In recent years, with the improvement of people’s living standard and the change of diet structure, the incidence of gout has increased significantly in China. It is estimated that there are about 12 million gout patients in China.
Gout is a metabolic disease that can manifest as acute arthritis, chronic arthritis, and even develop into gouty nephropathy, leading to kidney failure. Recent research results show that the onset of gout is mostly due to congenital enzyme defects in the body, but it may also be closely related to the triggering factors such as improper diet later in life. The disease is particularly prevalent in middle-aged and elderly people over 40 years old, obese people and brain workers; more men than women, because female estrogen can promote uric acid excretion, but after menopause, women’s estrogen levels are greatly reduced, so the prevention and treatment of gout should not be paralyzed. At present, there is no effective cure for gout. Therefore, in addition to medication, appropriate dietary choices are important to control the occurrence and development of the disease.
Control purine intake
Perhaps because cold is one of the triggers of gouty arthritis attacks, people image this disease as gout. In fact, it is caused by the accumulation of uric acid in the blood due to abnormal purine metabolism in the body, which causes inflammation of the synovial membrane in the joint cavity. Purine is an important component of nucleic acid, the genetic material in the nucleus of cells, and is contained not only in our human cells but also in almost all plant and animal cells. Under normal circumstances, the purines consumed from the diet and the purines produced by the body’s own metabolism are eliminated from the urine in the form of uric acid through the kidneys, and the “in” and “out” are in a dynamic balance. Once this balance is disrupted, it will manifest itself as gout.
Therefore, the treatment of gout requires a good diet to keep the intake of purines as low as possible. For patients in the acute stage, the intake of purine in food should even be close to zero in order to provide rapid relief of symptoms with medication. For patients in remission or chronic phase, controlling purine intake to 100-150 mg/day is usually effective in preventing the onset of symptoms.
Foods with high purine content include animal offal, brains, mixed beans and various kinds of broths and gravies, which are absolutely not optional for gout patients; coarse grains, spinach, cauliflower, mushrooms, lentils and poultry meat also contain purines between 75 and 150 mg per 100 grams and should be carefully selected; while milk, eggs, japonica rice, white flour, fruits, vegetables, lotus root powder, coffee, cocoa and oils are relatively safe Gout patients can choose from these foods in moderation.
Other considerations
In addition to the basic principle of controlling purine intake, gout patients should also pay attention to the following matters in their daily diet.
Weight loss
Maintaining a normal weight is an effective way to reduce gout attacks, but the rate of weight loss should be such that ketosis does not occur (ketosis: high acetone levels in the blood leading to acidosis. Editor’s note), as ketones compete with uric acid for excretion in the kidneys;
Low-fat A light diet can reduce calorie intake and help in weight loss. A high-fat diet can prevent the kidneys from excreting uric acid;
Adequate intake of vitamin C and B group This helps to dissolve the uric acid salt accumulated in the tissues; Quit smoking and drinking more water
Drink 2,500-3,000 ml of water daily to help the kidneys excrete uric acid by increasing the amount of urine, and to reduce the damage caused by uric acid to the kidneys;
Eat moderately and never overeat. A large intake of purine at one time usually leads to an acute attack of gout.
Recipe arrangement
So, how should a gout patient’s diet be arranged in a day? The following is an example for gout patients to illustrate the basic principles of a low purine diet for gout.
Breakfast 250ml skim milk, 100g rich flour bread
Lunch: shredded chicken and cabbage with tomatoes (ingredients: 100g tomatoes, 50g chicken, 100g cabbage)
Staple food: 100g of rolls (rich flour), 50g of rice porridge (japonica rice)
Dinner: scrambled celery with egg (35g of egg, 100g of celery)
Soup: cucumber and egg soup (cucumber 100g, egg 35g)
Staple food: rice (100g of japonica rice)
Oil for the whole day 21g
This one-day recipe contains 1,600 kcal and less than 100 mg of purine, which is suitable for medium-sized patients in remission from gout.