Low Uric Acid Diet: Foods to Avoid

A low uric acid diet is essential in managing gout, a kind of arthritis that is characterized by intolerable pain and swelling of the joints.

Although some people are at a higher risk of developing this arthritic problem due to their genes, it is important to note that elevated levels of uric acid in the blood are still the major cause of gout.

If you don’t have uric acid problems, then hard and uneven crystallized uric acid will not develop in between your joints and you will be spared from pain.

So what can make your uric acid level spike up? Basically, uric acid is a by-product of purines, which are compounds that are naturally occurring in the body and responsible for the conversion of food into energy.

Excess purines, which are also found in many types of food from animals being sold in the market, are also converted into uric acid. Thus, if your diet is high in meat and fat, you will surely be a candidate for gout.

If you are interested in managing your gout effectively, the first thing that you need to focus on is a low uric acid diet. Foods that you need to avoid or eat sparingly include mackerel, anchovies, herring and other similar type of fishes. As much as possible, you should also avoid eating beef, goose, partridge and other poultry meats.

Mincemeat, kidneys, brains, liver and other internal organs of animals should also be avoided. These things are not only high in purines, but they also have nothing except high levels of bad cholesterol, so you are really not going to miss anything by not including these things in your diet.

It is also a good idea to minimize your consumption of consommé, broth and bouillon. Although vegetables are generally good for you, there are some that you should eat moderately. Dried legumes, spinach and cauliflower are just three of them.

In order for the management of your gout to be complete, you also might want to start losing weight and increase intake of water and cherries (or cherry juice).