Never plan a diet for gout – plan diets for people.
It is right to consider the disease, but the most important aspect is the person who the diet is aimed at.
That is why I do not focus on compiling a single diet that is supposed to suit all gout sufferers. That would never work, because gout has many factors, and must be managed on an individual basis.
The same is true of many diets. But this is a gout support service. So I will focus on gout people first. Then look at how we should apply gout nutrition principles to suit the tastes of individuals.
Diet For Gout Guidelines
In the Diet For Gout Guidelines I focus on principles that need to be applied when you are planning a diet for gout.
We have seen throughout this Gout Diet Section that food is rarely a cause of gout. But bad food habits can make gout worse. We also know that the only way to manage gout is to be certain of the diagnosis. Then we need a good management plan that sets treatment goals. Once we have a plan, we can consider how some aspects of diet can directly affect that plan.
To be clear, gout is a medical problem, not an eating disorder.
Before we look at medical or nutrition issues, we must consider the people.
Diet For Gout People
There are two groups of people we must consider: gout sufferers and gout patients. In fact, everyone that we consider here is a gout sufferer, and some of them are gout patients.
Gout Sufferer
A gout sufferer is someone who knows they have gout, or strongly suspects that they might have gout. For these people, the guidelines present a diet that is generally gout-friendly. It will help most gout sufferers, and it will not harm anyone who finds later that they do not have gout.
Gout Patient
A gout patient is a gout sufferer with a confirmed gout diagnosis, and a gout treatment plan. The treatment plan is important, and we give that priority. We ensure that diet helps where it can, but never hinders the treatment plan. If you have a confirmed diagnosis, but no plan, you should go to the Gout Treatment Section now, and work with your doctor to prepare a personal treatment plan. Until you have that plan, please follow the Diet For Gout Sufferers Guidelines.
Diet For Gout Sufferers
Do you need a diet for gout sufferers? Here is a step-by-step guide to planning your own diet. Balance food, drink, & exercise to help gout. Fix gout with food using the Diet For Gout Sufferers Guidelines.
An old page of advice for Planning A Diet For Gout Sufferers may still be interesting.
Diet For Gout Patients
If you have a confirmed gout diagnosis, then as a gout patient, you might already have received some diet suggestions from your healthcare professionals. Wherever you have got your gout diet information from, be sure that it covers all the important, relevant food, drink and exercise topics.
I am preparing the detailed guidelines. In the meantime please see GoutPal Plan for Gout Dieters.
- Planning A Diet For Gout Patients
- All you need to know about planning a diet for gout patients, from simple tips, to gout diet planning tools and recipes.
Best Diet For Gout
The best diet for gout is the one that suits you. Do not rely on ideas from other people that lead to a bland diet that is impossible to sustain. Use my food diary website to analyze what you eat, identify where changes will help you, and learn to make what you enjoy healthy for you.
Low Purine Diet For Gout
I have written about low purine diets for gout, but not in a positive way. I actually get quite annoyed when health professionals simply give their gout patients lists of foods to avoid or restrict. It is not helpful.
I have described here, and throughout this diet section, that purine management can play a part in your gout diet, but only if you do it in the context of a proper diet plan. You will get absolutely nowhere relying on lists of high, medium, and low purine foods. In most cases, these lists are wrong. In all cases, you need a different approach.
I will not link to my low purine diet articles, but if you must read them, simply search for low purine diet for gout in the search box at the top of the page.
Diet For Gout Recipes
As you see from how I recommend you approach diet management, recipes are not really relevant. Therefore, I do not collect special recipes that suit all gout sufferers, as I believe diets should be planned to suit individuals. However, if I come across healthy recipes that are likely to help most gout sufferers, I will add them to my collection.
- Diet For Gout Recipes
- Enjoy your gout food with these recipes. Let GoutPal adapt your favorites for your best gout diet.
Alcohol In Your Diet For Gout
There is a lot of rubbish spoken and written about the role of alcohol in a gout diet. Let me make it clear:
If you drink too much alcohol, you have an alcohol problem. That might make your gout worse, but it is not a gout problem, it is an alcohol problem that affects gout. If you drink moderate amounts of alcohol, it will have no more effect on gout than anything else you do in life. It is a non-issue.
- Gout and Alcohol
- Are you worried about gout and alcohol? Did someone say it was bad? Do not listen to ignorance. See facts about alcohol. See the personal effect on your gout.
Diet For Gout: Next Steps
You can find more information by searching for Diet For Gout in the search box above.
Please remember to be specific when you ask about diet for gout, or share your experiences and opinions. There is little point in discussing whether certain food is good or bad for gout, because it depends on the context of your total diet, and it depends on what aspect of gout you are trying to improve. Much better to ask how certain food, drink or other lifestyle changes can affect uric acid production, uric acid excretion, or inflammation.
Leave Diet For Gout to browse the rest of the Gout Diet Section.
Please give your feedback
Did this page help you? If yes, please consider a small donation. Your donations help keep GoutPal's gout support services free for everyone.
If not, please tell me how I can improve it to help you more.
- YouTube
- The gout forums.
