Chickpea Water & Aquafaba for Gout

[Rebecca Nahid]

As a vegan I have just discovered the joys of aquafaba (chickpea water) you basically drain a can of chickpeas and whisk the water, it turns into something similar to egg whites and great for recipes. Just wondered whether, seeing as chickpeas themselves are seen as moderately high in purines, would the same apply to the water they are canned in? This water has no brine by the way. Thanks

[Keith Taylor]

As a fellow chickpea lover, I’m going to try your aquafaba, Rebecca. As it happens, I always include the entire contents of the can when I’m making a chickpea dish. But, I’ve never tried making an egg white substitute in this way.

Is it as simple as it sounds, or do you add other ingredients?

Anyway, I can find no purine analysis for aquafaba. So, I’ll try and guess it. Let’s take 500g of the chick peas listed in my purine chart. So, we start with 5 x 109 = 545 mg.

Then, we rinse those chickpeas for 2 minutes, guessing that washes out around 10%. So, let’s say we have 500 mg left, and we boil and simmer 40% of purines into the water. Again, I’ll guess we have 1-liter water left, with 200mg purines in it.

So, if you are on a normal purine restricted diet, you should restrict yourself to 2 liters chickpea water per day. If you are on a very strict purine diet, then half a liter per day will be enough. That ought to satisfy the appetite of the most ardent gouty aquafaba lover. But, it’s not very realistic.

Adding Realism To Aquafaba for Gout Sufferers
Apart from the fact that you’d be eating by the bucketload after whipping the chickpea water into the right consistency, there are upsides to consider in terms of uric acid control:

1. Most evidence points to vegetable purines being gout-safe. That’s not absolutely conclusive, so you’d need to run your own experiments.
2. Aquafaba is a good protein source, which encourages kidneys to excrete more uric acid.
3. It is also a good source of fiber, which encourages the gut to absorb more uric acid.

So, Rebecca, it seems you might have stumbled on a gout superfood. Where’s me whisk!

Other Gout Foodies who are obsessing about foods in this way should consider taking allopurinol. Because allopurinol puts everything you eat into the very low to zero purine range.

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Is Aquafaba a Gout Superfood?

[Rebecca Nahid]

Its a relatively new discovery and goodness knows who thought of it! There are lots of recipes out there I would love to try meringue with it. It can also be used in mayo and dressings. It must be just plain water not salted I used Asda organic can and think Waitrose do unsalted. I made a choc mousse letting it set overnight but tastes lively as i was making it. I whisked the water left over from a can. It took 15 mins with a hand whisker but stand whisker would be quicker. I could not reach the fully desired consistency as in you can turn bowl upside down. Not sure if hot kitchen or crap whisker lol. Before this I melted 140g dark chocolate and allowed to go cold. This chocolate ha sugar added if u used bitter chic u could add sugar but not sure if would affect the mixture. Fold in the dark choc dont worry if mixture goes runny, then put in fridge.

I worked out it was 120ml water but your maths was way over my head as maths is not my stong point. I made 2 portions so basically galf a can of chickpea water. I was weary because my last attack came the next day after having consumed a large portion of home made hummus but could be coincidence! I have am glad what you said about allopurunol taking away the food worry life without hummus would be unbearable!

[Rebecca Nahid]

Tried the mousse very decadent and delicious! Only critique was a bit grainy think the melted choc was not cooled down enough. However still lovely but high in calrories. Apparently adding cocoa powder instead will not work but great for a dinner party! Have added it to my recipe page on facebook

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