October 11, 2008
June 2008 - Issue:002
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Gout Foods in the Garden
First let me apologize for missing last month's newsletter. A heavy work schedule and an unexpected attack of Gout kept me rather busy.As it turned out, however, the Gout was a blessing in disguise. There was very little information available - even from my Doctor - so I had to go on the hunt for it. What I found was fragmentary and often conflicting. It took a while for me to work things out and it is clear that the amount of really good information is quite small - especially given that Gout is one of the oldest health problems afflicting people.
While it is clear that there are good gout foods and bad ones, this is only part of the story. The Uric acid that causes Gout comes from the metabolism of Purines and is actually an anti-oxidant as important as Vitamin C, but unlike Vitamin C it is stored in the body and eliminated slowly.
Also, high Uric acid levels alone do not cause Gout. It seems a combination of factors is required. In my case (and every case is unique) there were most likely:
- Diet (healthy enough, but not specifically low-purine)
- Stress
- An increase in exercise (in preparation for a high altitude hiking trip) and
- Poorly fitted walking shoes
If you would like to find a good list of Gout foods this one at least gives you the amount of Purines (and hence there ability to generate Uric acid) for each food.
When looking at any list of Gout foods, bear in mind that a low Purine diet is only really important during a Gout attack. After the attack, you can eat more normally, but minimize your consumption of very high Purine foods that could increase your risk of another attack.
The list of Gout foods I finally found also dispelled some unsettling advice about foods I had always regarded as healthy. These included Asparagus, Mushrooms and Cauliflower - each of which is actually on the low Purine list.
Here is the list of low Purine Gout foods - in order of increasing Purine content:
| Cherry (sweet) | 7.1 |
| Cucumber | 7.3 |
| Beer (alcohol free) | 8.1 |
| Yogurt | 8.1 |
| Tomato | 11 |
| Chicory | 12 |
| Pear | 12 |
| Rhubarb | 12 |
| Beer | 13 |
| Lettuce | 13 |
| Onion | 13 |
| Radishes | 13 |
| Apple | 14 |
| Beer | 14 |
| Bread (wheat) | 14 |
| Fennel leaves | 14 |
| Radish | 15 |
| Gooseberry | 16 |
| Potato | 16 |
| Sauerkraut | 16 |
| Carrot | 17 |
| Cherry (Morello) | 17 |
| Currant | 17 |
| Endive | 17 |
| Mushrooms (Chanterelle) | 17 |
| Potato | 18 |
| Raspberry | 18 |
| Avocado | 19 |
| Beet root | 19 |
| Kiwi fruit (Chinese gooseberry) | 19 |
| Orange | 19 |
| Pineapple | 19 |
| Aubergine | 21 |
| Bok Choi | 21 |
| Peach | 21 |
| Bread rolls | 21 |
| Strawberry | 21 |
| Bilberry, blueberry, huckleberry | 22 |
| Cabbage (white) | 22 |
| Asparagus | 23 |
| Brazil nuts | 23 |
| Plum | 24 |
| Squash | 24 |
| Kohlrabi | 25 |
| Walnut | 25 |
| Grape | 27 |
| Cress | 28 |
| Bamboo Shoots | 29 |
| Mushrooms (canned) | 29 |
| Olive | 29 |
| Celeriac | 30 |
| Morel | 30 |
| Quince | 30 |
| Cabbage (red) | 32 |
| Limburger cheese | 32 |
| Elderberry (black) | 33 |
| Melon (Cantaloupe) | 33 |
| Date | 35 |
| Almond | 37 |
| French beans | 37 |
| Cabbage (Savoy) | 37 |
| Hazelnut (cobnut) | 37 |
| Lamb's Lettuce | 38 |
| Egg noodles | 40 |
| Pumpkin | 44 |
| Kale | 48 |
| Oyster mushroom | 50 |
| Cauliflower | 51 |
| Cereal Rye (whole grain) | 51 |
| Wheat (whole grain) | 51 |
| Sweet Corn | 52 |
| Capsicums | 55 |
| Black Pudding | 55 |
| Banana | 57 |
| Parsley | 57 |
| Spinach | 57 |
| Mushroom | 58 |
Add your Voice to Food-from-the-Garden
Now you can contribute your own knowledge and experience in growing food in the garden and each story you submit will form a new page of its own on this site. I am in the process of adding pages for a range of topics where you can make your own contribution, but here are the ones available now:- My Food Garden - for general gardening topics and a directory for other places you can make a contribution.
- My Favorite Vegetable - for information of specific types of vegetables.
- My Herb Garden - for information about herbs and herb growing.
- My Free Range - for stories about keeping chickens and other free range poultry.