A friend of mine has been suffering from severe gout for the past month. His right leg got swollen although he has been really watching his diet and his foods.
He asked me yesterday if he can consume milk and coffee in his case.
Let me first tell you what is gout.
Gout is the accumulation of uric acid in the blood.
Normally the uric acid dissolves in the blood stream but when there is a problem:
– there is an increase in uric acid production.
– the kidneys are not functioning properly to eliminate uric acid.
– there is an increased consumption of foods containing purines which is a chemical found in certain foods. This chemical forms uric acid when broken down in the body.
Gout usually occurs in the extremities of the body, like feet or toes, causing redness, swelling and extreme pain. It appears in midlife and primarily in males.
The diet is very specific to one person and another, but in general all foods containing purines should and MUST be eliminated:
Beer, anchovies, organ meat (brains, kidney, liver) red meats, gravies, yeast, meat extracts, sardines, scallops, soy beans.
So a balanced diet for gout sufferers includes foods that are high in complex carbohydrates, low in protein and low in fat, because foods that are high in fat and cholesterol are also high in purines.
Now the question:
CAN MILK AND COFFEE BE CONSUMED IN THIS CASE??
Although water, that dissolves uric acid, is the number one drink that you should take for this case, a lot of people have doubts when consuming milk and coffee.
Drinking milk can help your gout eventually. Milk and dairy products can help reduce the risk of gout because it helps get rid of uric acid. So milk can prevent this from occurring.
It is recommended to drink at least four cups a day to reduce the risk of gout by 40%. But be careful to consume the low-fat milk. As I said before, the gout diet consists mainly to decrease the fat and the cholesterol intake.
AND COFFEE??
A study conducted at the University of British Columbia, 2007, showed a direct link between increased coffee consumption and decreased uric acid levels. It appeared that men who consumed 4 cups of regular coffee a day had a drop of uric acid levels by 40%.
But when men consumed 4 cups of decaffeinated coffee, they had a drop of uric acid levels by only 20 %.
Why is that?
It seems that there is a strong antioxidant in the regular coffee called phenol chlorogenic acid, which may have something to do with that.
Although a high consumption can help in decreasing high levels of uric acid, it is still not recommended for other diseases.
All kind of teas have a high content of oxalic acid and are not recommended for people having gout.
But for those who think that they cannot have milk or coffee, now you know, milk can help to build your bone mass and get rid of uric acid, thus prevents gout.
Add coffee to your low-fat milk for even better results 😀
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