Gout Diet

Sophie Matzik is a freelance writer for the medical team.

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Diet plays a central role in gout. Gout develops when there is too much uric acid in the blood - and this can be significantly influenced by conscious food choices. The most important thing is to avoid foods that are high in purines, such as meat. Because purines are broken down into uric acid and accumulate excessively in the body in gout. Read everything you need to know about gout nutrition here.

ICD codes for this disease: ICD codes are internationally recognized codes for medical diagnoses. They can be found, for example, in doctor's letters or on certificates of incapacity for work. M10

Gout: Diet in Everyday Life

A healthy, balanced diet is important for the body - and not just for gout. Nutrition and health are generally closely related. Vitamins, trace elements and other important substances are ingested with food. A balanced diet lowers the risk of certain diseases, including high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Doctors and nutritionists recommend the following composition for daily food intake:

50 percent carbohydrates
30 percent fat, a third of which is saturated fatty acids
20 percent protein

The general recommendations for a balanced diet apply to all people, including people with gout. The opinions that one should keep a diet in the sense of reducing food in the case of gout are not correct. Basically, if you have gout, you can eat as much as you want. The only thing you should pay attention to is what foods you eat.

What to eat with gout

In gout, the level of uric acid in the blood is increased. Elevated uric acid levels can occur either when too much uric acid is produced or when too little is excreted. In many cases, both mechanisms also contribute to the disease process. Uric acid is produced by the breakdown of purines, which are produced when cells are broken down by the body. In addition, purines are ingested through some foods.

There are no really forbidden foods in gout. However, there are foods that should be on the menu less than others as part of a gout diet. If possible, the diet for gout should be such that a few additional purines are ingested through food. You can find out which foods contain how much purine in the gout nutrition table below.

Be careful with purines

The upper limit for purine intake is around 500 milligrams per day. This information varies depending on the level of the individual uric acid level and body weight. Purine intake should be reduced again, especially during and after an attack of gout. Doctors recommend an intake of a maximum of 200 milligrams per day and no more than two grams of purines per week. The information on the purine content of individual foods can differ from one another in different food tables. This is due to the fact that the purine content also depends on the preparation of the product (for example, fried meat contains more purines than raw meat). The following formula applies to converting the purine content into uric acid formed from it: One milligram of purine is converted into 2.4 milligrams of uric acid.

How to save purines

Basically, all foods for gout should contain as few purines as possible. Foods that contain little to no purines include milk, yogurt and quark. Those affected can eat as much of these foods as they want without the uric acid level rising. Eggs and hard cheese are also very low in purine. Potatoes, egg noodles, white bread and rice can also be on the daily diet plan for gout. The fish are smoked eel and plaice. You can also eat fruit, cucumber, peppers and tomatoes with gout without any worries.

So recipes for gout that come on the table every day should contain as much of these foods as possible. This keeps the purine content low, and gout sufferers do not have to save on the amount of food they eat. Vitamin C (contained in fruit and fruit juices) also has a uric acid-lowering effect. However, there is no point in consuming excessive amounts of vitamin C. Too much vitamin C is not used by the body and is simply excreted again.

Gout food tables list some foods that are very high in purine. It is recommended to avoid these foods as much as possible in the case of gout. This primarily includes meat, especially pork and goose meat, as well as offal. Ham, lentils and various types of fish such as trout, herring, oil sardines and sprats should be omitted from the diet for gout if possible.

Nutrition tables for gout patients also list foods that have a relatively high content of purines, but can still be consumed from time to time. Surprisingly, the bratwurst has the lowest purine content of these foods. Drinks such as apple spritzer, cola drinks and beer already have a higher purine content than bratwurst. The meat products that may be consumed from time to time include sausage products, turkey schnitzel and meat broth. You can also eat fish fingers and cod in manageable quantities.

Proper nutrition for gout should be supplemented by a sufficiently high fluid intake. Doctors recommend drinking at least two liters a day. Mineral water, juice spritzers and unsweetened teas are particularly digestible. The hydration thins the blood and causes the uric acid to be excreted better. Alcoholic beverages should be avoided.

Asparagus & gout

For a long time, asparagus was discussed controversially as part of the gout diet. On the one hand, asparagus has a good reputation in gout because of its diuretic effect - uric acid is flushed out of the body with the urine. However, since it contains about ten milligrams per 100 grams more purines than other vegetables, it was only recommended to a limited extent as part of a gout diet. In fact, there are vegetables that contain far more purines - for example Brussels sprouts with 25 milligrams per 100 grams. Peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, but also all types of fruit, on the other hand, perform significantly better in gout. With its purine content, asparagus is in the middle of the field. Like other foods, it can be treated for gout as part of a balanced diet.

Gout Diet: Fat

In principle, fat is not a particular problem with gout. However, too much fat is harmful to the body and causes obesity. These factors, in turn, can make gout more likely. Therefore, when eating gout, attention should also be paid to the fat content of the food. It must be noted that the purine content of the food has nothing to do with the fat content. These two values must be viewed strictly separately from one another.

The daily fat intake is controlled by the moderate meat consumption in the gout diet alone. Cheese, ready-made products and light products also contain a lot of fat. The daily fat intake can also be influenced by the preparation of food. Instead of roasting or deep-frying, for example, grilling and stewing can be considered as fat-saving alternatives.

Gout Diet: Diets

Too much body weight is considered a risk factor for gout. You should lose weight if you have a body mass index of 25 and above. When it comes to losing weight, you should proceed slowly and not lose more than two to three kilograms per month. During a diet, the body produces more so-called ketone bodies. These inhibit the excretion of uric acid. Too rapid weight loss, especially through fasting and zero diets, can also be a trigger for a gout attack. Diet and weight loss should therefore always be discussed with the doctor in the individual case and preferably under medical supervision.

Individual nutrition plan

In many cases, gout is not the only metabolic disease that patients suffer from. Then it is important to consider further dietary rules. Almost all metabolic diseases are characterized by the fact that certain foods are not tolerated, cannot be digested or can cause damage. If gout patients suffer from other metabolic diseases, the doctor must be informed of this prior to treatment. Together it can then be determined which foods are suitable and which are not. An individual nutrition plan can help with gout, which states exactly what can be eaten and in what quantities. Such an individual nutrition plan can also be helpful if those affected find out for the first time that they should start a change in their eating habits.

Gout: diet and alcohol consumption

Another contributing factor to gout is when too little uric acid is excreted. That is why alcohol should definitely be avoided as part of a gout diet. Components of alcohol prevent uric acid from being excreted and thus accelerate its accumulation in the blood. Excessive alcohol consumption can trigger an acute gout attack.

Gout: food table

Food	Purines per 100 grams (in milligrams)	uric acid formed per 100 grams (in milligrams)
milk	0	0
yogurt	0	0
Quark	0	0
Eggs	2	4,8
Cucumber	3	7,2
Hard cheese	4	7,2
tomatoes	4,2	10
Peppers	4,2	10
potatoes	6,3	15
fruit	4,2 – 12,6	10 – 30
Egg noodles, cooked	8,4 – 21	20 – 50
Walnuts	10,5	25
asparagus	10,5	25
Rice, cooked	10,5 – 14,7	25 – 35
White bread	16,8	40
cauliflower	18,9	45
Mushrooms	25,2	60
Brussels sprouts	25,2	60
Mettwurst	26	62
peanuts	29,4	70
wheat	37,8	90
bratwurst	40	96
Apple juice	42	100
Cola drink	42	100
Beer, alcohol-free	42	100
oatmeal	42	100
cod	45	108
sausage	42 – 54,6	100 – 130
fish sticks	46,2	110
Turkey schnitzel	50,4	120
Meatsoup	58,8	140
peas	63	150
Fish, cooked	63	150
Meat (pork, beef, veal), lean, fresh	63	150
Chicken breast fillet, fresh	75,6	180
lenses	84	200
Ham	85	204
Pork schnitzel	88	211,2
Sardines	200	480
Sprats	335	802