What dietary taboos should you pay attention to when it comes to gout?

The core taboo of the gout diet is actually to strictly control the intake of high-purine, high-alcohol, and high-fructose foods. You don’t need to put too many restrictions on yourself, which will make you prone to malnutrition.

I once met a 28-year-old programmer who doesn't smoke or drink. He likes to order a cup of full-sugar iced milk tea with braised duck every day after get off work. Last week, he was greedy and ate half a plate of sashimi. That night, his big toe swelled like a sourdough bun. He went to the emergency room to check for uric acid, which spiked to 720 μmol/L. It was a typical double risk of high purine and high fructose.

Speaking of this, some people will definitely ask, before it was said that soy products cannot be eaten, and now some people are saying that soy products can be eaten casually, who do you listen to? This is actually an updated understanding of the academic community in recent years. Earlier guidelines did classify soybeans as medium-to-high purine foods and recommended taboos. However, later, a large number of clinical follow-ups found that the purine in soybeans will dissolve in large amounts during the grinding, boiling, and marinating processes. The body's absorption rate of the remaining plant purines is nearly 30% lower than that of animal purines. As long as you are not in an acute attack and the pain makes you unable to get out of bed, drinking a cup of sugar-free soy milk or eating half a piece of brine tofu every day can supplement high-quality protein, which is good for uric acid control. ； Of course, if you are experiencing severe joint pain during an attack, it is safe to stop for a while. Both of these statements are actually reasonable, but they are applicable to different scenarios.

There are many invisible pitfalls that are easy to overlook. For example, when you are having a dinner party and looking at the light mushroom soup pot or Lao Huo Jing soup, after simmering it for two or three hours, all the purine is dissolved in the soup. Drinking two bowls of it will result in higher purine intake than eating two pieces of fat beef.； There are also many "zero-fat" fruit teas and sparkling waters sold on the market now. They look healthy, but in fact they contain a lot of fructose syrup. When fructose is metabolized, it will directly inhibit the excretion of uric acid. Many young people have gout attacks related to drinking sweet drinks every day. I met an old patient a while ago. He had been on a taboo diet for over half a year and even stopped drinking beer. Because his daughter stewed pot hoof flower soup, he couldn't bear to waste it and drank two large bowls of it. He went to the emergency room in pain that night. Do you think it was unfair?

Of course, don’t overdo it. I’ve seen some patients blanch vegetables three times before eating them, and they don’t even dare to touch tomatoes or apples. It’s completely unnecessary. For example, uric acid is like salt in water. As long as you don't add too much "salt" (high-purine and high-fructose foods), drink more water and urinate more, and eat low-purine eggs, milk, fresh fruits and vegetables normally, it's absolutely fine. After all, diet only accounts for about 30% of the production of uric acid. If you really can't control it with diet, just see a doctor for medication in time. Don't just rely on starvation.