Not consuming pork when you have gout is a common knowledge for us. But did you know that its okay to eat pork even if you have gout? In the old days, gout was called an “ailment of kings” because it’s only seen in people who can afford a special diet. But now, in our generation today more than 8 million ordinary citizens are affected by this disease. Some say that it’s because we consume more meat today than the past. Gout and pork is a hot topic, but honestly speaking meat is not entirely the reason why you suffer a gout flare-up. Let me enlighten you more, read on below!
What is Gout and What is the Cause of it?
Gout is a different type of arthritis where uric acid fills up the joints and causes redness, inflammation, and pain. A lot of people that have gout have an increased amount of uric acid in the blood. Also, uric acid crystals can cause kidney damage and kidney stones.
Uric acids are produced when the purines in our body brokes down. Purine is an essence that is naturally found in the body. It is also found in food and beverages like seafood, steak, organ meats, beer and sweetened drinks.
Uric acid may be eliminated from your body through urine. Still, sometimes our body produces more uric acids than necessary or the kidneys discharges a small number of uric acids.
It also causes a build-up of uric acid that produces sharp crystals that are shaped like needles in the joint, which causes pain, inflammation, and redness.
Amount of Meat that You Can Eat
Meats that are high in purine are turkey, lamb, beef, white meat, chicken, and of course, Pork. Meat mostly takes the blame for the cause of a gout attack, but in actuality, meat doesn’t cause a joint pain.
Fishes like salmon, tuna, and trout are said to have more purines than pork, beef, and lamb. But did you hear anyone blame the fish meats for their gout attack? The chicken breasts also have a high amount of purine than other incision of beef, but you’ll scarcely hear someone that will tell you to stop eating it.
In some countries like America, they do not recommend a daily intake of purines. And there are other countries that recommend 400mg of purine consumption per day.
Gout and Pork…
According to the study of gout and Atkins diet, the intake of meat hasn’t decreased even though the participant already had gout.
There are some events where no gout attacks have been experienced for 16 weeks, and the number of attacks has somewhat dropped. But it was not because of a low purine diet.
According to the report of the founder of Atkins diet, that uric acid isn’t expected to be reduced by patients on a diet. Also, he has said that most of the patients have been eating meats. Thus, resulting hat the meat doesn’t raise uric acid.
Meaning, that having a gout attack right after you consume a meat doesn’t mean that the meat has caused it. There might be other factors that might have triggered it.
Is Meat a Risk?
Meat causing gout is a wrong belief, in fact, there is no study that can prove this. It could be a provided factor why you experience gout attacks, but it still depends on your diet and factors.
For an instance, there is a study where 47,150 people with meat on their diet were being monitored for 12 years. After being studied, those who were diagnosed with gout are only about 730 of them.
Upon inspection, those who have developed gout had one serving of meat a day. And those who have taken two servings have 41% of the risk of developing gout than those who ate less.
And based on this study, only those who consume a large amount of meat can increase the risk of having gout. So yes, gout and pork are good as long as there is less consumption of meat.
Recommended Meat Consumption
If you are consuming pork twice a day, drinking alkaline water, taking 140 mcg. of folate in your diet, eating celeries, and at least 500 mg of vitamin C every day, there will be a high chance that you’ll experience a gout attack.
We suggest that you should limit your intake of meat by only consuming 4 to 6 oz. a day. Instead, eat more vegetables that contain protein like beans, tofu, and lentils. If you can avoid eating pork then go for the lean cuts and add nutritious ingredients on it.
Also, avoid eating too much food that is high in purine like organ meats, such as kidney and liver. And oily fishes like mackerel, salmon, and herring.
To help control your appetite, consume a lot of fiber-rich foods like beans, artichokes, broccoli, raspberries, and whole grains.
Conclusion
So these are the facts that gout and pork do not necessarily cause gout attacks. This should be a good news for those meat loving people who have gout. As long as you limit your meat consumption, eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly then you can prevent yourself from developing a gout attack.