How can I make food that I like better for my gout?

[Keith Taylor]

Food is important to gout sufferers, but poor advice from doctors and bad information on the Internet make diet options difficult for gout sufferers.

Almost always, we can trace the problems back to lists.

Doctors often give gout patients a list of foods they should avoid. This is terrible gout advice.

It is obviously part of the doctor’s gout treatment procedure, but it is fatally flawed. All gout treatment must be patient-centered. How can a food list be patient-centered?

Everything depends on what you like to eat, and what you eat now.

That way, you can identify any bad gout foods that you must never eat again, and any sensitive gout foods that might need moderation. Together, we also might identify foods missing from your diet that might help your gout. In that way, you can create your own 3 food lists: Banned, Bearable, Beneficial.

They have to be your lists. Never eat what you do not like. Never avoid foods you love, unless they are truly dangerous.

I’m going to move some posts here from other threads that are in the wrong place.

Use this thread to discuss food lists, and what you should avoid. More importantly, if there is something you really enjoy eating, but think you must avoid it, let’s see if we can find a way to make it a safe part of your gout diet.

[alan]

hi keith. its more of a trail, page after page of what to eat, bad gout foods, diet, etc one link takes you to next page to next page etc…just an endless search..you do have one page with lots of info including purines..but it is confusing and includes foods that are fine to eat.. if this was my site, on the first page would be all foods that are bad for gout from worst to best…an easy to read easy to understand what to eat. some folks still think mushrooms are bad or that you cant have red wine …most can not articulate what meats and fish are worse than others, why dairy is good and why complex grains are bad, why all nuts are good except peanuts because they are not a nut but a legume, things to avoid that are easy, stop cooking with meat broths, start soups with water and flavor it up, just some things are a never…shell fish, sardines, organs, no more turkey giblets or hearts, etc….i just think in addition to everything else, a what is ok to eat and what to avoid and what to never eat is so important, but thats just me.

[Keith Taylor]

Thanks for that, Alan.

I’m a bit busy today, but I’ll take a look at your comments on the individual pages next week, and try and come up with some improvements.

You say about pages linking to next page, etc, but that’s how websites work. Do you think I should take the info and reformat it into a book? I’m not sure if I could do any better than hundreds of gout books already out there? What do other people think?

Not sure what you mean about purines, but I hope this will be clearer when I find your comments on whichever purines page you are concerned with.

What is OK for gout sufferers to eat = everything that is a whole food, in moderation, with a healthy balance, and mostly plants.

What foods gout sufferers must avoid = processed foods, especially processed meats, excess calories, excess iron, meat more than twice a month, fish more than twice a week.

Those are basics, but all gout sufferers might identify some specific OK and Avoid foods according to there own unique health history and personal preferences.

Peanuts are fine, in balanced moderation, unless you have a peanut allergy.

Thanks for flagging up the specific pages that need improving. Sorry I can’t get to them today. I’m off to party now (remember, I’m 8 hours in front of the forum time)

[alan]

Hi.

I eat meat everyday. some days more than others…but i do it in moderation. and i drink over 164 oz of liquid a day…before having a glass of red wine. and i eat a lot of dairy since that lowers your chance of gout by 100 percent. peanuts are actually bad for gout regardless if you have an allergy or not. i hope you know that. thats what i mean bout folks being confused as to what to eat. so is oatmeal bad for gout. who woulda thought? i have gout and had bad bad attacks..3 at once once way back …i take no meds today…i control with diet and it can be done. processed meats are a no no but i did eat a slice of olive loaf in a sandwich earlier. but processed foods, not including foods that are bad for gout, while these are potentially unhealthy, they are ok to eat if you are trying to prevent gout….as long as they dont have meat nor soy nor peanuts, etc. private message me if you want to chat, i admire all you have done but again think the most important info, what to eat what not to eat should be easy to find…a tab on every page, etc…but this is your site….

[Keith Taylor]

I hope people get some value from this thread about gout diet.

I want to emphasize personal aspects of gout diet. Rheumatologists have realized it is wrong to dictate a single way to treat gout patients. All gout medicine must be prescribed according to an individual patients needs. That means understanding their medical history, blood test results, the stage of their gout, and their personal preferences.

Gout foods are just another form of gout treatment. It’s more complicated than prescribing a few pills, but the principles are the same:
What’s your Food History? Allergies, height, exercise levels, weight history over the years. Record the facts in your Personal Gout Profile.
What are your Blood Test Results? They are just as important for gout diet control as they are for gout medicine control.
What Stage of Gout are you at? Pain control, avoiding long term damage, between attacks, during an attack, etc. Different stages of gout need different interventions. Diet changes that help one aspect of gout might make something else worse. Gout patients are beginning to understand that uric acid lowering can sometimes trigger a gout attack. Foods that lower uric acid are no different.
What’s your favorite food? A very important part of gout control that is often overlooked is your personal preferences. I’m never going to say stop eating your favorite food. I prefer to explain the consequences, and let you make the choice. Likewise, I’m never going to tell you to eat or drink something you don’t like. I much prefer to explain the benefits, and find a recipe that makes good gout food palatable to you.

That’s why gout food is all about you, so take your favorite foods, and change the question: How can I make food that I like better for my gout? to be more personal.

So, alan said:

i do miss having a beer and shrimp and my wonderful chicken liver casserole and tukey with gravy..etc

The questions should be:
How can I make beer better for my gout?
How can I make shrimp better for my gout?
How can I make chicken liver casserole better for my gout?
How can I make turkey better for my gout?
How can I make gravy better for my gout?

These are all great questions, but I have to throw each one back, and ask:
Are you allergic to beer, shrimp, chicken liver, turkey, or meat stocks?
What’s your uric acid level, and do you have any history of how it has changed?
What’s your height, weight, and activity levels?
Are you most concerned with uric acid control, or pain control?

With the right personal information, I’m pretty sure I can work out recipes and eating plans that include any of alan’s favorite foods, and most other foods. That way, you get your own personal gout foods lists: Banned, Bearable, and Beneficial.

Personally, I’m more concerned with making the information accessible. I hope I’ve explained why generic food lists are quite useless for gout control. The vital missing ingredient is YOU!

For me, it’s always a challenge to make the pages on GoutPal.com meaningful to most visitors. On the main menu I have a link to my opinions on the most important aspects of diet, treatment, and symptoms. So, for gout diet, I ask: What Gout Foods Can I Eat? on every page. I’ve just updated that page to try and emphasize the personal nature of gout diet.

Does it make sense?

[Keith Taylor]

Good inspiration for http://www.goutpal.com/7754/driving-blind-with-gout/

Don’t be driving blind with gout. You must see your uric acid levels. You must know your gout direction. Open your eyes. See how to control your gout today.

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