31 March 2021

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Gout is a very common problem among us. It often brings discomforts to the human body, meanwhile, threatens our body health.

Gouts usually appear in parts such as finger joints, arch of the foot, ankle joints, knee joints, wrist joints, elbow joints and so on. The symptoms include red and swollen, warm and evident tenderness.

If it is not treated in time, there will be symptoms of chronic joint problems, causing long term destructive joint deformities and limited mobility in the limbs joints.

What causes gouts then? Gouts are mainly caused by high uric acid values in blood. To control the gout condition, one need to regulate his or her diet. Take a look at these 5 points:

1. Cutting down purine intakes can reduce the formation of uric acid

Below are the foods we usually eat categorised by their purine contents:

I. High Purine Content

animal organs, sardines, salmon, saury, prawns, dried scallops, asparagus, ducks, sprouted beans, malt and others.

II. Medium Purine Content

beef, chicken, pork, lamb, mutton, salmon, ham, fresh mushrooms, kelp, spinach, dried tofu and others

III. Low Purine Content

tubers, milk, fruits, eggs, seaweeds, red dates, rices, barley, wheat, vegetables and others.

2. Eat more alkaline foods and less acidic foods

Gout patients commonly suffer from purine metabolism disorders. As their uric acid values are abnormal, excessive intakes of acidic foods will worsen the patient’s condition. Instead, eating more alkaline foods can help maintain the pH balance.

Alkaline foods: vegetables, fruits, seaweeds and nuts.
Acidic foods: carbohydrates, animal-derived foods, sweets, oily and fried foods, processed foods like white breads, sodas, processed meats and others.

3. Drink more plain water

Around 70% of uric acid in the human body are expelled through the liver. Therefore, we need to drink at least 2000ml of water a day. The osmotic pressure of water is good for dissolving the harmful particles in our body. Drinking plain water can help dilute the uric acid and quicken the need for excretion, thus lowering the level of uric acid.

4. Alcohol is strictly prohibited

Alcohol contains purine. Whenever alcohol is metabolised in our body, it will eventually form uric acid. Besides that, lactic acids produced by the metabolism of alcohol would stop our liver from excreting uric acid and increase blood uric acid instead, which might also cause the condition of gouts.

5. Control your calorie intake and maintain your ideal weight

Besides choosing foods with lower purine content, we need to consider the calorie intake in our daily meals as well. High calorie intakes will increase our body weight where obesity affects the endocrine and the process of metabolism, that eventually influences our uric acid metabolism.

As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure”, whether or not we have suffered from gouts, we still need to pay attention to these 5 important points. It is because a well regulated diet is supposedly the ultimate way to a healthier life.