Searching for how to lower uric acid levels naturally without drugs? Here, you’ll discover how a low uric acid diet is a natural step in preventing recurring uric acid gout attacks which can lead to permanently damaged joints and kidney stones.
In order to understand just why a special diet is necessary to combat your gout, it makes sense to see where uric acid comes from and how it causes your gout…
URIC ACID AND GOUT
You first need to be introduced to chemical compounds in your body called “purines”. In non-scientific terms, they are responsible for turning your food into ‘energy’ and your genes into ‘protein’. As part of this process they breakdown and uric acid is formed. Now, it’s important for you to realize at this point that purines also exist in our food in varying degrees.
Now back to uric acid. It is the job of your kidneys to process this acid and expel excess levels from your body, and it does this through your urine. And generally, they do this quite efficiently and normal levels left in your blood is a good thing.
But when too much uric acid is being produced for your kidneys to handle, or, your kidneys aren’t working efficiently enough, then excess acid shows up in your blood, which is a bad thing. It’s bad because this excess acid travels around your body and collects in your joints and surrounding tissues in the form of crystals. It’s these crystals that cause your painful gout.
REASON FOR A LOW URIC ACID DIET
Above, I stated that purines also appear in our food and some drinks. Surely then, it makes absolute sense not to keep consuming even more purine-rich food and producing even more uric acid for already overworked kidneys to process. All that happens is that even more acid is retained in the bloodstream leading to more gout attacks!
So this is why people who are suffering from gout, or, people who regularly suffer gout attacks, need to go on a low uric acid diet, i.e. a low purine diet. This is a diet that eliminates those foods and drinks that are high or very high in proteins…
A DIET TO LOWER URIC ACID LEVELS
(1) These foods are high / very high in purines and ought to be avoided:-
Fatty red meat, offal (e.g. liver), broth, gravy, meat extracts, poultry (especially turkey, goose, partridge) sweetbreads, fish roe, anchovies, shellfish, sardines, mackerel, herring, baker’s yeast, brewer’s yeast, and yeast extracts. And avoid alcohol, particularly beer (yeast).
(2) The following foods have moderately high purines. They should be drastically reduced, or, if you can, avoid them:-
Soy, dried peas, lentils, spinach, cauliflower, asparagus, mushrooms, legumes, oatmeal.
(3) These foods make up a sensible, relatively low purine diet:-
Low-fat dairy products, foods high in vitamin C (e.g. red bell peppers, oranges, potatoes, red cabbage, mandarins, tangerines, etc.), complex carbohydrates (e.g. green-leafy vegetables, fruit, cereals, rice, pasta, bread, avoid white flour products), essential fatty acids (e.g. seeds, flaxseed, tuna, salmon, nuts etc.), and, fruit juices.
You must also drink at least 12 x 8oz glasses of water every day to help your kidneys flush excess uric acid from your system.
BUT THERE’S MORE TO CONSIDER…
Although a low purine diet is at the heart of your recovery from gout, there are so many other things to consider like; your general health, family history, your weight, any medical conditions, ongoing medicines, etc.
And it’s important not just to get rid of the symptoms of a gout attack as drug-based medications do (although they have some terrible side effects), but also, to prevent recurring attacks as these can lead to permanently damaged joints, kidney stones and in extreme cases, kidney damage.