Special Diets

Can diet help gout?

Anyone whose has experienced got knows just how discouraging a flare up can be. When high levels of uric acid in the blood means that crystals form around the joints, solutions are often sought to bring levels down.  For some, the solution is to follow a diet that is low in purines (which is used by the body to make uric acid).  

Your local health food store will be able to give you some information about low purine eating, but to summarise here:

Low purine foods

  • Eggs, nuts, and peanut butter
  • Low-fat and fat free cheese and ice cream
  • Skim or 1% milk
  • Soup made without meat extract or broth
  • Vegetables that are not on the medium-purine list below
  • All fruit and fruit juices
  • Bread, pasta, rice, cake, cornbread, and popcorn
  • Water, soda, tea, coffee, and cocoa
  • Sugar, sweets, and gelatin
  • Fat and oil

Medium purine foods

  • Limit meats to 4 oz daily
  • Limit asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms and green peas to half a cup of each daily.
  • Limit beans, peas and lentils to one cup daily

High purine foods

  • Anchovies, sardines, scallops, and mussels
  • Tuna, codfish, herring, and haddock
  • Wild game meats, like goose and duck
  • Organ meats, such as brains, heart, kidney, liver, and sweetbreads
  • Gravies and sauces made with meat
  • Yeast extracts taken in the form of a supplement

For more information about low purine diets, visit your local health food store. Find your nearest one here.


Share this post:

Sign up to our newsletter