confirmed the conventional wisdom on the dietary causes of gout. Purine-rich foods­beef, pork, lamb and seafood­increase the risk of gout while diets high in casein and lactalbumin reduce the risk. Every additional daily serving of these meats raised the risk of gout by 21%. while each additional serving of seafood raised it by 7%. An expected finding was that the intake of purine-rich vegetables did not increase the risk of gout. therefore, suggesting that there should be no restriction of purine-rich vegetable sources.

In contrast, increasing the intake of dairy foods, especially low-fat fairy foods (skim milk and low-fat yogurt), decreased the risk of gout.

These risks are independent of other risk factors for gout: hypertension, high BMI, alcohol use, diuretic use and chronic renal disease.

ALCOHOL AND GOUT

The study also confirmed the association of gout with alcohol use. However, the risk varies with the type of alcohol consumed ­ beer more likely to cause gout than spirits. And the good news for oenophiles, moderate wine consumption does not appear to raise the risk of gout AT ALL. (Lancet 363[9417]:1277-81,2004). 



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