A natural gout diet is a logical starting point to treat gout. However, our society has been moving further away from a gout friendly diet as each year passes.
Across most western countries there appears to be a rising tide of gout cases developing. The primary reason is that western diets are made up of an increasingly high percentage of processed foods. Over time a trend has developed. Not only is the consumption of processed foods increasing but, more importantly, there has been an increase over time of consumption of highly processed foods. The greater the level of processing that our food goes through the greater the deficiency of nutrients.
Logic dictates that to avoid gout or to reverse its affects and prevalence, care in food selection and general dietary decisions is paramount. We need to consume less processed foods and aim for a natural gout diet.
Diet modifications to combat gout are almost totally focused on reducing the intake of food with high purine levels. That is important, as uric acid is the result when purines are broken down by the body. (The purine landscape is a little more complex than that. See the article on good and bad purines.)
However, the focus of conventional dietary approaches to fight gout and achieve a natural gout diet misses one very important factor – HFCS or high-fructose corn syrup.
There is some debate about the food-links with gout but increasingly research is showing a strong cause and effect relationship between HFCS and gout attacks.
HFCS raises blood sugar levels. Elevated blood sugar levels over time look like being a precursor and cause of inflammation that results in gout attacks.
Reducing the intake of food with high purine levels doesn’t appear to be as effective in eliminating gout symptoms and gout attacks if the consumption of processed foods with HFCS continues. Eliminating HFCS is essential in achieving a natural gout diet.
The latest research indicates that soft drinks and sodas sweetened with HFCS and fruit juices with high fructose levels such as apples and oranges increases the risk of developing gout symptoms.
Although fructose consumption does lead to uric acid production, that is not the main problem with fructose. Instead, it’s what happens to the uric acid in the body when fructose is ingested that increases the risk of gout.
Fructose reduces the body’s ability to eliminate uric acid. The retention of uric acid in the body, at the same time as more is being produced, raises the levels of uric acid in the blood.
There is also a major difference in how fructose creates uric acid compared to how high purine foods give rise to uric acid. That difference is the speed of the reaction.
Unlike natural sugar, fructose goes straight to the liver to be metabolised.
The liver produces a variety of waste products when it metabolises fructose. Those waste products include various toxic substances as well as a high concentration of uric acid.
And the process is fast. Uric acid levels can increase within only minutes of fructose being ingested.
In general, fructose doesn’t get the attention that its effects warrant. Studies have found links between fructose and diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, cancer and, it appears, Alzheimer’s disease as well. Fructose consumption increases the risk of obesity and diabetes more so than other sugars. That is because fructose is more readily transformed to fat. Thus, as well as its direct effect on uric acid levels, fructose can create two factors that may be causes of gout – obesity and diabetes.
In all, that adds up to three fronts on which fructose can raise the risk of gout:
- It reduces the body’s elimination of uric acid
- Its metabolization leads to the production of uric acid – and fast!
- It can lead to the development of two precursors to gout – obesity and diabetes
The logic and research is compelling. When it comes to gout, HFCS may be public enemy number one. However, all sugars need to be avoided in a natural gout diet. Also to be avoided are foods that readily convert to sugar, particularly grains whether processed or not. Whole wheat is one grain that doesn’t often get a mention when discussing gout but should be avoided, totally if possible.
The best thing to do is replace all sweetened drinks including naturally sweet drinks such as fruit juices. So called re-hydrating drinks and sports drinks should also be replaced.
What should they be replaced with? Water! Water is the best source of hydration and also helps remove uric acid from the body.
Some gout suffers have found this hard to do as water doesn’t have the flavour of sweetened drinks. It may simply be due to a lifelong habit of consuming sweetened drinks or because some of the other conditions that gout sufferers have lead the body to crave sugar. Regardless of the cause, most people simply don’t understand to what degree they are consuming sugar.
Let’s take a standard can of the leading cola brand. How much sugar does it contain?
How does 16 teaspoons of sugar sound? Would you eat 16 teaspoons of sugar if it was in a bowl in front of you? Most people would say no but happily, without thinking, drink a can of fluid with that much sugar in one sitting.
If HFCS poses such a health problem, why do food manufacturers use it? The answer is two-fold. It’s cheaper than sugar and is easier to use in food processing as it blends easily with most ingredients. It can also be used as a food preservative and is now being used in high levels in some processed meat.
The wide use of HFCS makes it difficult to avoid. There is not enough public knowledge of how it impacts on gout and other health issue, so little or no pressure is put on food manufactures to seek alternatives. Also, very importantly, it is difficult to spot on food labels as it can come under many guises.
It’s rare to see HFCS listed among the ingredients on food packaging. However, the following are some common ingredients you will see on food labels which are HFCS.
- Chicory
- Agave
- Glucose-fructose syrup/ glucose syrup
- ISO glucose
- Inulin
- Fruit fructose
- Crystalline fructose
- Tapioca syrup
When buying food there is a saying that will hold you in good stead, not only for fighting gout but for other important health benefits.
“Buy food not food products”
In other words, anything that has been processed should be substituted in your diet wherever possible with fresh food – fresh vegetables, dairy and eggs.
A natural gout diet will have a direct effect on combatting gout. It will also provide a fertile ground for the use of the popular natural gout treatments. Without a natural gout diet, the effectiveness of natural gout remedies and treatments can’t be maximised.
It may take you a little extra time to prepare your meals but at least you know what you will be eating and won’t have to worry about hidden ingredients and whether the food you are eating has been stripped of nutrients due to processing. That’s the essence of a natural gout diet.