Low Purine Diet For Gout

Getting a low purine diet for gout is extremely important for gout-sufferers to help reduce the risk of getting another attack. Perhaps attack is an understatement! On a pain scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being the highest, most people rate gout a 9 or 10 which can only mean one thing – extreme head-bashing pain!

Gout is one of the most painful types of arthritis and affects over 8 million people in the United States alone! But with proper medication and diet, most patients are able to live a normal lifestyle and can in fact prevent and/or minimize further attacks.

For one thing, gout is caused mostly by foods that are high in purine therefore if you want to reduce the possibility of getting another attack then you have to avoid foods that are high in purine. A low purine diet is a must for gout-sufferers.

Here is a list of foods with low purine content of 0-50 mg per 100 grams. Familiarize yourself with this list; you need to religiously follow a low purine diet if you want to prevent another gout attack.

• Pasta and macaroni
• Fruits
• Olives
• Gelatin
• Vegetables - all except those which have medium purine content such as runner / green / string / French beans, mange tout and sugar-snap peas are okay.
• Soups made without meat extract or broth
• Bread that are made with white flour or refined grain types and have low fiber content
• Cereal - all except which have medium purine content such as most bread and cakes, most breakfast cereals, biscuits, rice, barley, couscous, polenta and pasta are okay if consumed in moderation.
• Low fat dairy products (milk, cream, yoghurt, ice cream, cheese, eggs)
• Fats within reasonable calorie limits such as butter, most cooking oils, lard, shortening, salad dressing, mayonnaise)
• Nuts - all except peanuts or cashew nuts. Must also not be salted.
• Preserves such as jam, marmalade, chutney, pickles and sweets
• Beverages such as tea, coffee, fresh juices, soft drinks (as long as these do not have high fructose content)

Now that you know which kinds of food have low purine content, it is also important that you know which foods you should avoid at all costs. Click here to read my hub which provides a comprehensive list of foods that cause gout.

1) Create a diary to track foods that you must avoid to prevent gout. On this diary also list down the good foods that you should buy (see list above).

2) Next time you go to the supermarket buy ONLY the low purine foods listed above. I know it’s depressing for you to see such a short list of foods you are allowed to eat. It’s perfectly natural for you to feel this way as your body is used to eating red meat, seafoods, junk food, fruits that are high in fructose, and of course, drinking liquor. However, if you want to avoid another episode of gout (which I know you do) then you have to teach your body to avoid these foods!

3) A low purine diet is not as boring as you might think. Grab a copy of Gout Hater’s Cookbooks or any other low purine cookbooks or recipes you have access to to learn different ways of preparing delicious low purine dishes!

There are so many foods that a person suffering from gout should and must avoid. To avoid future attacks or at least minimize the possibility of it occurring a complete lifestyle change is in order.

While a low purine diet for gout is important, you must complement it with a healthy dose of common sense - eating right and exercising fall within the category of common sense for most people.

Remember, a low purine diet does not have to be boring. Spice up your low purine diet for gout by checking out healthy recipes!