Is Sugar Bad For Gout

Most Important Foods And Food Ingredients To Avoid

Is Sugar Bad for GOUT?

As this article is focused on artificial sweeteners, this list is going to be made up of products and items that are found to aggravate gout or inflammation the most.

Most of these are going to contain either fructose or sucrose in them, which I will explain at the end of this list.

There are other foods that impact gout, but for sweeteners, always look out for high fructose corn syrup on the nutritional facts and ingredients label of your food.

This will include things such as:

Regular sodas like Pepsi
Store-bought fruit juice
Most candies or pastries maybe you can find a good at-home recipe to try to get your sweet tooth fix
Popsicles
Canned fruits or soups they tend to use high fructose corn syrup as a preservative in fruits and occasionally in soups
Certain condiments like ketchup or mayonnaise

This list could honestly be endless. This is primarily due to the high fructose corn syrup most companies put into their foods as a cheaper alternative to sugar. Reading the labels and nutritional facts are the best way to help you determine if it is a good food to eat or not.

Be wary of foods high in sugar or if the label includes a word like fructose or sucrose in it. These are two types of sugars that are used in most processed foods and you are likely to come across.

Can Increase Cellular Aging

Telomeres are structures found at the end of chromosomes, which are molecules that hold part or all of your genetic information.

Telomeres act as protective caps, preventing chromosomes from deteriorating or fusing together.

As you grow older, telomeres naturally shorten, which causes cells to age and malfunction .

Although the shortening of telomeres is a normal part of aging, unhealthy lifestyle choices can speed up the process.

Consuming high amounts of sugar has been shown to accelerate telomere shortening, which increases cellular aging .

A study in 5,309 adults showed that regularly drinking sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with shorter telomere length and premature cellular aging .

In fact, each daily 20-ounce serving of sugar-sweetened soda equated to 4.6 additional years of aging, independent of other variables (

37 ).

To avoid this energy-draining cycle, choose carb sources that are low in added sugar and rich in fiber.

Pairing carbs with protein or fat is another great way to keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable.

For example, eating an apple along with a small handful of almonds is an excellent snack for prolonged, consistent energy levels.

Summary

High-sugar foods can negatively impact your energy levels by causing a spike in blood sugar followed by a crash.

Natural Remedies For Gout

Studies show that many of the dietary items we consume lead to gout as well as other health problems. Changing your diet and lifestyle may be the easy solution to beating gout. One of the first things to do is eliminate certain foods and beverages from your diet to beat gout.

Now here are my top six all-natural gout remedies to get rid of gout for good. If you follow these tips, you can get rid of gout in 24 hours or less. Yes, that fast, you can get rid of gout pain for good.

1. Celery Seed Extract

Step No. 1 is to consume celery seed extract and celery juice. Celery seed extract actually has been shown to decrease uric acid buildup in the body.

Researchers have identified over a dozen different types of antioxidants that are responsible for the benefits of celery these include such phenolic acids as caffeic acid and ferulic acid, plus flavaols like quecetin. This makes celery useful for treating a wide range of conditions that are made worse by inflammation: joint pain , gout, kidney and liver infections, skin disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, and urinary tract infections, just to name a few.

You can buy the supplement or celery seed extract. You can also use a vegetable juicer to produce celery juice or just eat celery throughout the day all of which are great for getting rid of gout.

2. Black Cherry Juice

3. Nettles

4. Fish Oil

5. Proteolytic Enzymes

6. Magnesium

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Additional Tips For Treating Gout Naturally

Studies show that many of the dietary items we consume lead to gout as well as other health problems. Changing your diet and lifestyle may be the easy solution to beating gout. One of the first things to do is eliminate certain foods and beverages from your diet to beat gout.

1. Eliminate or reduce sugar intake

As many studies are now illustrating, gout is common in people with excessive sugar intake, especially high fructose corn syrup Its wise to read the labels of all your food and drinks. If you find HFCS then eliminate that from your diet. In addition, look for sugar added under the guise of other common names for sugar look for cose at the end of words and these are probably types of sugar you dont want to be consuming.

2. Eliminate grains

Grains in the body are converted to sugars so again you want to limit or avoid grains altogether. They are also very inflammatory to your body.

3. Limit alcohol consumption

Again, alcohol becomes sugar once ingested so eliminate this completely unless you have a healthy body already. Any substance that will be converted to one or another type of sugar by the body should be avoided at all costs. In order to get your uric acid levels down you must consistently avoid sugar in your diet.

4. Eliminate soda and diet soda

5. Consume cherries and strawberries daily

6. Exercise

If you want to learn more natural remedies and natural cures, subscribe to my YouTube channel.

The Cause Of Gout Is More Than Just Diet

While diet is critical, dont overlook other important factors that affect gout. These include family history, sleep apnoea, and lack of physical exercise to name a few.

Further discussion of best treatment for gout is outside the scope of this article. But there are foods thought to be protective namely dairy, cherries, and coffee, in decreasing order of evidence.

And as much as I prefer focusing on what you should eat to prevent health scares, there are just so many clear trigger foods for gout.

Its important to deal with these factors first and foremost.

About Joe Leech, Dietitian

Joe Leech is a university-qualified dietitian from Australia.

He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in exercise science, followed by a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics in 2011.

Learn more about him on the About page.

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The End Of Gout Your Quick Start System

Shelly Mannings The End of Gout is not only a fascinating read its also refreshingly practical.

Shelly gives you two simple quick-starts:

Eat more of these

Eat fewer of these

This simple adjustment can correct years of gout-causing errors inside your eating. And you can start on this straight within minutes of receiving the program away.That really helped my problem of What Types Of Sugar To Avoid For Gout.

The next step is to follow Shellys 7-day plan.

It tightens up the quick start advice and turns it into a solid, follow-along program.

The 7-day plan was the real clincher for me.

I am a pretty average cook Im competent but not at all skilled or adventurous. Turns out I didnt need to be.

The plan takes away all the thinking and gives me, for the first week, something I can simply copy.

After the first 7 days I used Shellys advice to adapt the plan according to my own tastes.

Which was pretty easy the plan is full of options so you can try different foods and see what you like best.

Its all food you can buy in your supermarket. And it includes lots of nice stuff the chocolate and strawberries desserts were real winners in my house!

Shellfish Crustacea And Mollusks

There are two groups of shellfish, crustacea and mollusks. Crustacea includes crabs, shrimp, crayfish and lobsters. Mollusks are oysters, clams, oysters, mussels, squid, scallops and snails.

Which shellfish group is higher gout risk? There is no big difference. A purine table from a 2014 Japanese study included a comprehensive list of different shellfish and seafood. It listed oysters, shrimp and certain squid with similar purine content.

The research also determined different species can have different purine concentrations. For example, a snow crab had more purines than a king crab.

Most of the medical experts recommend to limit the portions to an unfulfilling 4-6 ounces. An amount which most of us can easily eat more of if not aware.

Insight: Even after realizing different shellfish have different purine amounts, shellfish is still the most unpredictable food group to gauge gout for me. On some occasions, I would eat a small amount of crabs, and end up with a terrible flare up in my ankle. Then another time, I would eat about twice as calamari and not feel any symptoms. My uric acid level at the time may have been a factor, but he unpredictability made me reduce my shellfish intake. However, I learned to prepare myself when I want to satisfy a craving.

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Caffeine And Gout Risk

Studies show that caffeine may protect you from gout because caffeine is similar in chemical structure to a common gout medication. But other research shows that increasing your caffeine intake can actually trigger gout pain â in fact, one study found that suddenly doubling your caffeine intake could increase the risk of gout symptoms by up to 80 percent. So if you are a coffee or tea drinker, caffeine could be helping protect you â just remember that a sudden binge could bring on a gout attack.

But What If You Suffer With Gout

Dr. Ken Berry: Gout is caused by Inflammation!

Okay, so grains, beans, nuts, vegetables, and fruit are important for long-term health. But what if you are a gout sufferer struggling to keep your uric acid at healthy levels and even a small change in uric acid could trigger a gout flare-up?

For us with gout, its all about balance: balancing the nutritional benefits of foods like grains, beans, nuts, vegetables, and fruit, against the increased risk of a gout attack due to their fructose content.

Here are some issues to consider:

In general, whole fruits have more fructose than plant foods.
Dried, canned, and fruit juices have even more fructose than whole fruits.
Different fruits have different fructose concentrations.
Different plant foods have different fructose concentrations.

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Can I Drink Alcohol

Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of a gout attack as it can raise the level of uric acid in your blood. While it is possible to control gout attacks without completely cutting out alcohol, try to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink and avoid binge drinking . Talk to your doctor or read the Australian government guidelines on recommended alcohol intake.

Soft Drinks And Gout Risk

Several studies have found an increased gout risk from sugar-sweetened drinks. This link has been found in both men and women. One large study found that just one sugar-sweetened drink per day doubled a woman’s risk of developing gout compared with women who had less than one sugar-sweetened drink per month. “Studies show that sugar-sweetened drinks and fruit juices are associated with an increased incidence of gout attacks. Interestingly, these studies show that diet soda intake is not related to increased frequency of gout attacks,” says Sloane.

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Is Diet Soda Bad For Gout

One of the most important discoveries regarding the matter is the link between fructose and gout. Believe or not, this ingredient is the only one that has been linked to gout and gout attacks. All others are almost irrelevant when it comes to this condition. But, diet soda doesnt contain fructose or any type of sugar as a matter of fact, so it is just a great drink for us, gout sufferers.

I personally like diet Coca-Cola and it is simply the best beverage for me. I am also confident that it wont affect my uric acid levels and it will refresh me and nothing more. This isnt something I can say about orange juice and now I will explain why.

Red Meat And Organ Meat

Red meat and organ meats are high in purines. Eating these foods increases the uric acid levels in the blood and the risk of gout and gout attacks.

Keep your red meat and organ meats intake low. Chicken has moderate amounts of purines, and therefore should be eaten in moderation.

Protein is important for the body, and though you may need to limit protein from some animal sources, you can still get protein from other sources. Low-fat dairy seems to decrease the risk of gout and is a good source of protein in the diet. Other protein foods you can eat include eggs, nuts and nut butters, beans, and tofu.

Meats to avoid:

Beef, pork, and chicken livers
Other organ meats, such as kidney or heart
Wild game

Red meat
Poultry
Processed meats, such as salami and prosciutto

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Gout And Sugar Studies

The bad news is, I cannot find any specific gout and sugar studies. There are some relevant studies, but they all relate to sugar and uric acid. This means that healthy volunteers have been investigated rather than gout patients. The results are relevant to all gout sufferers, but it is always best to use at least some gout patients to compare different reactions between gout and non-gout groups. My reviews of the three relevant studies are based on the published abstracts.

The first study about the effects of sugar on uric acid goes back to 1980. In the trial, two groups had either starch or sucrose as 30% of their calorie intake for 6 weeks. Towards the end of the trial, a sucrose load was administered. The investigation reveals:

Serum uric acid was significantly higher before and at all times after the sucrose load when subjects consumed the sucrose versus the starch diet.

In 1983, an investigation into carbohydrate-sensitive people also looked at the effects of sugar on uric acid. This study compares diets of 5, 18, or 33% sucrose. They note that uric acid levels increase with increasing sugar consumption.

Finally, in 2008, a study looks at sugar and uric acid, along with the effects of acarbose, which is a common antidiabetic drug. They report that sucrose at 1.5g/kg increased uric acid by 10%.

How Is Gout Treated

Gout can be effectively treated and managed with medical treatment and self-management strategies. Your health care provider may recommend a medical treatment plan to

Manage the pain of a flare. Treatment for flares consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, steroids, and the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine.
Prevent future flares. Making changes to your diet and lifestyle, such as losing weight, limiting alcohol, eating less purine-rich food , may help prevent future attacks. Changing or stopping medications associated with hyperuricemia may also help.
Prevent tophi and kidney stones from forming as a result of chronic high levels of uric acid. Tophi are hard, uric acid deposits under the skin. For people with frequent acute flares or chronic gout, doctors may recommend preventive therapy to lower uric acid levels in the blood using drugs like allopurinol, febuxostat, and pegloticase.

In addition to medical treatment, you can manage your gout with self-management strategies. Self-management is what you do day to day to manage your condition and stay healthy, like making healthy lifestyle choices. The self-management strategies described below are proven to reduce pain and disability, so you can pursue the activities important to you.

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The Role Of Physical Activity In Prevention Of Gout

Along with diet, physical activity can help with weight loss, and gout has been associated with being overweight.7 in patients with well-established gout, especially if X-rays have demonstrated joint damage in the foot, a low-impact exercise program is reasonable. An exercise program combined with diet in gout can reduce risk for attacks.7 If an attack seems to be coming on in the lower extremity, patients are well-advised to try to get off their feet, since impact seems to worsen gout attacks. Clues to an attack of gout coming on include local swelling, heat, redness, and tenderness in a joint, especially in the foot, ankle, or knee. Some patients have fever and chills as the first warning that an attack of gout is coming on.

What Are Future Possible Treatments Of Gout

Does Eating A Lot Of Meat Cause Gout?

Fortunately, present medications are successful in the vast majority of gout patients. But some patients cannot tolerate our present arsenal of gout medications. For others, these agents are not sufficiently effective. Therefore, new treatments are continually being sought. Some of the more promising include anakinra, rilonacept, canakinumab, BCX4208 and arhalofenate.

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Chicken Beef And Other Meats Appear To Be Foods To Avoid With Gout

The conversion of purines to uric acid, in theory, causes gout.

Therefore high-purine foods are often suspected to trigger symptoms.

Meat, and to a lesser extent seafood, are prime suspects. This includes all the most common meats like beef, chicken, pork and lamb.

The data available somewhat confirms suspicions.

Each additional daily serving of meat or seafood is associated with a 21% or 7% increased risk of gout, respectively . This implies meat could be three times worse than seafood.

There was another similar study that found even greater risks associated with meat intake, but none for seafood. Overall this suggests seafood is far less of a concern than meat .

For those who already have gout, the impact of meat intake on symptoms is even worse. This is likely due to sharper increases in blood uric acid, as well as poorer clearance by the body .

Therefore if you have a history of gout, it is best to dramatically reduce your meat intake, and seafood as well to a lesser extent. Anecdotal evidence suggests avoiding dark part of salmon, and de-veining prawns/shrimp before eating.

You should also buy your meat direct from the butcher where possible, or at least the better quality choices in the supermarket. Sausages and low-quality ground beef may contain traces of organ meat that can cause big problems .

Summary: Frequent consumption of meat is strongly linked with gout risk. The impact of seafood appears far less severe, but there is a link.