Harmful Foods for Gout Can Be Eliminated With Conviction
July 15th, 2011 | Author: Pain
Gout is a very painful form of arthritis; it is often associated with overeating, excess consumption of alcohol and a taste for red meats and seafood. Effective treatment of gout involves an exercise program to be followed closely, and a tough dietary restriction program which many find difficult to maintain. However, taking the resolve to follow this program in its entirety will give you the chance to avoid gout flares. This can be achieved by avoiding the harmful foods for gout that are the biggest menace.
Low purine food for a gout diet
The good news is that new medical advances have meant that adhering to a draconian diet is not absolutely necessary. There a number of new medications available that have reduced the need for severe measures in treating gout. However, despite these advances, a change to a healthier regime is no bad thing, and a gout diet is extremely similar to many more “broad line” healthy diet programs; in addition, a gout diet can also directly assist you with prevention of several other potentially chronic illnesses.
Gout is not primarily caused by your diet or simply, what you eat and what you drink. Instead, it is caused by your body’s inability to flush out excess levels of uric acid. This uric acid forms crystals that accumulate around your joints and block the flow of blood, and this is what causes the pain. Uric acid itself is produced when your body breaks down purines. Purines occur naturally in your body, however, eating high purine food can tip the uric acid level over the tolerance level of your body and cause painful gout flares to occur.
Target for a gout reduction program
The purpose of a gout diet is primarily to control the production of uric acid, and then to eliminate it or flush it as quickly as possible from the body. By itself, the food suitable for a gout diet is not a universal remedy, but will assist with reducing the uric acid reading. The ideal maximum for uric acid is 6mg/1dl. Obesity or being overweight is also a massive contributor to gout affliction. Any effective program to combat the effects of gout will need to make sure that effective weight loss is a core part of the program.
Key diet guidelines
Diet as part of an overall combat program is aimed to remove foods that are high in purines from your diet. This in turn controls the production of uric acid to some degree. If you are over the recommended average weight, follow a program that will see a steady (but not overdramatic) loss of weight. Take note that fasting and rapid weight loss can actually increase the occurrences of gout attacks and can be counter-productive.