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WHAT SHOULD I DRINK WITH GOUT AND WHAT SHOULD I NOT DRINK?

What water should gout patients drink to improve the condition of bones and joints, prevent the disease from progressing more is a common concern of patients. In fact, people with gout drinking enough water is an important thing in the process of treating the disease and improving bone health. The following article will suggest you drinks that are beneficial for people with gout.

Why should gout patients drink enough water?

The question of what to drink with gout comes from the fact that gout patients need to drink enough water.

First, gout is an excess of uric acid in the body, this excess uric acid will be deposited in joints leading to gout symptoms. Drinking a lot of water, to increase uric acid excretion in the blood is one of the effective methods to reduce excess uric acid and relieve gout. Therefore, besides medical treatment with drugs, doctors always assign gout patients to pay attention to providing enough water for the body to promote the treatment process to take place and be more effective.

Besides, maintaining a sufficient amount of water for the body is also an optimal measure to prevent gout . At the same time, water also acts as a lubricant for joints, supporting flexibility in movement for joints.

How much water should people with gout drink?

People with gout as well as people with increased uric acid in the blood are recommended to drink 2-3 liters of water per day. Specifically, ⅔ of the uric acid in the human body is eliminated by the kidneys. Therefore, drinking a lot of water helps patients maintain the pH value of urine at 6.3 – 6.8, thereby making uric acid easily excreted from the body as well as reducing the formation of crystals. uric acid body.

Moreover, not to mention the issue of what gout patients should drink, an adequate amount of water from 2-3 liters per day will help patients reduce the frequency of acute gout attacks as well as the intensity of attacks. painful.

Gout should drink what is good for health?

1. Filtered water

Filtered water is considered the top choice in the list of good drinks for gout patients because of its popularity, which can be found everywhere.

People with gout need to drink 8 glasses of water a day or more, spaced out just enough. And to get the best results from drinking water, the patient should note the following:

  • Drink small sips
  • Do not drink too much water at one time, but divide it into several times a day
  • Do not drink a lot of water before and between meals
  • Drink water as soon as you wake up​

2. Controlled drinking water

Alkaline drinking water has a pH of 6.5-8.5, scientists and specialists recommend that gout patients should use it regularly because it has many beneficial effects: adjusting blood pH, thereby reducing acute gout symptoms and reduce the occurrence of new gout attacks; protects the kidneys from attack by urate crystals; Limit the formation of kidney stones. Currently, there are many different types of control water that can be used, the most popular are:

  • Electrolyzed Water Ion Control: Generated from the process of electrolysis in an electrolyte tank. Characteristic of the electrolysis process will produce water with pH > 7 with OH- ion content more abundant than H+ ion content.
  • Mineral water: A type of water derived from nature, usually from aquifers with large reserves deep in the ground. Mineral water is microbiologically treated before bottling for non-market consumption.
  • Alkaline Water (Soda): Alkaline water is created by mixing alkaline food chemicals such as soda.

With this method to get the desired pH, the chemical needs to be mixed with a certain concentration. This type of water is also known as alkaline water. Pure soda (no added lemon or sugar) contains high levels of alkaline bicarbonate. This alkali is also similar to bicarbnate in the body, has the effect of blood metabolism, neutralizing uric acid.

Notes on drinking soda to improve gout include:

  • Drink soda whole, with no added lemon or sugar
  • Let soda evaporate CO2 before drinking
  • Drink every day, after meals

3. Vegetable soup or herbal tea

Herbal teas and some green vegetables can reduce uric acid levels in the blood, suitable for gout sufferers. In addition, eating vegetable soup or drinking herbal tea is also a method of providing water and increasing fluid consumption for the body. Therefore, the addition of vegetable soup and herbal tea in the diet of gout patients is a must to minimize the severity of symptoms, and eventually relieve them.

However, people with gout need to carefully choose herbal teas as well as vegetables because there will be green vegetables with medium high purine content. Meanwhile, one of the nutritional keys of gout patients is not to eat foods high in purines. Therefore, people with gout, if they want to add vegetable soup in their diet, should pay attention to control or limit foods with medium high purine content. Those foods include:

  • Cauliflower, broccoli
  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Asparagus
  • Mushroom

4. Cafe

Coffee is also a drink when talking about what gout patients should drink. The caffeine present in coffee can help reduce the uric acid level of the patient, relieve the symptoms of gout and shorten the treatment process.

The human body has an enzyme called xathine oxidase, which is an enzyme that metabolizes purines, a source of uric acid. Caffeine in turn functions as a xanthine oxidase inhibitor. This is the reason why coffee is a good drink for gout sufferers.

5. Lemonade

Lemon juice is a food rich in vitamin C, a substance that has many benefits for human health. In addition to strengthening resistance, vitamin C can help neutralize uric acid in the body of the patient. Coming from the fact that vitamin C helps the kidneys work harder, removing excess uric acid from the body.

Therefore, lemon juice as well as foods rich in vitamin C not only help support gout patients during good treatment, but also can help healthy people prevent gout.

6. Low-fat or skim milk

Low-fat or skim milk is a recommended drink for people with musculoskeletal disease in general and gout in particular. The nutritional components inside skim milk, low-fat milk stand out as high in vitamin D, high in protein and rich in calcium. In particular, vitamin D is a substance that supports calcium synthesis, contributing to strong bones, improving and maintaining bone function, suitable for people with gout.

Another benefit that skim milk, low-fat milk brings to gout patients is to help reduce uric acid levels in the blood thanks to protein. This type of calcium-rich food also helps the process of forming bone density take place better, eliminating excess uric acid.

7. Green tea

Green tea has antioxidant properties, which can help the body fight inflammation caused by gout. Moreover, green tea also has the ability to reduce uric acid. Although according to research, the amount of uric acid reduced due to the effect of green tea is not too much, but drinking green tea every day in combination with the treatment prescribed by the doctor, as well as eating the right nutrition will Helps speed up the healing process of gout. ( 4 )

Green tea is known to be a multitasking food, bringing many health benefits to users such as preventing blood pressure fluctuations, relaxing blood vessels, maintaining healthy teeth and gums at a stable level and fighting stress. equal to that of thiamine.

Therefore, not only gout patients should drink green tea during the treatment process, but healthy people should also use green tea every day to maintain health.

What should people with gout not drink?

People with gout should not drink high-purine drinks as well as drinks that are not good for overall health.

The key in the nutrition of gout p
atients is to minimize the intake of purine in the body. Because purine is an essential material that helps the body convert into uric acid. The consumption of foods and drinks with high purine content, too many substances harmful to health will cause the treatment process to be interrupted and prolonged, affecting not only the health but also the psychology of the patient. patient. With severe cases, the severity of gout will increase, or the patient will be at risk of other musculoskeletal diseases, complications of gout.

1. Beer and wine

Alcohol is a taboo food for people with gout. This is a food containing a large amount of purines, in addition to other harmful substances such as alcohol and yeast.

Large amounts of purines found in alcohol or alcoholic beverages are a great risk for making gout worse. According to a report from Everyday Health, people who have a habit of drinking beer every day or abusing alcohol are 1.5 times more likely to have gout than other people.

A warning about alcohol that gout sufferers should note, not only high purine content, alcohol and brewer’s yeast are also causes of gout attacks. This can make the condition worse, and the intensity and frequency of joint pain will also increase.

2. Soft drinks, carbonated soft drinks

Soft drinks, carbonated soft drinks are not recommended for gout patients.

Results from studies show that foods high in sugar double the risk of gout in people. More precisely, gout sufferers need to stay away from foods containing fructose, including soft drinks and carbonated soft drinks. Drinks high in fructose are also a factor that causes acid levels in the blood to rise, leading to an excess of uric acid and causing gout.

Fructose is also the sweetest type of sugar, so it is often used in soft drinks and carbonated soft drinks and other sweet foods. Therefore, gout patients should not drink these types of water during treatment, to avoid reducing the effectiveness of treatment.

One more note about fructose, this is not entirely a harmful substance but they need to be consumed in the right amount, even for healthy people. Currently, the topic surrounding the harmful effects of fructose is still controversial, and scientific studies are still not enough evidence to prove whether fructose is really harmful directly to human health or not. .

Therefore, being proactive in controlling the amount of fructose ingested in the body is a necessity in the process of protecting the body’s health. The safe amount of fructose to load into the body is from 25-40 grams / day.

3. Energy drinks

Energy drinks are also included in the list of drinks that gout sufferers should not drink even though they contain caffeine.

Energy drinks have a large amount of fructose to sweeten the drink. Therefore, their nutritional value is similar to that of soft drinks and carbonated water. Drinking a lot of energy drinks will make gout worse due to the influence of excess fructose, causing uric acid in the blood to rise.

Some notes on nutrition for gout patients

The most important diet for gout patients is to minimize the tolerance of foods with high purine and high frustose content. These are substances that cause the body to increase uric acid in the blood, making the disease worse, delaying the treatment process. This is extremely important not only during gout treatment, relieving symptoms, but alcohol helps patients reduce the risk of relapse later.

In addition, a healthy, scientific diet that includes a variety of vitamins and minerals is recommended for gout sufferers to promote overall health. In particular, patients should focus on adding foods rich in calcium, vitamin D and vitamin C to improve bone health.

The detailed nutritional guidelines for gout treatment are:

  • Energy: 30-35 kcal/kg body weight/day
  • Protein: 0.8g/kg body weight/day
  • Fat: 18-25% of energy needs
  • Salt intake: no more than 5g/day
  • Amount of water: 40ml/kg body weight/day

​Gout is a common musculoskeletal disease today, formed due to the accumulation of excess uric acid in the body. Providing enough water for the body plays an important role in the treatment of gout and improving the condition of bones and joints, similar to nutrition. Therefore, what should gout patients drink is a topic of much interest. The above article has summarized the necessary information about good and harmful drinks for gout patients.