How a Proper Diet Can Help You Get Rid of Gout
Being overweight is a common factor in most gout patients. A big reason for the connection between the two is diet. High purine foods are a major contributing factor to gout. Many of these same high purine foods are not healthy and aid in weight gain.
Decreasing the amount of high purine foods are central to overcoming both obesity and hyperuricemia, the main risk factor in getting gout. High purine foods are usually loaded with unhealthy fat making if difficult to lose weight. Foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, and bacon would be in these categories. It would be best to eliminate these foods altogether from your diet, but at the very least eat them in moderation.
If you drink a lot of pop, you should consider giving up this habit. Pop makes it more likely that you will get a gout attack. This is because pop decreases your hydration and makes it so that your kidneys don’t work as well. Your kidneys play a major role in helping you to get rid of this painful disease, so decrease your soda intake.
Diet Sodas are not helpful in getting rid of weight. They also do not help with gout. They can decrease hydration and some health studies show that they are worse than drinking normal sodas. Water is a much better alternative. Water is easier on your kidneys and does a better job helping you get rid of excess uric acid.
You can keep the coffee. 4-6 cups of coffee was found in a Canadian study to lower uric acid levels by 50%. Decaffeinated coffee was also found to lower uric acid. I personally drink organic Green Mountain decaffeinated coffee. I use my own grinder and grind the grounds at home.
You don’t have to make wholesale changes all at once. In fact, this usually proves disastrous to long term health as most people quit due to the difficulty of making large lifestyle changes in a short time. A very easy goal to reach is one pound a week.
Creating an atmosphere where you will stick to a healthy weight loss program will provide great long term benefits to you. Your renal system will work more efficiently which will help you reduce or eliminate future gout attacks. Not only that, but you will reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and hypertension.
There are many alternative and natural methods of improving your overall health through diet. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables not only help you lose weight, but also have nutritious properties that help you fight the symptoms and root problem of gout.