"Steve Pope" > wrote in message
...
> Julie Bove > wrote:
>
>>I have to cook for a person with gout. And his favorite foods are the
>>worst
>>ones for it. Asparagus, red meat and seafood. And I was unwittingly
>>serving the wrong things. Chicken with mushroom sauce. The chicken may
>>have been okay but apparently mushrooms are not. And I've been making a
>>lot
>>of dried beans because they're cheap. Oops!
>>
>>I know that most fruit and vegetables are good. Spinach is not. I know
>>that whole grains are good and that tofu might be okay. Eggs might be
>>okay.
>>But some people react to them.
>>
>>I am just kind of stumped when it comes to protein. I've been serving
>>chicken and turkey but I'm sure that will get old. I have seen mixed
>>things
>>about cheese. Does cheese bother you?
>>
>>What can I fix? Luckily this person isn't a picky eater.
>
> The good news is designing a gout diet is pretty straightforward.
> The bad news is that there is a lot of misinformation out there.
>
> Here is a summary of what you need to know:
>
> Firstly, all persons with gout should normally be on lifetime
> uric-acid control medication, with periodic blood monitoring.
> The purpose of the diet is to lower the serum uric acid even
> further, but not many people with gout can rely on diet alone.
>
> (Some can, but usually after decades of medication treatment, which
> has finally reduced the stored uric acid in their tissues.)
>
> On the other hand, some people with gout rely on medication
> alone and simply ignore diet. If their blood work continues
> to be okay, there is no real problem with this, other than
> one might be using higher dosages of the drugs than would
> otherwise be necessary.

What he was doing was saying that the med he had didn't work. I don't think
he was taking it all the time like I know he is supposed to. After being in
the hospital he now says that he has to take it daily.

I don't know if he is just cluess about the diet or just doesn't want to
know. Daughter and I have tried to tell him. Last time it acted up we
bought him cherry juice but he refused to drink it.
>
> Assuming one wants to address diet, the three components that need
> to be restricted for a gout diet a purines, alcohol, and fructose.
>
> Purines are found in almost all protein sources and some vegetable
> sources.
>
> Among protein sources, the only ones that is completely purine-free is
> dairy. Egg whites also contain no purine. Everything else
> that has protein also has purines, but in somewhat different
> ratios.

Ah crud. I wasn't sure about the eggs. I read mixed things on that. I was
going to do fried rice with a little egg in it.

> Among vegetables, there are some with more purines than others --
> you've already identified a couple such as asparagus and mushrooms.
>
> Given with this information, you can go in several directions planning
> a diet but the likely outcome is as follows:
>
> 1) The diet must contain the daily value of protein, but not much more.
> The DV of protein is 50 to 60 grams.

This could be the problem. He is a HUGE protein eater. I have been making
sandwiches. Must put less meat and cheese in there.
>
> 2) A significant fraction of the protein should come from dairy.
> (In my case, I try to get half my protein from dairy.)

Okay... Less meat. More cheese. Heh.
>
> 3) Frutose (including all sweets) and alcohol should be cut back.

Okay.
>
> 4) Vegetables are okay but avoid mass quantities of those vegetables
> known to be high purine. Starches are okay (unlike sugar which is
> one-half fructose, starches do not contain much fructose). Fats
> are okay.

I do have plenty of starches.
>
> Some meat products, such as organ meats, are particularly high
> in purines. On the other hand, some such as sausages or salami
> are relatively low, because they are high fat without much protein.
> The purines are associated with the protein part of the meat.

Ah... Hm! He loves the Pho with the organ meats. I guess that is bad.
>
> Previously, I posted a list of purine content vs. protein content
> for various foods and I will see if I can locate that and re-post.

Thanks!