What are purines & how do they increase the risk of gout?
Diet is an important part of the treatment and prevention of
gout, so it's helpful to know which foods you should be eating and which ones you should be avoiding.
Purines are a substance found in most foods (and within your body's cells). Some foods are particularly high in purines, and people with gout are often advised to avoid them.
Purine-rich foods include meats, seafood, certain vegetables and other animal proteins.
Purines are thought to form uric acid when broken down, and high uric acid levels may increase the risk or gout.
Meat vs Veg
According to
research published in
The New England Journal of Medicine, the consumption of animal protein was associated with the greatest risk of gout.
Beef, pork, lamb, poultry and seafood were all associated with an increased risk of gout.
These animal protein purine-rich foods had more impact on gout compared to the plant-based varieties.
Eating purine-rich plant-based foods, including peas, beans, lentils, spinach, mushrooms, oatmeal and cauliflower was not associated with a risk of gout.
According to the researchers, the variation in the risk of gout associated with different purine-rich foods may have a number of explanations, such as a variation in the amounts and types of purine content, and their bioavailability for purine-to-uric-acid metabolism.
How to improve your diet
The study followed a large number of men over a long period of time, and provides some valuable take-home tips for the prevention and treatment of gout.
- Eat your vegetables - Purine-rich vegetables had no association with the development of gout. It's possible that plant based purines have less impact on the development of uric acid compared to animal based foods.
Aim to include more vegetarian meals in your diet. This could include meatless Mondays, or several meat-free meals throughout the week.
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Choose your meat wisely - The study found that beef, pork, lamb, poultry and all types of seafood increased the risk of gout.
Each additional daily serving of meat was associated with a 21% increase in the risk of gout, and each additional weekly serving of seafood was associated with a 7%increase in risk.
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Experiment to find what works best for you - Why not use this knowledge to see how diet impacts on your risk of gout? For example, you could try going vegetarian for a few weeks or months to see if it makes any difference. If so, then gradually reintroduce other foods such as meat and seafood to see what impact it makes.