What’s the worst thing about gout, do you know? Well, it is neither the inflammation nor the pain. It is actually the fact that you must be altering your own lifestyle. Let’s just say that you are a guitarist who has an undying love and passion for music. Then there is gout that occurs in the fingers and you will then be forced to abandon your own passion. This is quite saddening, isn’t it? well even the foods that a person who suffers from gout needs to eat is altered too. You will get disrupted from your own normal life routine.
This article wishes to explain the foods that you must be avoided in terms of gout –the uric acid foods. Read on and get to know some of these foods!
The Fallacy…
Each and every time I search the term uric acid on the internet, “uric acid foods ” always goes into the search suggestion. There is no one to blame in here. Because the root cause of the gout is uric acid. Devoid of the uric acid, there’ll be no uric acid crystals to form. Devoid of the uric acid crystals, there’ll be no gout!
Without the uric acid, there is no gout. Conversely, there’s no such thing as the uric acid foods or foods that are rich in uric acid. Foods don’t comprise any uric acid. However, they may produce uric acid. It’s actually purine that is present in the foods.
Purine is the one and only source of uric acid. It’s actually present not just in the foods that you eat, but in the DNA of your cells as well. That being said, the purine is significant in the body because it being absent from the body, there will be no materials that can be beneficial for the manufacturing of nucleotides in the DNA. Nevertheless, we know that too much is always too much. There’s no need for the purine and the rest must be excreted. Conversely, purine is very large of a molecule, this is the reason why it must be broken down in order to pass through the filters of the kidneys. It must be broken down and become uric acid. When the uric acid comes at a rate wherein it is much faster than the kidneys can excrete, it’ll accrue and then lead to gout.
Purine Rich Foods
Having the proper knowledge regarding purine, one may conclude that the foods rich in purine are what you must be avoiding. The purine rich foods are the so-called uric acid foods. However, what really are these foods?
Read on to discover and believe me, most of these are unexpected.
Alcoholic Beverages
In general, the alcoholic drinks comprise of little to moderate amount of purine. Conversely, the relationship between alcohol and gout is a very tenacious one. This is in a sense that ethanol may worsen gout. Ethanol is capable of boosting the production of lactic acid thus slowing down the rate on which the uric acid is being excreted.
Meat
Meat, most especially the organ meats and the preserved ones such as bacon, are so rich in purine. Additionally, meats are so acidic and will hence slow down the rate upon which the uric acid is being excreted. Thus, it is perhaps the first in the list of the uric acid foods that your doctor avoided you from eating.
Dark Leafy Vegetables
This one may actually be a bit ironic. Most of the diseases will need you to eat vegetables as they are mostly nutritious. Conversely, with gout, it’s the opposite. Avoiding dark leafy vegetables is a must. They’re rich in purine. Additionally, the dark leafy vegetables are also rich in oxalate. This just means that excessive levels of oxalic acid will be formed. Unnecessary to say, this may impede the rate at which the uric acid is being excreted. The lesser the uric acid being excreted, the more the chances of the occurrence of gout.
Caffeine
They say that the coffee is actually good for gout. However, it is not at all true. Coffee is so bad for the condition. Not just that, tea may worsen gout and gout flare-ups too. Why? This is mainly due to caffeine. Gout and Caffeine: Coffee Consumption for Uric Acid Level, Gout and Arthritis is related to purine and will yield too much uric acid for the kidneys to handle.
Fructose Rich Foods
We know that fruits are nutritious. However, you have to avoid some of them. This is mainly because the fruits are rich in fructose. Fructose, just like ethanol, may accelerate the production of the lactic acid hence detaining the excretion of uric acid.