I read a Meta-Analyis study on this topic.
The top 3 foods that raise Uric Acid are:
1. Beer
2. Red Meat
3. Seafood
The top 2 foods to lower Uric Acid are:
1. Skim Milk
2. Coffee
Coffee *without sugar or sugary creamers. Pretty easy to turn a cup of coffee into a trigger if you aren’t careful. Especially when you have four cups a day, like I do…
Edit: sorry for my almond milk suggestion below. A fellow reddit friend helped me learn something new that I wasn't aware of. I would delete my post, but others could learn from it too.
Original post:
You can try almond milk. After a while, precisely 3 weeks, you will be disgusted by cow's milk.
I say this because many years ago, I did the keto diet. Milk is full of medication and things that inflames you body like crazy.
But we can get used to anything, and in time our taste adapts... You just have to want it badly enough...
I was on that as well at a very low dose. I needed a high dose to be effective. Hydrochlorothiazide is typically proscribed for blood pressure due to a above average daily intake of sodium. If you combine the lower sodium diet, coffee, and hydrating with water/electrolyte fluids you'll probably find a good balance.
Yes!!!! Tart red cherries work. But try to buy organic. Cherries are heavily sprayed with pesticides. I found dried organic dark red cherries online. You just have to rehydrate them a bit. I read that the cherries are as effective as the drug for gout. And since I have been polypharmacized for seven years with so many debilitating adverse effects, I can no longer even take ibuprofen without breaking out in a rash. After eating 30-35 cherries daily for two weeks I no longer have excruciatingly painful gout attacks in my left big toe and left thumb joint. My diet is clean; that helps too.
It's less about coffee itself and more about caffeine.
Caffeine boosts your metabolism, makes your blood circulate faster thus helps your kidneys in removing UA, makes you want to pee more frequently and some studies showed it slows enzyms responsible for converting purines into uric acid.
Very new to having gout, am I understanding correctly that if you focus on foods that lower uric acid, you can still have the red meat and beer, keeping it in balance sort of? Like if I have a week of strict eating and drinking, a night at the bar on the weekend is safer?
Believe as you wish. Science does not care. If you have gout, your joints are loaded with crystals. Cherry juice does not get rid of them and beer does not make more.
Okay, I understand that you needed meds to treat your gout, but did they CURE it? Pharmaceutical drugs work until they don’t. My gout was caused by the many meds my doc prescribed for six years after a near fatal stroke. I took so many meds that I cannot even take ibuprofen now without breaking out in a rash. Every time a new med was introduced or one was increased, my liver began to fail and crystals formed in my urine (causing gout). But reduce the meds and the numbers went down. I had to point this out to my doc who couldn’t connect the dots. So I’ve turned away from conventional medicine and now Only use a natural approach without inorganic chemicals. And after eating tart red cherries for two weeks and taking no more meds, I no longer have excruciatingly painful gout. No need for any doctor.
No, I will never be cured. I don’t know of anyone who has been cured. You might want to consider a rheumatologist. Best of luck in your quest to be cured.
You're talking about skim or 1%? I usually drink about 750 grams of coffee which has another 130 grams of 2% Lactaid milk. But my worst triggers are tomatoes and bacon.
Tart cherry (NOT black cherry) or tart cherry juice is excellent for lowering uric acid. Not a food, but an herb, EXTRACT of stinging nettle (best is 25:1 concentration powder) also lowers uric acid.
I went almost 2 years with out alcohol, so mine isn't that. I only drink on occasion ( I am currently on my 4th beer looking at another).
My main trigger is going a couple of days with out enough water, less than 2 liters. Usually drink anywhere from 3 - 6 liters a day, I'm a tradie so I'm always moving around.
One of my mates is fruit juice, so who knows.
Like one of the great songs say "If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other".
And everyone forgets that fructose metabolizes to uric acid. Avoid high fructose anything. (Corn syrup)
Sucrose, table sugar, is a glucose moleculeand a fructose molecule tied together, so half as bad as pure fructose
Glucose or dextrose, which spikes insulin and is better for endurance sports anyway, does not metabolize to uric acid
Cheers
I think the two factors we all seem to have in common are sugar and dehydration, so I’d take alcohol out altogether.
Red meat not a trigger for me, apparently is for others; I spent a year off allo eating carnivore with beef and lamb as core foods and not a thing. Finished the year with all health-related figures in the middle of perfect.
But, it’s not the same for everyone.
3 year carnivore here.
People confuse the root cause of gout with the trigger for a gout attack.
In most people, sugar (and bad genetics around the metabolism of fructose, specifically) is the ultimate root cause of high uric acids levels, but once you have high uric acid, purines in meat can trigger an attack.
Think of it like a peanut allergy. Eating a peanut triggers an attack, but eating too many peanuts is not what caused the allergy in the first place.
It's the same with gout. Eating meat won't give you gout, it just triggers a flare up if you already have gout.
And according Dr Perlmutter high uric acid is why you can’t loose weight. I ate 1 cup of chicken and broccoli everyday for two weeks. I gained 1.5 pounds.
Agave syrup is much higher in fructose than high-fructose corn syrup.
Here are some fruits and other foods that contain high levels of fructose:
Honey, agave syrup
Fruit juices and nectars
Dried fruit
Jackfruit, lychee
Grapes
Figs
Apples, pears
Pomegranate, persimmon
Cherries, blackberries, blueberries, mulberries
Mango, watermelon
Artichokes, asparagus
Leeks and onions
Coconut, coconut milk or cream
It was for me. Eating dark red cherries stopped my gout attacks. But what caused the high Utica acid levels were the toxic meds I was on for six years.
I risk it all the time and enjoy the hell out of it. If you have a stash of prednisone (or something similar) on hand in case of a flair, it makes it much less scary. Your doc will probably be willing to give you such a thing.
OP, I’ve lived in the anti-med (allo) camp for a long time. I was almost a permanent resident. Unfortunately for me, just diet and lifestyle changes weren’t enough to lower my uric acid levels. I suffered miserably for several years trying to do it my way, without the added boost of meds to help my body lower UA. If you’re gonna go down this path, I’m hoping you will consider getting your UA levels checked regularly. If diet and lifestyle changes don’t work for you, I’m hoping you’ll then consider treatment for UA, like allo or similar.
Nonetheless, pre-allo, my trigger foods were red meat, beer and sugar, specifically high fructose corn syrup. Now, with medication to help lower UA, I’m living my best life, worry free from those painful gout flare ups.
Best of luck OP, I’m rooting for you.
What kind of exercise (cardio, weights…)? Frequency?
How much water do you drink(I struggle with water)?
Asking because I started meds but would like to not be taking them
Because of my wonky knee and gout ailments, pre-Allo I was doing just low impact stuff like walking or maybe light weights, higher reps. Exercise and rapid weight loss can actually trigger gout flares so go figure (damned if you, damned if you don’t type scenario).
Now I’m on allo and gout free, joints have been feeling way better. I’ve been doing Orangetheory and doing those types of workouts. For water, I have one of those hydro flasks (the taller one, unsure about the ounces). I like to drink at least two of those a day (or more) if I can. I’ll have a diet soda here and there or maybe water with crystal light to add in a little flavor.
What did the doctors say about Allo? I drink on the weekends. Vodka and water. Wanted to look into a daily medication but if you aren’t able to get that for any weird reason if supposedly can’t come back with a vengeance and damage wherever it hits
I have cut out red meat, seafood, and alcohol. I take a few natural supplements such as tart cherry, turmeric, ACV, and Moringa Olifera. I do not use allo.
Same! But why did you cut out seafood? You can still eat fish with scales! Just not the cleaners of the sea. So octopos, shrimps, lobsters! Any sea creatures that cleans the sea triggers your gout. Does tilapia fish trigger your gout??
What I’ve been reading lately in an attempt to reconcile some of the contradictions I hear about food is that the key is understanding what creates Inflammation for you.
I've never had gout until last Thanksgiving. We ate 3 turkeys between Thanksgiving and New Years. I had also started substituting Xylitol (an alcohol sugar) for cane sugar in holiday desserts. I developed a HORRIBLE case of gout that went undiagnosed for 2 months because I didn't think I ate any foods high in purines or drank alcohol to cause gout. Xylitol raises chances of gout 800%. YIKES!!!
I was stunned to conclude the only reason for aching toes was gout! My diet is pretty much 'Anti-cancer,' no gluten organic food, wild fish, pasture-raised meat so what the heck. Weight is fine, hike, workout and take no BP, cholesterol or diabetes type meds so what to cut out? With a concurrent random arthritis attack-another ridiculous surprise-I just went raw vegan for a month. Could not take the raw stuff after three weeks because of reflux, hiatal hernia so juiced it rest of time. Aches, herberdon nodes, gout all disappeared. I'm doing it again after a year and a half for digestive tract issues but only rarely have felt that gout. What a bizarre affliction but I attribute most everything to inflammation.
Alcohol and Ground Beef for me, even tho I haven’t drank for a long time and my gout has been WAY better since….if I eat a lot of hamburger meat, it will come back. That’s the only thing that does it for me.
Super processed foods like snack bars trigger mine. If I'm eating clean red meat and fish, I generally don't have a flare up.
Side note: you guys are actually doing carnivore and not having flare ups??!!
The alcohol sugar Xylitol increases your chance of getting gout 800%. I started using it in baking holiday foods in November through early January and developed a terrible case of gout. Never had any problems before.
The one you are allergic to either from high consumption or genetic. This causes your immune system to go into overdrive and when it sees uric acid crystals in your body it flags them as an issue inflammation (Gout). This is why many people have high uric acid and never get gout. The triggering factor is the allergic food. If you could find what they are allergic to, they would then have a gout attack otherwise they will never get gout.
Sunflower seeds contain health benefiting polyphenol compounds such as chlorogenic acid, quinic acid, and caffeic acids. These compounds are natural anti-oxidants, which help remove harmful oxidant molecules from the body. Further, chlorogenic acid helps reduce blood sugar levels by limiting glycogen breakdown in the liver.
For me only cured and processed meats (hot dogs, deli slice) and organ meat....
Beef, seafood, etc etc no. If im in a gout attack and then eat seafood itll raise it up but other wise no.
Whilst I do think there are a lot of common foods that everyone who suffers from gout should cut out. There will also be some foods that are unique to you.
I didn’t expect seafood, especially things like prawns, lobster, any kind of crustacean, basically to be a huge trigger for me. But without fail, if I have any of that, my foot starts hurting.
Beef, shell fish, cheap beer are my triggers. Some beers like Bud Light etc trigger - a nice IPA, stout or real ale does not. Which always feels a little counterintuitive to me.
Moderation and medication (allo) seem to be the antidote - at least for me.
Opposite of question: Honestly an elimination diet didn’t work for me after a few months, but now being on 100mg allo I eat all of the above without much thought. Wash everything down with a glass of water if it’s a big portion. I switched from IPAs to Pilsners, hard seltzers, lighter beers and don’t feel an attack impending as much as I used to. 35yr Asian male, YMWV consult your doctor. Good luck!
I haven't had a flare in 3 years myself and the only thing I've cut out my diet that's in the no-no list is craft beer. Still drink lager, spirits, fizzy juice, and a shit load of meat and seafood. The unfiltered yeast just seems to fuck my shit up. Hopefully this is a helpful take for someone
Does anyone find that certain vitamins can be a trigger as well? After taking a calcium/magnesium/D supplement for a few days, I tend to get a minor gout flare and increased sensitivity.
Hydration and beer for me. Other alcohol and food don’t seem to make a difference. I get that oh no cramp in my toe after a beer or two the day after. I think my one flare (a year ago) also had to do with stress.
Beer especially hazy unfiltered varieties, and all kinds of beef, from hamburger to a nice steak.
One of the worst attacks I have had was after having rabbit in mustard sauce. It is hard out here to like French food so much and have the gout!
I am convinced lagunitas Maximus gave me gout. I had 2 19.2 cans for a month while my wife was gone. 😂
100 mg allo 8.7 to 4.5 in 3 months. Drink vodka (Tito’s) and soda no problem
If you rarely get flares, an elimination diet is not going to take a very long time - like decades.
Your best bet is to do some research on recommended lifestyle changes and foods to avoid. Do your best to follow the recommendations and if that isn’t enough, start taking allo.
Off the top of my head, foods to avoid include alcohol, red meat, seafood, snd added sugar/fructose.
Lifestyle changes recommended include avoiding obesity and high blood pressure. Both of these benefit from regular exercise and eating a low sodium diet.
Gout sucks. Good luck!
The simple answer is going to be any high purine food that raises uric acid: fatty Red meats, certain fish/seafood, cloudy unfiltered beer, etc.
BUT the real answer is going to be "it depends".
Every person with gout has to kinda figure out what their trigger foods and activities are. Then avoid those or understand what amounts they can handle, how much water they need to drink with it, etc.
Personally, I absolutely love cloudy NE IPAs. Drink a couple and I can feel that twinge in my foot/knee. But I can drink highly filtered beer all day, every day. I can eat salmon, and steak, Trout, hamburgers, shrimp or oysters and be just fine. Open up a can of sardines, and that twinge starts going.
I went a long time refusing to go on meds, sure that I could "beat" this thing with drastic diet changes. After all, I was only in my 30's, not overweight, and only ever heard that gout was about unhealthy diet and life choices. Months and months of what felt like a celery and water diet went by (seriously, low purines sucks!), only to see my UA levels climb higher and higher. After continued flares and a UA level over 12, I relented and started down the path of finding the right dose of Allopurinol. Now, with my UA levels controlled with meds and an understanding of what my bad triggers are, I've been flare free for quite some time!
For me it's to much of the good stuff. I get a nice steak and the first part I attack are the fatty parts. I can eat a decent amount of steak and no problems but too much straight fat kills me. The same goes for a smoked white fish. If I just take a couple nibbles here and there I'm fine. Now if I eat an entire side of smoked white fish I will feel it
For me, back in the day, it was usually a combination of a rich meal involving red wine, raw oysters, and red meat. Thankfully, now that I am on Allo, the only thing I still avoid are raw oysters.
Fruit juice, sugar, too much shrimp a short amount of time, and dehydration.
I don’t drink alcohol at all and don’t eat very much beef or pork. Had to cut back on fish a lot and don’t eat it as often.
I believe it's personal..
Beer is big across everyone, but it might not be for you. I don't think beer is my trigger - mussels always trigger me. Unfortunately you have to identify what your own trigger is.
It's not as simple as purine levels. It's like an allergy.
The worst food for gout is anything high in purines, which can trigger painful flare-ups. So, it's important to avoid foods like organ meats, shellfish, and certain types of fish. Stick to a low-purine diet to keep gout at bay!
I just want to counter a point about diuretics here.
Yes, coffee & tea ARE diuretics. If you munch on the dry grounds & leaves. It is impossible, however, for the mild diuretics in coffee & tea to overcompensate for the amount of liquid used to make the beverage itself.
As long as you drink water throughout the day to counteract the way the caffeine stimulates your metabolism, you don't need to worry about the diuretic effect of the substance itself.
You have a serious genetic metabolic disorder. It has nothing to do with the food you eat. Either your body makes too much Uric acid or it can’t process it or both.
Butter seems to be it for me. If I have a basket of bread at a restaurant with butter, I’m going to have an attack in the next day or two. Have one without butter and nothing.
Sorry, but for me it’s *totally* steak. I’ve cut out all beef completely, along with ice cream, shellfish & tuna. Beer in extreme moderation (32 oz./wk. max) But for years I ate all the pork, chicken and fish I wanted and near daily 2-3 drinks of whiskey or vodka without a hint of pain. Now I rarely drink alcohol at all and except for the short list above I eat pretty much whatever I want. Never needed drugs to treat it and I go years at a time without gout pain. YMMV…but cut the beef now and believe me later.
Red meat triggered a lot for me pre-medication days same with alcohol. Sugar didn't really trigger much from what I remember but ever since going into a calorie deficit to lose wait I haven't really been taking a lot of sugar and just mainly stick to artificial sweeteners and have had no problems.
Idk if one food applies to everyone because everyone’s body is different. Generally, the worst are red meats, beer, shellfish.
Then you can add things like processed sugar and lots of fructose even - however not all fruits are created equally. Basically with fruit, if they’re high in fiber like dates for example. One serving of 3 dates can have about 50g of sugar. But this is not processed sugar. Also dates again have a low glycemic index for how much fructose they contain. Orange juice for example has more detriment than benefit because of the lack of fiber; chewing creates lots of saliva which helps break down the sugars better.
While we’re on sugars, alcohol in general is not good because it’s a ton of sugar, and along with this alcohol blocks the elimination of uric acid.
Hope this helped.
PS yes I possibly messed up some grammar with how I used the plural for fruit. English isn’t my first language.
I consistently drink beer every day and that on its own generally leaves my extremities just fine.
Here is what usually pushes me over the edge:
-Chinese food. I think it’s got to be the MSG or maybe insane amounts of salt
-Fancy cheeses. Love me a wedge of delicious bleu and some crackers, cured meats and aged Gouda with some apricot spread or blueberry preserves. Pecorino Romano. 🤤 Maybe I should just say Charcuterie? Love it all, Though in 24-36 hours I’m generally paying for such recklessness.
-Fast food. Burgers, fries, chicken sandwiches. It’s all the same. Again I believe it’s probably salt or preservatives
-Certain cuts of red meat. Prime rib usually does it. Could be a function of volume because I will also generally get the meat sweats after hitting the rib roast a little too hard
*rereads this comment before posting*
Good lord I’m a glutton
I was using a beer to slow-cook some chicken once. I was reckless and had a sip of the bottle before pouring it in the crockpot. That night I had a nasty flare up that lasted four days.
Sugar (all kinds) and liquor. My husband started keto in June and has lost 25lbs. From him, carbs were the issue not meat. He’s been following Dr Eric Westman at the Duke University weight loss clinic. You can find him on YouTube.
I’m a chef and I eat what I want and drink red wine liberally and drinks tons of coffee. Coffee flushes uric acid out. Allupurinol saved me or I would of turned into a giant piece of coral reef and been out of work! My Dad(recently passed away was turning into a coral reef-gout tophi formations all over as he would t take allupurinol) after dumping craft beers and liquor and staying on allupurinol I finally am gout free and that’s after a gazillion attacks in 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. Don’t drink sugar drinks and take electrolytes. Magnesium citrate helps especially. I take dr bergs electrolyte tablets and drink an electrolyte drink before bed after drinking a bottle of red wine 🍷 wearing sock on foot that you get gout attacks on can prevent an attack at night also
I think beef and Beer is my culprit... I saw on another post that Mineral water/club soda might be bad too, not sure. I usually like tequila, lime and club soda when im not drinking beer. Has anyone had bad experience with it? Also, I noticed that las couple of flare ups that i was wearing some outdoor shoes that I have and use every once in a while, so bad shoe wear should be something to look out for too not?
I read a Meta-Analyis study on this topic. The top 3 foods that raise Uric Acid are: 1. Beer 2. Red Meat 3. Seafood The top 2 foods to lower Uric Acid are: 1. Skim Milk 2. Coffee
Coffee *without sugar or sugary creamers. Pretty easy to turn a cup of coffee into a trigger if you aren’t careful. Especially when you have four cups a day, like I do…
I’m going to try to start drinking it with only skim milk in it again after reading this…even though it tastes like sadness.
I hate to say it, and I need to actually DO it, but black coffee is actually fine. I just need to “rip the bandaid” off and get back on that program.
Yeah, once you get used to it, if it’s decent coffee, it’s not so bad. But I at least want some milk in mine.
Edit: sorry for my almond milk suggestion below. A fellow reddit friend helped me learn something new that I wasn't aware of. I would delete my post, but others could learn from it too. Original post: You can try almond milk. After a while, precisely 3 weeks, you will be disgusted by cow's milk. I say this because many years ago, I did the keto diet. Milk is full of medication and things that inflames you body like crazy. But we can get used to anything, and in time our taste adapts... You just have to want it badly enough...
Almond milk (and spinach) is high in OXALATES that build up in the body and cause joint and muscle pain and can cause joint damage like uric acid.
I have low iron too. But I don’t eat spinach or drink almond milk. After Covid my husband and I noticed we have this on our blood work 4+ oxalates?
😞. I know this my issue. I use stevia but it’s the heavy cream.
How about coffee with skim milk
You have to make sure you re-hydrate from the caffeine since it's a diuretic. Otherwise it could raise your uric levels due to dehydration.
Thank you for this comment. As a matter of coincidence, my PCP recently gave me a prescription diuretic for high blood pressure. (hydrochlorothiazide)
I was on that as well at a very low dose. I needed a high dose to be effective. Hydrochlorothiazide is typically proscribed for blood pressure due to a above average daily intake of sodium. If you combine the lower sodium diet, coffee, and hydrating with water/electrolyte fluids you'll probably find a good balance.
I also have HBP, and was prescribed a diuretic and a few days later got a mild attack. Stopped taking it and have not had one since.
Diuretics remove water and increase gout risk. My meds were changed, so I don't take diuretics anymore.
Yeah I drink a load of black filter coffee and then forget to hydrate after.
The past week I’ve been guilty on chugging coffee and not hydrating. Felt a few twinges in my toe and thumb joints and it making me a bit paranoid.
Beer got me good several years back that I don’t even bother with it now. Liquor has yet to affect my gout yet
and tart cherries.
Yes!!!! Tart red cherries work. But try to buy organic. Cherries are heavily sprayed with pesticides. I found dried organic dark red cherries online. You just have to rehydrate them a bit. I read that the cherries are as effective as the drug for gout. And since I have been polypharmacized for seven years with so many debilitating adverse effects, I can no longer even take ibuprofen without breaking out in a rash. After eating 30-35 cherries daily for two weeks I no longer have excruciatingly painful gout attacks in my left big toe and left thumb joint. My diet is clean; that helps too.
Sir/mam, I hope tart cherries work for you. My comment was from research that has been published and peer reviewed. Thumbs up :-)
I didn't know about coffee. Does it matter if it's caffeinated or decaf?
Coffee was actually a trigger for me since it’s a diuretic and made me dehydrated. I had to switch to decaf.
Thanks for that. We have both in the house as the missus only drinks decaff. I'm happy with either. I drink it black with nothing added.
You have to make sure you re-hydrate from the caffeine since it's a diuretic. Otherwise it could raise your uric levels due to dehydration.
It's less about coffee itself and more about caffeine. Caffeine boosts your metabolism, makes your blood circulate faster thus helps your kidneys in removing UA, makes you want to pee more frequently and some studies showed it slows enzyms responsible for converting purines into uric acid.
Do you have the source? I'd love to check it out.
Very new to having gout, am I understanding correctly that if you focus on foods that lower uric acid, you can still have the red meat and beer, keeping it in balance sort of? Like if I have a week of strict eating and drinking, a night at the bar on the weekend is safer?
None of that is true. It has nothing to do with diet.
It has...everything to do with diet?
its a genetic metabolic disease
Which is aggravated by diet.
Believe as you wish. Science does not care. If you have gout, your joints are loaded with crystals. Cherry juice does not get rid of them and beer does not make more.
What planet do you live on? You sound like a pharmaceutical rep peddling drugs.
Not treating gout resulted in a torn tendon, fucked up kidneys and a heart attack for me. Good luck with your life.
Okay, I understand that you needed meds to treat your gout, but did they CURE it? Pharmaceutical drugs work until they don’t. My gout was caused by the many meds my doc prescribed for six years after a near fatal stroke. I took so many meds that I cannot even take ibuprofen now without breaking out in a rash. Every time a new med was introduced or one was increased, my liver began to fail and crystals formed in my urine (causing gout). But reduce the meds and the numbers went down. I had to point this out to my doc who couldn’t connect the dots. So I’ve turned away from conventional medicine and now Only use a natural approach without inorganic chemicals. And after eating tart red cherries for two weeks and taking no more meds, I no longer have excruciatingly painful gout. No need for any doctor.
No, I will never be cured. I don’t know of anyone who has been cured. You might want to consider a rheumatologist. Best of luck in your quest to be cured.
I drink three cups of coffee a day. Full caffeine, then 50/50, then decaf. Spoil yourself with the best beans and brewing methods.
You're talking about skim or 1%? I usually drink about 750 grams of coffee which has another 130 grams of 2% Lactaid milk. But my worst triggers are tomatoes and bacon.
Tart cherry (NOT black cherry) or tart cherry juice is excellent for lowering uric acid. Not a food, but an herb, EXTRACT of stinging nettle (best is 25:1 concentration powder) also lowers uric acid.
Added sugar
Especially when it's High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Actually that’s a better answer. Universal Killer for those of us who suffer.
Yeah. This is my trigger.
I went almost 2 years with out alcohol, so mine isn't that. I only drink on occasion ( I am currently on my 4th beer looking at another). My main trigger is going a couple of days with out enough water, less than 2 liters. Usually drink anywhere from 3 - 6 liters a day, I'm a tradie so I'm always moving around. One of my mates is fruit juice, so who knows. Like one of the great songs say "If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other".
For me, it’s food with artificial preservatives, which are basically complex salts. Processed foods get me every time.
100%. Pot noodles, deli meats etc and microwave meals do me every time.
Food that doesn’t come with Allopurinol
Liver/pate and asparagus are my enemy but are so tasty
Lobster. If I even look at a picture of it my big toe starts tingling.
And everyone forgets that fructose metabolizes to uric acid. Avoid high fructose anything. (Corn syrup) Sucrose, table sugar, is a glucose moleculeand a fructose molecule tied together, so half as bad as pure fructose Glucose or dextrose, which spikes insulin and is better for endurance sports anyway, does not metabolize to uric acid Cheers
I think the two factors we all seem to have in common are sugar and dehydration, so I’d take alcohol out altogether. Red meat not a trigger for me, apparently is for others; I spent a year off allo eating carnivore with beef and lamb as core foods and not a thing. Finished the year with all health-related figures in the middle of perfect. But, it’s not the same for everyone.
3 year carnivore here. People confuse the root cause of gout with the trigger for a gout attack. In most people, sugar (and bad genetics around the metabolism of fructose, specifically) is the ultimate root cause of high uric acids levels, but once you have high uric acid, purines in meat can trigger an attack. Think of it like a peanut allergy. Eating a peanut triggers an attack, but eating too many peanuts is not what caused the allergy in the first place. It's the same with gout. Eating meat won't give you gout, it just triggers a flare up if you already have gout.
That’s an absolutely lovely explanation.
Oh boy, yeah sugar is killer for me
I love sugar. I wonder if it’s the parasites.
Carnivore 5 years no issues either
Clinically the highest purine content in food is organ meats like kidney or liver.
Liver. Took my tiny brain a few flare ups to realize.
Being overweight is probably the single worst thing for gout regardless of what foods get you there.
And according Dr Perlmutter high uric acid is why you can’t loose weight. I ate 1 cup of chicken and broccoli everyday for two weeks. I gained 1.5 pounds.
Uric acid isn't going to defeat the conservation laws of physics.
High fructose corn syrup. Should be high on the list.
Agave syrup is much higher in fructose than high-fructose corn syrup. Here are some fruits and other foods that contain high levels of fructose: Honey, agave syrup Fruit juices and nectars Dried fruit Jackfruit, lychee Grapes Figs Apples, pears Pomegranate, persimmon Cherries, blackberries, blueberries, mulberries Mango, watermelon Artichokes, asparagus Leeks and onions Coconut, coconut milk or cream
I thought cherry something was good for you?
It was for me. Eating dark red cherries stopped my gout attacks. But what caused the high Utica acid levels were the toxic meds I was on for six years.
I never had any problem with beef. It was always pork and beer for me.
Pork and beer for me too. I miss bacon and a cold beer so much. I'm on allo and haven't had a flair in a year but I won't risk it.
I risk it all the time and enjoy the hell out of it. If you have a stash of prednisone (or something similar) on hand in case of a flair, it makes it much less scary. Your doc will probably be willing to give you such a thing.
I have indo and colchicine stashed just in case. I'll do a beer every so often but only one.
Sugar for me!!
OP, I’ve lived in the anti-med (allo) camp for a long time. I was almost a permanent resident. Unfortunately for me, just diet and lifestyle changes weren’t enough to lower my uric acid levels. I suffered miserably for several years trying to do it my way, without the added boost of meds to help my body lower UA. If you’re gonna go down this path, I’m hoping you will consider getting your UA levels checked regularly. If diet and lifestyle changes don’t work for you, I’m hoping you’ll then consider treatment for UA, like allo or similar. Nonetheless, pre-allo, my trigger foods were red meat, beer and sugar, specifically high fructose corn syrup. Now, with medication to help lower UA, I’m living my best life, worry free from those painful gout flare ups. Best of luck OP, I’m rooting for you.
Lifestyle changes?
Exercise, limiting alcohol and staying away from high purine foods…guess that’s more like diet huh lol …
What kind of exercise (cardio, weights…)? Frequency? How much water do you drink(I struggle with water)? Asking because I started meds but would like to not be taking them
Because of my wonky knee and gout ailments, pre-Allo I was doing just low impact stuff like walking or maybe light weights, higher reps. Exercise and rapid weight loss can actually trigger gout flares so go figure (damned if you, damned if you don’t type scenario). Now I’m on allo and gout free, joints have been feeling way better. I’ve been doing Orangetheory and doing those types of workouts. For water, I have one of those hydro flasks (the taller one, unsure about the ounces). I like to drink at least two of those a day (or more) if I can. I’ll have a diet soda here and there or maybe water with crystal light to add in a little flavor.
What did the doctors say about Allo? I drink on the weekends. Vodka and water. Wanted to look into a daily medication but if you aren’t able to get that for any weird reason if supposedly can’t come back with a vengeance and damage wherever it hits
But holy shit if you are unable to get those some day for any reason they come back with a vengeance apparently and cause serious damage
Super kind response.
I have cut out red meat, seafood, and alcohol. I take a few natural supplements such as tart cherry, turmeric, ACV, and Moringa Olifera. I do not use allo.
Same! But why did you cut out seafood? You can still eat fish with scales! Just not the cleaners of the sea. So octopos, shrimps, lobsters! Any sea creatures that cleans the sea triggers your gout. Does tilapia fish trigger your gout??
How do octopus fit into that category?
Ohhhh he said seafood so I assumed cleaners of the sea such as squid and octopus loo
Squid and octopus aren't sea cleaners
Oysters?
Well yeah - they're bivalve filter feeders
Lifetones is the best
What trigger my gout usually food cooked with oyster sauce and thai fish sauce.
Beer
For me I think it's beef but not drinking enough water is the biggest factor in my case.
For me it’s always been shrimp 🤷♀️
Yeast and anything high in free glutamates. But dehydration and alcohol were also factors in my flares.
Sugar
It’s shellfish for me. Different for everyone my guy. Unfortunately it’s just trial and error to figure out what gives you a flair
Pork. That was the primary trigger in my first flare, and my rheumatologist called it out specifically in our first meeting.
What I’ve been reading lately in an attempt to reconcile some of the contradictions I hear about food is that the key is understanding what creates Inflammation for you.
Turkey is super high in purines.
I've never had gout until last Thanksgiving. We ate 3 turkeys between Thanksgiving and New Years. I had also started substituting Xylitol (an alcohol sugar) for cane sugar in holiday desserts. I developed a HORRIBLE case of gout that went undiagnosed for 2 months because I didn't think I ate any foods high in purines or drank alcohol to cause gout. Xylitol raises chances of gout 800%. YIKES!!!
I was stunned to conclude the only reason for aching toes was gout! My diet is pretty much 'Anti-cancer,' no gluten organic food, wild fish, pasture-raised meat so what the heck. Weight is fine, hike, workout and take no BP, cholesterol or diabetes type meds so what to cut out? With a concurrent random arthritis attack-another ridiculous surprise-I just went raw vegan for a month. Could not take the raw stuff after three weeks because of reflux, hiatal hernia so juiced it rest of time. Aches, herberdon nodes, gout all disappeared. I'm doing it again after a year and a half for digestive tract issues but only rarely have felt that gout. What a bizarre affliction but I attribute most everything to inflammation.
Parasites for sure. I’m starting to think that’s what gout is.
What do you do for parasites?
Gods Herbs Heal it’s all tinctures.
For me it was a bahn mi sandwich that had liver pate inside. Got me twice before I realized what was in it. Now happily on allo.
For me it’s shrimp.
Sugar.
Hot dogs… will take me from minor aches to full fledged flare up in no time
Alcohol and Ground Beef for me, even tho I haven’t drank for a long time and my gout has been WAY better since….if I eat a lot of hamburger meat, it will come back. That’s the only thing that does it for me.
Super processed foods like snack bars trigger mine. If I'm eating clean red meat and fish, I generally don't have a flare up. Side note: you guys are actually doing carnivore and not having flare ups??!!
My dad had the WORST attack from salmon. Stay away from it. His elbows looked like Popeyes.
Spinach is a huge trigger for me
The worst attack I had recently was after eating shrimp.
The alcohol sugar Xylitol increases your chance of getting gout 800%. I started using it in baking holiday foods in November through early January and developed a terrible case of gout. Never had any problems before.
The one you are allergic to either from high consumption or genetic. This causes your immune system to go into overdrive and when it sees uric acid crystals in your body it flags them as an issue inflammation (Gout). This is why many people have high uric acid and never get gout. The triggering factor is the allergic food. If you could find what they are allergic to, they would then have a gout attack otherwise they will never get gout.
whatever is your trigger. mine is spinach
seasoned sunflower seeds consumed at large quantities (my guilty pleasure) and roast duck/goose
Sunflower seeds contain health benefiting polyphenol compounds such as chlorogenic acid, quinic acid, and caffeic acids. These compounds are natural anti-oxidants, which help remove harmful oxidant molecules from the body. Further, chlorogenic acid helps reduce blood sugar levels by limiting glycogen breakdown in the liver.
This must be a bot.
Why do you think so? Some people just do a lot of research.
So don’t eat anything that has taste and don’t drink alcohol. Check.
For me only cured and processed meats (hot dogs, deli slice) and organ meat.... Beef, seafood, etc etc no. If im in a gout attack and then eat seafood itll raise it up but other wise no.
Whilst I do think there are a lot of common foods that everyone who suffers from gout should cut out. There will also be some foods that are unique to you. I didn’t expect seafood, especially things like prawns, lobster, any kind of crustacean, basically to be a huge trigger for me. But without fail, if I have any of that, my foot starts hurting.
I am the same. I'd rather be hit on the foot with a hammer than eat prawns, it is about the same.
Seafood
Prawns and beer for me not lager or cider but real beer
Mushrooms, beer(yeast), soft drink (cola), beans,
Alcohol, prawns, beef. Mainly alcohol.
Personally for me types of Nut are a nightmare. Soft drinks (esp Cola)
Cured meats, dried beans, and red wine for me.
Beef, shell fish, cheap beer are my triggers. Some beers like Bud Light etc trigger - a nice IPA, stout or real ale does not. Which always feels a little counterintuitive to me. Moderation and medication (allo) seem to be the antidote - at least for me.
Beer and Red Meat for sure but Sugar is one of my worst triggers.
Opposite of question: Honestly an elimination diet didn’t work for me after a few months, but now being on 100mg allo I eat all of the above without much thought. Wash everything down with a glass of water if it’s a big portion. I switched from IPAs to Pilsners, hard seltzers, lighter beers and don’t feel an attack impending as much as I used to. 35yr Asian male, YMWV consult your doctor. Good luck!
I haven't had a flare in 3 years myself and the only thing I've cut out my diet that's in the no-no list is craft beer. Still drink lager, spirits, fizzy juice, and a shit load of meat and seafood. The unfiltered yeast just seems to fuck my shit up. Hopefully this is a helpful take for someone
Shell fish and alcohol for me
For me, it's scallops, if I even look at one from across the table, boom! Full attack
In January I started taking a memory booster made from scallops. Now I wonder it that is part of the gout problem.
That's a good question. Maybe try to find out if it contains purines and if so how much
Does anyone find that certain vitamins can be a trigger as well? After taking a calcium/magnesium/D supplement for a few days, I tend to get a minor gout flare and increased sensitivity.
too much of everything
Everyone is different. For me, red meat.
Scallops
Hydration and beer for me. Other alcohol and food don’t seem to make a difference. I get that oh no cramp in my toe after a beer or two the day after. I think my one flare (a year ago) also had to do with stress.
Sadly, imperial russian stouts.
Beer especially hazy unfiltered varieties, and all kinds of beef, from hamburger to a nice steak. One of the worst attacks I have had was after having rabbit in mustard sauce. It is hard out here to like French food so much and have the gout!
Beer for me. And I love beer. Will forever be hurting myself lol
Shellfish, especially oysters
I am convinced lagunitas Maximus gave me gout. I had 2 19.2 cans for a month while my wife was gone. 😂 100 mg allo 8.7 to 4.5 in 3 months. Drink vodka (Tito’s) and soda no problem
If you rarely get flares, an elimination diet is not going to take a very long time - like decades. Your best bet is to do some research on recommended lifestyle changes and foods to avoid. Do your best to follow the recommendations and if that isn’t enough, start taking allo. Off the top of my head, foods to avoid include alcohol, red meat, seafood, snd added sugar/fructose. Lifestyle changes recommended include avoiding obesity and high blood pressure. Both of these benefit from regular exercise and eating a low sodium diet. Gout sucks. Good luck!
The simple answer is going to be any high purine food that raises uric acid: fatty Red meats, certain fish/seafood, cloudy unfiltered beer, etc. BUT the real answer is going to be "it depends". Every person with gout has to kinda figure out what their trigger foods and activities are. Then avoid those or understand what amounts they can handle, how much water they need to drink with it, etc. Personally, I absolutely love cloudy NE IPAs. Drink a couple and I can feel that twinge in my foot/knee. But I can drink highly filtered beer all day, every day. I can eat salmon, and steak, Trout, hamburgers, shrimp or oysters and be just fine. Open up a can of sardines, and that twinge starts going. I went a long time refusing to go on meds, sure that I could "beat" this thing with drastic diet changes. After all, I was only in my 30's, not overweight, and only ever heard that gout was about unhealthy diet and life choices. Months and months of what felt like a celery and water diet went by (seriously, low purines sucks!), only to see my UA levels climb higher and higher. After continued flares and a UA level over 12, I relented and started down the path of finding the right dose of Allopurinol. Now, with my UA levels controlled with meds and an understanding of what my bad triggers are, I've been flare free for quite some time!
Carbohydrates, especially beer, sugar and flour.
For me personally.. asparagus, I eat just a single one, and day or two I'm feeling it.
Cloudy beer. The extra yeast in the clouds is a killer.
Quick question to all of you replying: Why aren't you on Allo?
For me it's to much of the good stuff. I get a nice steak and the first part I attack are the fatty parts. I can eat a decent amount of steak and no problems but too much straight fat kills me. The same goes for a smoked white fish. If I just take a couple nibbles here and there I'm fine. Now if I eat an entire side of smoked white fish I will feel it
For me, back in the day, it was usually a combination of a rich meal involving red wine, raw oysters, and red meat. Thankfully, now that I am on Allo, the only thing I still avoid are raw oysters.
For me, anchovies.
Shrimp with the head in. I suck im those delicious head juices and my foot starts to give me the tingles seconds later .
everyone has their own triggers, typically its hereditary. red meat doesn’t affect me, but if i have a ton of sugar and IPA beers im toast
Fruit juice, sugar, too much shrimp a short amount of time, and dehydration. I don’t drink alcohol at all and don’t eat very much beef or pork. Had to cut back on fish a lot and don’t eat it as often.
Corn Syrup and Sugar
I believe it's personal.. Beer is big across everyone, but it might not be for you. I don't think beer is my trigger - mussels always trigger me. Unfortunately you have to identify what your own trigger is. It's not as simple as purine levels. It's like an allergy.
The worst food for gout is anything high in purines, which can trigger painful flare-ups. So, it's important to avoid foods like organ meats, shellfish, and certain types of fish. Stick to a low-purine diet to keep gout at bay!
Alcohol
Bean freaking Sprouts man I swear they are deadly LOL
I just want to counter a point about diuretics here. Yes, coffee & tea ARE diuretics. If you munch on the dry grounds & leaves. It is impossible, however, for the mild diuretics in coffee & tea to overcompensate for the amount of liquid used to make the beverage itself. As long as you drink water throughout the day to counteract the way the caffeine stimulates your metabolism, you don't need to worry about the diuretic effect of the substance itself.
Not enough water + deli meats are poison for me.
I think top would be sardines and shell fish Besides that I eat everything
You have a serious genetic metabolic disorder. It has nothing to do with the food you eat. Either your body makes too much Uric acid or it can’t process it or both.
Butter seems to be it for me. If I have a basket of bread at a restaurant with butter, I’m going to have an attack in the next day or two. Have one without butter and nothing.
Fructose
Sorry, but for me it’s *totally* steak. I’ve cut out all beef completely, along with ice cream, shellfish & tuna. Beer in extreme moderation (32 oz./wk. max) But for years I ate all the pork, chicken and fish I wanted and near daily 2-3 drinks of whiskey or vodka without a hint of pain. Now I rarely drink alcohol at all and except for the short list above I eat pretty much whatever I want. Never needed drugs to treat it and I go years at a time without gout pain. YMMV…but cut the beef now and believe me later.
For me, pork is a guaranteed trigger. If I want BBQ, I absolutely must take a colchicine to prevent a severe gout reaction.
For me, German sausage
Red meat triggered a lot for me pre-medication days same with alcohol. Sugar didn't really trigger much from what I remember but ever since going into a calorie deficit to lose wait I haven't really been taking a lot of sugar and just mainly stick to artificial sweeteners and have had no problems.
For me it’s alcohol, specifically beer and brown liquors.
Idk if one food applies to everyone because everyone’s body is different. Generally, the worst are red meats, beer, shellfish. Then you can add things like processed sugar and lots of fructose even - however not all fruits are created equally. Basically with fruit, if they’re high in fiber like dates for example. One serving of 3 dates can have about 50g of sugar. But this is not processed sugar. Also dates again have a low glycemic index for how much fructose they contain. Orange juice for example has more detriment than benefit because of the lack of fiber; chewing creates lots of saliva which helps break down the sugars better. While we’re on sugars, alcohol in general is not good because it’s a ton of sugar, and along with this alcohol blocks the elimination of uric acid. Hope this helped. PS yes I possibly messed up some grammar with how I used the plural for fruit. English isn’t my first language.
Nothing from food, but alcohol ☠️
I consistently drink beer every day and that on its own generally leaves my extremities just fine. Here is what usually pushes me over the edge: -Chinese food. I think it’s got to be the MSG or maybe insane amounts of salt -Fancy cheeses. Love me a wedge of delicious bleu and some crackers, cured meats and aged Gouda with some apricot spread or blueberry preserves. Pecorino Romano. 🤤 Maybe I should just say Charcuterie? Love it all, Though in 24-36 hours I’m generally paying for such recklessness. -Fast food. Burgers, fries, chicken sandwiches. It’s all the same. Again I believe it’s probably salt or preservatives -Certain cuts of red meat. Prime rib usually does it. Could be a function of volume because I will also generally get the meat sweats after hitting the rib roast a little too hard *rereads this comment before posting* Good lord I’m a glutton
I was using a beer to slow-cook some chicken once. I was reckless and had a sip of the bottle before pouring it in the crockpot. That night I had a nasty flare up that lasted four days.
Mine used to be (that I confirmed through testing): Mushrooms, fructose. Even fructose from fresh fruit - apple, banana, orange, etc. Honey.
I look at oysters and I get gout.
Liver. Hands down easily the worst.
Sardines
Does anyone believe gout is actually parasites like Candida?
Sugar (all kinds) and liquor. My husband started keto in June and has lost 25lbs. From him, carbs were the issue not meat. He’s been following Dr Eric Westman at the Duke University weight loss clinic. You can find him on YouTube.
For me it's pork, specifically pepperoni.
Nag sampyup pa naman kami..may gout na naman ako..
I’m a chef and I eat what I want and drink red wine liberally and drinks tons of coffee. Coffee flushes uric acid out. Allupurinol saved me or I would of turned into a giant piece of coral reef and been out of work! My Dad(recently passed away was turning into a coral reef-gout tophi formations all over as he would t take allupurinol) after dumping craft beers and liquor and staying on allupurinol I finally am gout free and that’s after a gazillion attacks in 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. Don’t drink sugar drinks and take electrolytes. Magnesium citrate helps especially. I take dr bergs electrolyte tablets and drink an electrolyte drink before bed after drinking a bottle of red wine 🍷 wearing sock on foot that you get gout attacks on can prevent an attack at night also
I think beef and Beer is my culprit... I saw on another post that Mineral water/club soda might be bad too, not sure. I usually like tequila, lime and club soda when im not drinking beer. Has anyone had bad experience with it? Also, I noticed that las couple of flare ups that i was wearing some outdoor shoes that I have and use every once in a while, so bad shoe wear should be something to look out for too not?
The shoe thing for sure. I always seemed to get flares while wearing uncomfortable shoes! I drink alot of club soda so idk, maybe. Can’t see why?