When Gout is not improved by cutting out meat

One of the first things you were probably told when diagnosed with gout was to reduce meat consumption, especially red meat, because it produces a lot of uric acid.

But this is not entirely true according to a new study in JAMA Network Open.

Cutting down on meat, even going completely vegan, will not improve your gout at all if you make one crucial mistake.

Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health examined data from two large population-wide trials: the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study.

Their analysis included 122,679 participants who were initially free of gout.

The participants’ diets were assessed using a detailed food frequency questionnaire, and they were categorized into different groups based on their adherence to three types of plant-based diet: an overall plant-based diet index, a healthy plant-based diet index, and an unhealthy plant-based diet index.

Over the follow-up period, 2,709 participants developed gout, and the scientists examined whether there was a relationship between the diets and the gout cases.

Their key findings were:

1. Surprisingly, sticking to an overall plant-based diet, without distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy plant foods, did not significantly affect the risk of gout.

2. Participants who followed a healthy plant-based diet had a significantly lower risk of developing gout. Specifically, those who ate the healthiest plant food had a 21% lower risk of gout compared to those who ate the least of them.

3. An unhealthy plant-based diet was associated with a higher risk of gout. Those who consumed the unhealthiest plant foods were 17% more likely to develop gout, with women being particularly affected, showing a 31% increased risk.

The study also examined how individual food groups within these diets impacted gout risk.

1. Whole grains, dairy, tea, and coffee were linked to a lower risk of gout. For instance, each daily serving of whole grains reduced gout risk by 7%, and dairy intake reduced it by 14%.

2. On the flip side, foods like fruit juice and sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk. A single daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverages raised gout risk by 16%.

Therefore, not all plant-based diets are created equal when it comes to preventing gout, and a vegetarian diet that includes dairy is healthier than one that is purely plant-based.

You can focus on eating more of the healthy plant foods and less of the unhealthy ones to keep your joints happy and healthy.

In general, the healthiest plant foods to keep your joints gout-free include whole grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes—and don’t forget about tea and coffee.

But the real cause of gout is not uric acid in your diet as long believed but something else that you can easily change. Thousands of readers have made this simple change, explained here, and eliminated their gout in days…