An Alkaline Diet And Gout
Gout is caused by needle sharp crystals of uric acid that build up the joints. Uric acid develops from the breakout of purines, which are the breakdown of RNA and DNA.
Gout was thought to be caused by the breakout of all purines, which would include animal and plant sources, but studies have indicated gout is caused greatly by the breakdown of animal purines in meat, fish, and alcohol.
Higher concentrations of purines in plant foods would be found in legumes, so they were at first suspected of causing gout also. Science studies have indicated that this is false, though some guidelines still recommend people who suffer from gout to avoid the consumption of plant foods that are high in purines.
Though legumes are high in purines they were actually found to be protective against gout, which may be because the other nutrients in them and other plants food high in purines are naturally packaged with other nutrients such as fiber, folate, and vitamin C that protect against gout.
More: Support health and vitality with alkaline foods found on the Dr. Sebi Nutritional Guide »
Fiber has been found to bind with uric acid in the digestive tract and sends it along its way to be excreted.
Alkaline Plant Foods Protect Against Gout
Science supports that when you eat an alkaline diet, a diet based on alkaline plant food, you end up alkalizing the urine which has been found to be effective in removing uric acid in the body.
In studies people who consumed and alkaline diet based on the consumption of alkaline plant foods excreted significantly more uric acid from the body compared to people who ate an acidic diet.
In this study[1] participants were feed a standard Western diet for 5 days and their uric acid levels were measured. They were afterwards put on a vegetarian diet, and the consumption of the alkaline plant food diet led to a 93% decline in uric acid.
This indicated that the consumption of meat, fish, and alcohol increased the concentration of uric acid in the body, while the consumption of alkaline plant foods decreased the concentration of uric acid in the body.
Eat life, eat alkaline plant foods to help reduce gout.
[1] R Siener, A Hesse. The effect of a vegetarian and different omnivorous diets on urinary risk factors for uric acid stone formation. Eur J Nutr. 2003 Dec;42(6):332-7.
