Uric acid

I think they have pills or something that can help. Or it can generally be improved with weight loss, reducing red meat, reducing alcohol, and drinking more water.

I too was recently diagnosed with this after 4 years of flare ups. I just started medicine to reduce my uric acid level. There are some great Reddit threads about this topic in a group called r/gout. Almost every site I’ve investigated says foods to avoid are: red meats, specific types of seafood.

Dr. Pearlmutter (a neurologist at uva) postulates that fructose, especially high fructose corn syrup is the worst offender in increasing uric acid which would mean avoiding sodas and sugary fruit juices.

The arthritis foundation is also a really good resource and has a prescribed diet. Some doctors will encourage (depending on aspects of your health) a DASH diet, a Mediterranean diet, or a keto diet. Many people with gout go vegetarian or semi vegetarian (but you have to really be intentional about making sure you’re getting enough protein).

At the end of the day there are lots of people who find that very specific foods on the list trigger a gout flare up and 2/3 of the high purine list don’t bother them at all. It can be a bit of trial and error find out what is triggering it for you.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

Huh, I had not heard that fish was a potential issue. A quick Google:

"Seafood. Some types of seafood — such as anchovies, shellfish, sardines and tuna — are higher in purines than are other types. But the overall health benefits of eating fish may outweigh the risks for people with gout. Moderate portions of fish can be part of a gout diet."

"Fish and seafood are also common sources of purines. The worst offenders if you have gout are scallops, sardines, herring, anchovies, and mackerel. Other fish moderately high in purines include: tuna."

I suspect most people have heard that it's the consumption of meat that causes gout and people don't seem to associate fish with meat. We've been trained to think like that from authorities telling us the last 50 years seafood is the good red meat, kind of hilarious really. I mean they even say that seafood is so good for us and that it can be eaten even if a person has gout, now that's what I call authoritative logic.

Fructose and sugary foods like pop are other very common factors for excess uric acid production and gout. Being overweight, obese and insulin resistance are also big contributors to gout, half the population is IR and also 80% is overweight or obese, it's pretty confusing I would say and important that people see that it might be a little more complicated than just the meat connection to gout. Kidney function is huge and even a little problem there can have a big effect.

https://healthline.com/health/gout-and-sugar

The risk of gout for women drinking one can of sugary soda a day was 74 percent higher than women who rarely drank sugary soda, according to a 2010 study Trusted Source that analyzed data from 78,906 women over 22 years.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11926-021-01020-y

It has been recognized for some time now that being overweight is a major contributor to high uric acid and gout.

Here's a fun article to read and pretty informative from the "British Society of Rheumatology" on gout. It is a bit about science and they are scientists, so it is a little technical in places but it's pretty easy to understand I believe.

https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/52/3/421/1776400

Abstract
A marked increase in gout was observed in England during the 17th to 20th centuries. Many have ascribed this rapid increase in gout to the introduction of wines that were laced with lead. In this article, we suggest another likely contributor, which is the marked increase in sugar intake that occurred in England during this period. Sugar contains fructose, which raises uric acid and increases the risk for gout. Sugar intake increased markedly during this period due to its introduction in liquors, tea, coffee and desserts. We suggest that the introduction of sugar explains why gout was originally a disease of the wealthy and educated, but gradually became common throughout society

The trigger foods aren't always same for everyone - you might need a bit of trial and error to find which, if any are problematic for you.