Gout Food To Avoid
Makes You Acid

When we look for gout food to avoid, we tend to look for low purine foods. There is some merit in this, but unless you only eat shellfish, gravy, liver, kidney, and the like, it is much more important to look at pH balance. Do it right, and not only will it help your gout, but you will become generally healthier.

I describe how alkalizing your body can help gout by making uric acid more soluble in the Prevention Section. Taking baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) works for many gout sufferers. Unfortunately, it can raise blood pressure. As about 40% of gout sufferers also have hypertension, an alternative is useful.

This is where increasing your pH level through food comes in. There is a lot of information about alkalizing diets and acid-alkaline balance. Much of this is confusing and sometimes contradictory.

First of all, the effect of food on the body is nothing to do with the pH of the food itself. The important measurement is how the food changes the pH of your body after it has been digested. Often sour foods like lemon juice will actually raise pH after digestion, making the body more alkaline.

Secondly, alkalizing the body with food does not mean that you must stop eating lots of different foods. The opposite is true. You must eat a wide variety of food, choosing acidifying foods as well as alkalizing ones, which, in total, have an overall alkalizing effect.

By following a properly balanced diet, there is no single gout food to avoid.

Other Gout Food To Avoid Factors

The tables that I present here focus solely on the acid / alkali affect of food after it has been digested. There are other factors that you must consider when planning gout food to avoid problems with general health as well as gout. I cover these in more detail in my Diet Section, with this Food Section focusing on food values.

Description of acid / alkali food tables

To help you plan your meals, I have prepared a number of tables that analyze the food items from the USDA National Nutrient Database. I use a technique developed by Remer and Manz. PRAL (Potential Renal Acid Load) gives a simple method to calculate a value that gives a good indication of the acid or alkaline effect of food. The calculation is described in "Dietary potential renal acid load and renal net acid excretion in healthy, free-living children and adolescents".

Before I introduce the tables, a few words of warning.

PRAL gives a precisely calculated value based on the nutrients contained in 100g of food. This value can vary due to many factors including variety, growing conditions, season, and cooking method. Not only that, but digestion varies from person to person, and at different times of day.

Though I present the figures for 100g, many food portions will be much smaller than this. You will eat herbs, spices and other flavorings in much smaller portions. Unless these foods are a significant portion of your diet, or they are particularly potent, you can simply ignore them.

I give an exact figure for PRAL, but you should only use these tables as a guide. They are useful for you to see, for example, which food will help alkalize your body better than another food. I've categorized the values into columns, and it is these that are most important.

The column categories range from very alkaline, negative numbers to very acid , positive numbers. Just because a food is acid does not make it a gout food to avoid. For one meal a day, you should choose an acid food, then balance it out with a selection of alkaline foods.

Finally, it is not wise to try and balance an excess of acid foods by taking an excess of alkaline foods. If you want a meat based meal, bring it to around neutral with a good selection of vegetables etc. You should try to make the other meals you eat that day alkaline in total. That way, there is virtually no gout food to avoid.

The USDA database that I use for my tables has a number of different groups. I have prepared a table for each of these groups, except for "baby food". You should seek as much variety as possible, choosing from each table. In this way you will find gout food to avoid boredom and deficiencies as well as helping your gout.

Dairy and Egg Products
Looking for gout food to avoid? Look elsewhere. With a properly balanced diet, you can eat any food, especially tasty dairy products.
Spices and Herbs
Gout food needs variety. The only way you stick to a well planned gout diet is to eat tasty satisfying food. From coriander to mustard, use spices and herbs to make your gout food interesting.
Fats and Oils
Can fats and oils be food good for gout? Get the pH balance right, and no food is bad for gout. Choose the right dressings for your meals and enjoy your gout diet.
Poultry Products
Where do you find which gout food to avoid? Do you simply avoid meat? Don't chicken out - you'd be a turkey to avoid all these foods.
Soups, Sauces, and Gravies
Wondering what food to eat for gout? You can eat anything if you balance your meals properly. Look at sauces from worcestershire sauce to a little bit of gravy to make your gout meal delicious.
Sausages and Luncheon Meats
What is gout food to avoid? Anything that makes your gout worse. But if you follow a good pH balanced gout diet plan you can eat anything. Including salami and meaty spreads.
Breakfast Cereals
What are gout producing foods? All food if you don't balance your diet, no food if you do. Start the day with a well balanced breakfast, then continue this good gout habit throughout the day.
Fruits and Fruit Juices
Fruit foods for gout. Fruity snacks and sauces can help make all food good for you. From apricots to pears, see how to balance your gout diet with fruit.
Pork Products
Are you looking for gout food to avoid? Look no further - it doesn't exist. With a proper pH balanced you can eat all pork products from diet, but don't make a pig of yourself
Vegetables and Vegetable Products
If you want good gout foods look at vegetables. You don't have to be vegetarian. Just add enough vegetables to your meaty meals and say goodbye to uric acid.
Nut and Seed Products
Are there any foods that reduce uric acid? All food can do if you plan it properly. Balance all foods that you eat, including nuts and seeds, and watch your uric acid level fall.
Beef Products
Do you know what gout causing food is? High purines? All Meat? Beef Products? Think again. With a properly balanced diet you can eat anything from beef suet to liver.
Beverages
Are you obsessed with food for gout? What about drink? From tea to low calorie flavored water, choose drinks that help you flush uric acid.
Finfish and Shellfish Products
Is fish food that causes gout? Some think it's only shellfish. In fact there is no food that causes gout, just imbalanced diet. Balance your diet and you can eat any fish from clams to cod.
Legumes and Legume Products
Looking for gout food to avoid? Be careful, you could end up eating nothing (and that will cause gout). Balance your diet properly and you can eat anything. Find legumes for pH balance.
Lamb, Veal, and Game Products
Do you think lamb, veal and game are gout food to avoid? Think again. Choose wisely. Balance well. You can enjoy any food if you plan your gout diet properly.
Baked Products
There are no bad foods for gout. Just foods eaten badly. Baked products can be good or bad for gout depending on how you balance them with other foods.
Sweets
Food that helps gout sufferers is all around us. If you plan meals properly you can eat almost anything you like. Why not celebrate with a delicious sweet. You've earned that pudding.
Cereal Grains and Pasta
Searching for gout food to avoid? Any food eaten badly can cause gout. Food eaten well does not cause gout. Plan to balance your diet and you can eat anything from cereal to pasta.
Fast Foods
Food and gout go together. Don't give up food - starvation causes gout. Instead, look for balanced meals. Even fast foods are OK for gout if you know how to balance pH.
Meals, Entrees, and Sidedishes
Good food for gout is all around us. You simply choose the right selection for pH balance and watch your gout improve. Even ready meals can help you if you make the right choices.
Snacks
When compiling your gout food list, don't forget about snacks. Regular frequent meals avoid starvation and overeating that cause gout. Balance your snacks from chips to pork skins.
Ethnic Foods
Wondering what gout food to avoid? Any food is bad if it's not eaten as part of a balanced diet. Plan your meals properly, and you can eat anything, including ethnic foods from agave to whalemeat.


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