A properly composed diet will allow you to forget about the excruciating pain in the joints and lead a full life. We talk about the diet for gout: what is useful and what is not.
Gout is a systemic chronic metabolic disease that causes inflammation, swelling and pain in the joints. The disease is associated with the accumulation and retention in the body of uric acid salts - urates. Gout has been known since ancient times, its main symptoms were described by doctors of antiquity. Many famous people suffered from gout, for example, Alexander the Great, emperors and empresses, the English king Henry VIII, the German scientist Gottfried Leibniz, the philosophers Voltaire Kant and Schopenhauer.
Gout is still a very common disease. Most often, this disease affects men. As for the age at which the first attack usually occurs, in men it is 35–45 years, and in women it is 45–50 years.
gout symptoms
A characteristic sign of gout is the formation of so-called tophi (deposition of uric acid salts in the form of nodules and bumps in the connective tissue). Gout sufferers complain of acute pain in the joints - most often the big toe is affected. From the ancient Greek language, the name of the disease is translated as "leg in a trap", since most often patients are worried about acute pain in the joints of the feet. The intensity of pain increases rapidly and reaches a peak after about 24-48 hours. The joint area is red and swollen. Body temperature may rise, chills appear. Attacks of gout are also unpleasant because they limit the movement of the patient. If you do not resort to appropriate treatment, the acute period lasts about a week, then the symptoms gradually subside. Gout can progress: pain attacks become more frequent, new joints, for example, elbows, hands, are involved in the pathological process. Due to the growth and enlargement of the nodes, the joints are deformed, their mobility and functionality are impaired. And this leads to problems with movement: the patient becomes less mobile. In the later stages, gout can lead to the development of urolithiasis.
Depending on the nature of the course, the disease can be acute (acute gouty arthritis) or chronic (recurrent arthritis). There are also atypical forms of gout, for example, pseudophlegmonous, asthenic, rheumatoid-like, etc. They are much less common.
Reasons for the development of the disease
As we have already said, gout develops when a lot of uric acid is formed in the body, which is not promptly excreted from the body. A large number of factors can contribute to this. Here are the main causes of high uric acid levels and the development of gout.
- hereditary predisposition. Most often, it manifests itself in the form of various genetic disorders, in which the amount of one or another enzyme is reduced in the body.
- Increased intake of purine bases in the body. These substances are contained in the DNA and RNA of living organisms and are involved in the transfer of hereditary information. Purine bases enter the body with food, drinks, and also during the decay of the body's own cells. In the Middle Ages, gout was called the "disease of kings. "This is explained by the love of the nobility for plentiful meals. The body of those who abused meat food and alcohol (and there are most of all purines) could not cope with the huge concentration of uric acid. Ordinary people ate poorly, mostly plant foods, and therefore rarely suffered from gout.
- Problems with excretion of uric acid in the urine. Usually seen in chronic kidney disease. It is generally accepted that gout in such cases is secondary, that is, it is a consequence of another disease. If it is eliminated, the gout will also disappear.
Treatment and prevention of gout
The success of the treatment of gout is an integrated approach. If possible, specialists try to determine the root cause of the disease and eliminate it. However, this is not always possible, so one has to limit oneself to symptomatic treatment aimed at eliminating the manifestations of the disease and improving the quality of life of a gout sufferer.
The main directions in the treatment of gout
- Medical treatmentwith anti-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs are taken mainly during an exacerbation to relieve pain and swelling. Antigout - for a long time, sometimes for life. This is a group of medicines that directly affect the metabolism of purine bases and uric acid in the body.
- local treatment.It is prescribed both during the period of remission and during exacerbation. It consists in the use of compresses with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as physiotherapy procedures. During the period of remission, applications with paraffin, therapeutic mud are useful - this helps to remove urates and improves joint mobility.
- Surgery.Assign with a strong growth of nodes and cones. They are removed to avoid severe deformation of the joints and limit their mobility.
- Dieting.Diet plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of gout. The main goal of such a diet is to reduce the content of uric acid compounds in the body. If the therapeutic and prophylactic diet is observed, purine bases practically do not enter the body from the outside, and the level of uric acid decreases. By limiting consumption or completely eliminating certain foods from the diet, we prevent the development of the disease and postpone the next attack. It is recommended to follow a therapeutic and prophylactic diet for gout sufferers throughout life, and not only during periods of exacerbations.
How to make a diet
Experts recommend taking dietary table No. 6 as a basis for gout. This therapeutic and preventive diet was developed by a well-known nutritionist for patients with diseases that are accompanied by the accumulation of uric acid in the body: gout, urolithiasis, and uric acid diathesis. All these ailments are metabolic pathologies and cause serious complications. A special diet helps to reduce the concentration of uric acid in the bloodstream and normalize the metabolism in the body. Thanks to a special diet, it is possible to reduce the formation of uric acid and the accumulation of urate in the kidneys and joint spaces. The diet also prevents the accumulation of purine bases, which leads to gout. If you stick to it, you can quickly improve your general condition, reduce pain and discomfort in the joints.
Features of the diet table number 6
The therapeutic diet is balanced in terms of chemical composition and calorie content of products, sufficient in terms of the content of minerals, vitamins, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Energy intensity is 2700–3000 kcal. If you are overweight, it is recommended to reduce total calories by reducing carbohydrates.
- The amount of fat is 80-90 g per day. Preference should be given to fats of vegetable origin, the source of which are vegetable oils.
- The daily amount of protein is 70-80 g, while at least half of the indicated amount should come from vegetable protein foods.
- The amount of carbohydrates is 380-400 g per day with normal body weight. With excess weight and obesity, the amount of carbohydrates is reduced to 250-300 g per day.
- The amount of salt should not exceed 10 g per day.
- The daily volume of fluid consumed should not exceed 1. 5-2 liters (excluding first courses).
The diet for gout does not imply strict restrictions, therefore, as a rule, it is well tolerated. Food should be boiled, baked, steamed. Try to avoid frying. It causes the formation of a large number of extractives and carcinogens, which affect the digestive, urinary and cardiovascular systems. You need to eat fractionally, every 2-3 hours, in moderate portions, without overeating.
Allowed foods for gout
The basis of the therapeutic diet for gout is alkaline foods: they normalize the metabolism of purine bases, and also reduce the amount of uric acid.
What can you eat with gout?
- Any kind of vegetables - both fresh and thermally processed.
- Bakery products made from rye and wheat flour, as well as with the addition of wheat bran.
- The first dishes cooked in a weak vegetable and fish broth, vegetarian okroshka, beetroot, lean pickle, as well as cabbage soup without meat.
- Dairy and sour-milk products: low-fat kefir, curdled milk, whole milk, low-fat sour cream, natural yogurt, fermented baked milk and low-fat cottage cheese.
- Fruits and berries fresh and thermally processed.
- Green and black tea with lemon, honey and milk. Homemade fruit and berry kissels, vegetable and fruit juices, berry fruit drinks. Herbal infusions (from chamomile flowers, rose hips), fruit compotes, chicory.
- Desserts and sweets: natural honey, marshmallow, natural marmalade, berry jam, jam, homemade marshmallows.
- Fats: refined sunflower, corn, olive, linseed oil. Butter is also allowed.
The listed foods and foods are considered safe for gout. There are also a number of products that you can not exclude from the menu, but limit their use.
- Quail and chicken eggs, cooked in the form of steam omelettes, hard-boiled or soft-boiled (no more than 1 egg per day).
- From meat products, it is allowed to eat veal, lean beef, rabbit, turkey and chicken. From fish - fish of dietary varieties. Meat and fish dishes should be consumed no more than three times a week, preferably boiled. Thanks to this method of heat treatment, meat and fish are cleansed of purine bases, extractives and uric acid fragments.
- Pasta is recommended to be limited to a minimum.
What not to eat with gout
Your diet should not contain foods that contain large amounts of purine bases and uric acid. Here are the products that are not recommended for gout.
- Alcoholic and carbonated drinks.
- Chocolate, cocoa.
- The first dishes cooked on meat and strong fish broth.
- All kinds of nuts and legumes, grape juice.
- Hard and pickled cheeses.
- Sausage products, smoked products, sausages, canned fish and meat, offal, as well as meat and fish ingredients with a high fat content.
- All kinds of appetizers, pates, sauces, spices, spices, ketchups, mayonnaise, mustard, grated horseradish root.
- Products from puff and pastry, cakes, chocolate and caramel sweets.
Sample menu for the week
Here is a sample menu for seven days for those with gout. It can be adjusted according to your preferences.
Monday
Breakfast:vegetable salad dressed with vegetable oil (sunflower, corn or olive); 1 soft-boiled chicken egg; pumpkin or carrot juice.
Lunch:pumpkin baked with honey; a glass of whole milk or natural yogurt.
Dinner:boiled chicken breast with vegetable stew; a glass of orange or apple juice.
Afternoon snack:vegetarian borscht with potatoes; boiled fish fillet; weak green tea or rosehip drink.
Dinner:vegetarian cabbage rolls; fruit and berry jelly; low-fat cottage cheese with the addition of dried fruits.
Before going to bed, you can drink a glass of milk or low-fat kefir.
Tuesday
Breakfast:scrambled eggs with vegetable salad seasoned with vegetable oil (corn, olive or sunflower), a glass of fruit or vegetable juice.
Lunch:puree from any fruit or vegetable; cottage cheese mass with the addition of dried fruits; a glass of herbal tea.
Dinner:stewed zucchini with fresh herbs; mashed potatoes; vegetable salad, black or green tea.
Afternoon snack:a portion of fresh berries or fruits; milkshake or a glass of whole milk.
Dinner:cottage cheese with the addition of berry jam or dried fruits; compote of berries and fruits.
Wednesday
Breakfast:boiled rice porridge with the addition of grated apple; weak black or green tea.
Lunch:a serving of fruit salad seasoned with natural yogurt.
Dinner:vegetarian cabbage soup; squash cutlets; a glass of whole milk
Afternoon snack:a glass of fermented baked milk or kefir; portion of berries.
Dinner:pancakes with fruit filling; fruit and berry compote.
Thursday
Breakfast:cottage cheese and carrot casserole; oatmeal porridge; fruit compote.
Lunch:homemade noodles boiled in milk.
Dinner:steam beef cutlets with stewed white cabbage; boiled buckwheat porridge, pumpkin juice.
Afternoon snack:carrot juice.
Dinner:salad of boiled beets and carrots, seasoned with olive oil; fruit jelly.
Friday
Breakfast:curd soufflé; fruit or vegetable juice.
Lunch:natural yogurt with the addition of wheat bran.
Dinner:white cabbage and grated carrot salad; vegetarian soup; tomato juice.
Afternoon snack:fruit jelly or a serving of fruit.
Dinner:baked vegetables; oatmeal, weak green or black tea.
Saturday
Breakfast:steam cheesecakes; natural yogurt; fruit jelly.
Lunch:corn or oatmeal with milk.
Dinner:steamed dietary fish with mashed potatoes; vegetarian soup with zucchini; weak black tea with lemon.
Afternoon snack:berry or milkshake.
Dinner:vegetable salad; porridge from corn grits; pumpkin, apple or carrot juice.
Sunday
Breakfast:vegetable salad; a slice of bread with bran; rosehip drink.
Lunch:carrot-pumpkin salad, 1 soft-boiled chicken egg.
Dinner:potato cutlets with the addition of grated zucchini; homemade noodles cooked in milk; fruit jelly.
Afternoon snack:cottage cheese casserole with fruit.
Dinner:vegetable cabbage rolls; a glass of whole milk or low-fat kefir.
Recipes
Vegetarian vegetable borscht
Ingredients:2. 5 liters of water, 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 beetroot, 1 tomato, 1 celery root or stalk, 2 potatoes, 200 g of white cabbage, salt, pepper - to taste, herbs (dill, parsley), low-fat sour cream or naturalyogurt - for serving.
Instruction.Put vegetables cut into small cubes or grated on a coarse grater into boiling water: onions, carrots, celery, beets, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes (without peel). Cook until vegetables are ready. Salt, season. Then put finely chopped greens. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the borscht brew. Serve with sour cream or yogurt (optional). In the finished borscht, you can put a piece of lean boiled beef.
Omelet with poultry or meat
Ingredients:turkey breast fillet (chicken, guinea fowl) without skin or lean boiled meat (beef, veal), 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. l. low-fat milk, salt to taste.
Instruction.Whisk eggs with milk. Salt. Pieces of boiled or baked poultry (meat), pour over the scrambled mass. Bake on both sides in the microwave, slow cooker or in a deep frying pan.
Boiled cod
Ingredients:500 g cod fillet, 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbsp. l. olive oil, parsley root (to taste), peppercorns (4-5 peas), herbs (dill, parsley) - 1 tbsp. l. , salt to taste.
Instruction.Rinse the fillet in cold water with the addition of lemon, cut into portions. Put the pieces in the broth boiling with roots and spices so that the water covers the fish. Simmer the cod under the lid for 12 minutes. Serve with vegetable stew.
Carrot, apple and pumpkin salad
Ingredients:100 g fresh pumpkin, 1 medium carrot, 1 green apple, 1 tsp. lemon juice, 2-3 slices of orange or tangerine.
Instruction.Rub the vegetables on a coarse grater, mix. Add lemon juice and garnish the salad with orange (tangerine) slices.
Pike perch rolls with Chinese cabbage
Ingredients:500 g pike perch, 200 g cottage cheese (5%), 4 egg whites, 1 green Chinese cabbage, salt and pepper to taste.
Instruction.Grind with a mixer or pass the pike perch fillet through a meat grinder twice. Then mix with curd. Beat the whites and add to the mass, mix, salt, pepper. Divide the minced meat into 4 parts and place each on a separate sheet of foil, greased with olive oil. Roll up into a roll, fasten the edges. Cook in a double boiler for 10-14 minutes. Wash the cabbage, disassemble into leaves, salt, pepper and cook in a double boiler for 10 minutes. Put cabbage leaves on a plate, pike perch rolls taken out of foil on them.
Vegetable stew
Ingredients:1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 tomato, 200 g white cabbage, 1 potato, 1 bell pepper, 100 g small corn, 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, herbs (dill, parsley, celery), salt, pepper to taste.
Instruction.Put finely chopped onion, grated carrots, peeled and chopped tomato into a saucepan heated with oil. Save lightly. Then add the cabbage and potatoes cut into squares, as well as corn. Stir, add some water, cover and simmer until tender. Five minutes before readiness, add pepper and finely chopped greens.
vegetable casserole
Ingredients:1 onion, 1 carrot, 300 g cauliflower, 1 potato, 1-2 eggs, herbs (dill, parsley, celery), salt and pepper to taste.
Instruction.In a deep baking dish, greased with olive oil, put a mixture of vegetables: finely chopped onions and carrots, cabbage and potatoes cut into squares. Stir, add finely chopped greens, pepper, salt, beaten eggs. Put in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Zucchini rolls with cottage cheese
Ingredients:2 medium zucchini, 1/2 red bell pepper (without seeds), 1 cucumber, 100 g low-fat cottage cheese, 1 bunch of arugula, 1 tbsp. l. olive oil, 1 dl. finely chopped fresh herbs, salt to taste.
Instruction.Wash the zucchini, cut into thin longitudinal strips, lightly fry on both sides with olive oil for 2 minutes on each side (can be baked in the oven). Mix cottage cheese with herbs, salt to taste. Pepper and cucumber cut into thin longitudinal strips. Place some cottage cheese on the end of the zucchini strip. Add a few strips of red pepper, cucumber, arugula leaves, roll up and place on a dish upright.
Curd casserole with apples
Ingredients:400 g fat-free cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. starch, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tbsp. l. sugar, 2 Antonovka apples.
Instruction.Beat eggs with salt and sugar, add cottage cheese and starch. Peel the apples, remove the core, cut into small cubes and add to the mass. Mix everything. Microwave for 12 minutes or oven until cooked through. Serve with yogurt, honey or jam.
Curd dessert berry
Ingredients:400 g low-fat cottage cheese, 100 g any fresh berries, 2 egg whites, 1 tbsp. l. sugar, 12 g gelatin, 1/4 sachet of vanillin.
Instruction.Soak gelatin in 5-7 tablespoons of cold water. Whisk the whites. Add vanillin, sugar to cottage cheese, add whipped proteins. Melt the gelatin over low heat until dissolved and add to the curd mass, whisk. Leave in the refrigerator for 5 hours. Serve garnished with berries.