When sufferers of gout start to suffer bad pain from gout attacks, they will normally start to do some research on the subject. Obviously they are looking for ways to stop the attacks from happening and normally they will start to learn that their diet plays a big part in the gout attacks.

So the usual cry is "I have gout what can I eat?" or they will mention their favorite foods and ask if they are ok to eat, can I eat eggs if I have gout, or cantaloupes or pork? It is easy to get tied up in your few favorite foods and forget to look at the bigger picture.

Stopping the pain is the first thing on your mind when you are having the attack but as the pain wears off and you realize that you will have to make some changes in your life then suddenly you start to think that maybe you won't have another attack or maybe the next won't be so bad and you will be able to bear the pain.

In fact if you don't change your eating habits your gout will get worse and worse and you could well end up in hospital with it. The uric acid crystals that have built up around your joints , particularly your big toe joint, will not go away on their own. If you carry on eating the same things that caused your gout then you will carry on having the pain.

Curing your gout is not a matter of changing your eating habits for a while, like anything that affects your health you need to make a conscious decision to change for the better for ever not just for now.

Ok so what kind of changes to your lifestyle do you need to make in order to make a difference to the severity of your gout attacks? One of the first things that you can easily do it to keep a record of what you eat. Carry a small notebook around with you and write down what you eat and when over the next two weeks. This will let you see exactly what you are eating and where you can make improvements to your eating habits.

Try to stear clear of foods which contain high levels of purines because this causes the body to create uric acid, if this then crystallizes then gout can be caused. Therefore one of the first things to cut out of your diet are foods that contain this.

After two weeks of keeping a record of your food intake, use it for another two weeks but this time highlight where you have managed to cut down on the bad foods. Concentrate on one thing at a time, once you have cut one thing down, move onto something else. After a while you should see a reduction in your gout problems. Also increase your water intake at the same time. Are you wondering if there are any food types which will actually help with your gout?

If you suffer with gout then you should be changing your diet right now. Your diet, including your intake of fluids (alcoholic and non alcoholic), is affecting every part of your body including your joints where the gout pain appears.

When you have to much uric acid in your body it will crystallize around your joints and cause them to become inflamed and painful, this condition is known as gout. If your diet is high in purines and protein then there is a good chance that you will have an attack of gout at some point.

When your gout attack is so painful that you can hardly walk, realize that a lot of that pain is caused by your diet, if you drink beer regularly , eat game meat or liver then you can expect to experience gout attacks regularly. It is a good idea to keep a record of what you eat and drink for a month or so , include information on any gout attacks you may have.

When looking at your dietary requirements if you suffer from gout the first thing that you should be doing is increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables you are consuming. At least you should be eating no less than five servings of these each day. Ideally if you can to ensure that you get maximum benefit from these you either eat or drink them in a raw state or you just lightly steam them.

Potatoes, corn and peas are just three of the vegetables that you should be avoiding all together or at least reducing your intake of them. It can be hard to change your diet all at once, so make a plan to reduce your intake of potatoes by 50% within 2 weeks and work on from there.

While your intake of meat and vegetables will greatly affect your gout another thing you can do to help yourself is increase your intake of water. If you drink alcohol (especially beer) then greatly reduce that intake and replace it with water.

Along with knowing which foods you should be including in your gout diet it is important to also know the kinds of foods that you should be avoiding. The main foods that one should be avoiding because they contain high levels of both protein and purine are beef, pork, chicken, turkey, tuna, salmon, cream, eggs and beans. If you can eliminate these from your diet along with many different types of vegetable oils, offal (kidneys and liver) you will find that the chances of your condition becoming worse are greatly reduced.

You can reduce your gout attacks and the severity of them over time just by making changes to your diet and increasing your water intake. These dietary changes will not only help reduce your gout pain they will also help you feel better in yourself. Constant pain of gout is something that will affect your way of living and you can improve this dramatically just by a few simple changes in eating habits.