Embarrassing Illnesses

Diet and lifestyle

Making some simple changes to your diet and lifestyle can significantly improve your chances of preventing gout from recurring. Some of these changes are outlined below.

Food

Some foods are high in purines and avoiding them can help reduce your risk of a gout attack. It is best to eat only moderate amounts of the following foods. If possible, you may want to try cutting these foods out altogether:

• Meats - kidney, liver, veal, turkey and venison.
• Fish - anchovies, herring, mackerel, sardines, fish roes, mussels and scallops.
• Vegetables - asparagus, kidney beans, lima beans, lentils and spinach.
• Other - foods containing yeast extract.

Weight

If you are overweight, the levels of urate in your blood often rise. Losing weight will significantly reduce your urate levels. If you need to lose weight, it is important to make sure you do so as part of a balanced, calorie-controlled diet. Do not try and crash diet. High protein and low carbohydrate diets should also be avoided.

Try and get plenty of exercise. Not only will this reduce your urate levels and decrease your risk of gout, it will also leave you feeling more energised and healthy. However, if you are suffering from a gout attack, make sure you keep the joint rested and elevated. You should also avoid exercise which puts strain on the muscles or joints. Swimming is a good way of staying fit, without putting pressure on your joints, as the water supports your weight.

Water

Try to drink plenty of water. You should be drinking approximately 1.2 litres (6-8 glasses) a day, or more when you are exercising, or when it is hot. Keeping yourself well hydrated will help reduce the risk of urate crystals forming.

Alcohol

Some types of alcohol are high in purines. Beer, stout and port contain the highest levels of purines. Spirits, such as vodka and whisky, also contain purines. Studies have shown that wine (but not including fortified wine), which is lower in purines, should not contribute to an attack of gout.

If your diet contains a lot of alcohol which is high in purines, you should consider cutting back or, ideally, cutting out these drinks all together. Getting drunk or 'binge drinking' on any type of alcohol can interfere with your body's ability to deal with uric acid. Men should be drinking no more than 3-4 units a day, and women no more than 2-3 units.

Other conditions

Some other conditions, such as psoriasis, can increase your risk of developing gout. If you have a condition such as this, it is important to manage and treat the condition as fully as possible. If you are able to manage a condition, such as psoriasis, effectively, then it will help to prevent gout from recurring.