Are gluten-free foods okay for gout sufferers?

[katie300]

Are gluten-free foods okay for a person with an advanced stage of gout?

My mom was severely allergic to allopurinol and colchicine (she nearly died) and now is on the Uloric. The only way we have to help her is through diet (she is 83 and has heart and kidney problems).

I carefully watch her diet avoiding those “bad gout” foods.
I was hoping to find some alternate cereals and breads just to offer some variety from rice and white flour.

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Is gluten bad for your gout?

[trev]

There's a lot of diet advice about gluten free foods online.

Though not suffering from Coeliac disease like many following this diet-I was having bloat,IBS, sleep disturbance etc. so decided to cut out wheat as much as possible- though i love wholemeal stuff as much as any.

I switched to spelt cereal and bread, and though expensive doing this stopped most of the problems and helped with weight loss.

Celiacs  NB:  Spelt is [only] LOW in gluten but its high levels of crude fibre help in the elimination of gluten from the system. [Hildegardhealth.com]

I'm not sure if it was the gluten, wheat protein or yeasts that were to blame- but now I can eat wheat in small addition to others.

 I started to use my bread machine recently and thus combine interesting flours like Tapioca, Millett (alkaline & are +++ for gout) , Rice (not too good for texture/taste) and of course Spelt ( a traditional Roman flour- non hybridised like modern strains ).

Oats have gluten and are not supposed to be good for gout! In themselves an excellent food source and good for digestion, etc.They hold a lot of water when cooked!

I think it the usual case of everything in moderation , barring allergies – and having wheat solidly is not ideal, if sensitive in any way to components,naturally enough.

I would try a few weeks on lower gluten- that's what if would probably take to detect a difference.

Natures Path do a load of high quality, if a bit pricey, cereals and specialist breads can be found in the better big stores.

In UK, Waitrose have always had a specially good range.

Sourdoughs are an option , but I find them a bit strong.

Making your own bread with a good machine ,or hand even, is easy with 'all in one' pack options available- just add water and go!

PS: Sorry your Mom had a bad run in with those Gout staple meds- I'm wary myself and diet is a really important part of general health- even more so when other issues like food [or drug] intolerances occur.

Give it a good try, anyway- I would be keen to hear of your progress on this…

[Keith Taylor (GoutPal Admin)]

katie300 said:

Are gluten free foods okay for a person with advanced stage of gout?  My mom was severely allergic to allopurinol and colchichine (she nearly died) and now is on the Uloric.  The only way we have to help her is through diet (she is 83 and has heart and kidney problems).  I carefully watch her diet avoiding those “bad gout” foods.  I was hoping to find some alternate cereals and breads just to offer some variety from rice and white flour.

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It is good that your mom is on Uloric (febuxostat), as this means that she does not need to worry about different types of food – just make sure she has as much variety as possible.

Regular uric acid tests are a must to ensure she is on the right dosage. Some doctors are excellent at this, but some really need to be pushed. Please post your mom's uric acid levels each month, or her doctors excuse for not testing – we can discuss these and make sure she is on the right track.

I hope that mom knows she might still get gout flares until the febuxostat dissolves existing uric acid crystals. She may need pain relief, and must discuss with her doctor what options she has that will not interfere with her other conditions.

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