If you get periodic attacks of severe pain, swelling, and redness in your big toe, you could have a form of arthritis known as gout. Left untreated, you can expect symptoms to get more frequent and severe.
Gout doesn’t have a cure, but eating a gout-friendly diet that removes or reduces trigger foods high in purines can make painful attacks happen less often or stop entirely. Understand from podiatrists Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, and Amber O’Connor, DPM, of Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo, California, what the worst gout trigger foods are, and what you should eat instead.
Purines are a substance that occurs naturally in many foods. When you digest food high in purines, your body makes a form of waste called uric acid.
Uric acid doesn’t normally cause problems, but someone who has gout has trouble filtering this type of waste. When your body can’t get rid of it, it solidifies in joints like your big toes and causes flare-ups of gout.
This means you need to eat a diet that lowers your intake of foods high in purines. Instead, focus your diet on foods lower in purines or that actively help your body filter uric acid.
A surprising number of foods, including foods that are otherwise considered healthy, contain high levels of purines. When developing a gout diet plan for you, we recommend eating the following foods sparingly:
Another common gout trigger is alcohol. Although not always high in uric acid itself, alcoholic beverages make it harder for your kidneys to eliminate existing waste.
Beer and liquor produced with grain, such as whisky or vodka, are especially triggering. Try to avoid these kinds of alcohol and limit your consumption to other drinks such as wine.
There are many delicious foods that you can safely enjoy with gout. Some foods even help filter uric acid out of your kidneys, including:
In addition, delicious foods like chicken, eggs, nuts and nut butters, healthy oils, fresh vegetables, and whole grains are low in purines and safe to eat.
Planning your meals to include healthy portion sizes and low-purine foods also lowers your risk of gout attacks. Eating all foods in moderation helps you control any other contributing conditions to your gout, including diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Drinking enough water is important for everyone and is an especially positive habit when you have gout. Water helps your kidneys filter out uric acid and reduces your risk of attacks.
Combined with an overall healthy lifestyle and following a gout treatment plan developed by our team, you can avoid the dreaded gout attacks and live without inflammation and pain. Contact us to get started on minimizing your gout attacks and getting your life back as soon as possible.
