It’s important to lower your blood uric acid levels. If uric acid levels remain high, deposits develop and eventually become permanent.
Nonpharmacologic measures that may be warranted are as follows:
- Avoidance or restricted consumption of high-purine foods
- Avoidance of excess ingestion of alcoholic drinks, particularly beer
- Avoidance of sodas and other beverages or foods sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup
- Limited use of naturally sweet fruit juices, table sugar, and sweetened beverages and desserts, as well as table salt
- Maintenance of a high level of hydration with water (≥8 glasses of liquids daily)
- A low-cholesterol, low-fat diet, if such a diet is otherwise appropriate for the patient
- Weight reduction in patients who are overweight
Avoid Strictly
- Organ meats
- Herring
- Anchovies
- Mackerel
- Sardines
- Seafood (tuna, shrimp, lobster and scallops)
- Red meat (beef, pork and lamb)
- Alcohol, especially beer. However, when you’re not having an attack, drinking one or two 5-ounce (148-milliliter) servings a day of wine is not likely to increase your risk.
- High fructose corn syrup
- Fructose
- Limit your intake to 4 to 6 ounces (113 to 170 grams) daily of any animal protein
Limit
- Meat
- Seafood
- Shellfish
- Fruit juice with high fructose corn syrup added. Juices that are 100 percent fruit juice do not seem to stimulate uric acid production as much as those with high fructose corn syrup
- Deserts made with high fructose corn syrup
- Salt
Encourage
- Low-fat Dairy
- Vegetables
- Water
- Whole grains
- Dark berries, such as blueberries, blackberries, and cherries.
- Omega fatty acids. These are found in some fatty fish (such as salmon), certain oils (flax, olive, or nut), and nuts
