Purine causes gout, you need to know these three misunderstandings

If you do not pay attention to the high purine content in your diet, you are likely to develop gout, which causes joint pain. The broccoli that people usually eat has relatively low purine content, but vegetables like seaweed and bean sprouts also have relatively high purine content. Therefore, people must be aware of the misunderstandings about purine gout.

Misconception 1: Vegetables are low-purine foods and gout patients do not need to restrict their intake.

Many people believe that vegetables are low in purine and will not induce gout, so there is no need to restrict them. The purine content of vegetables is generally lower than that of animal foods such as animal offal, seafood, and broth. However, the purine content of some vegetables is not low, such as lentils, asparagus, seaweed, bean sprouts, etc. It is one-sided for gout patients to insist on eating vegetarian food rather than meat. During the acute attack of gout, they should try to avoid eating the above-mentioned vegetables with high purine content, and reduce the number and amount of meals during the remission period.

Misconception 2: Soybeans have a high purine content, so gout patients cannot eat soy products.

The purine content of dry beans (soybeans, black beans, mung beans, red beans, etc.) is indeed relatively high, but because water-soluble purines are lost during the processing, when soybeans are processed into tofu and tofu skin, their purine content drops significantly. During the remission period of gout, it is okay to consume a moderate amount of soy products. The recommended order of choosing beans and soy products is tofu, dried tofu, soy milk, and whole beans. The intake should also be gradually reduced in this order.

Misconception 3: Beer contains a lot of purine, and drinking other alcohol has no effect on uric acid.

The main component of alcohol is ethanol, which can cause the accumulation of lactic acid and ketone bodies in the body, competitively inhibiting the excretion of uric acid. Therefore, drinking too much at one time can increase blood uric acid and induce gout attacks. As long as you drink alcohol regularly, whether it is beer, white wine or red wine, it will accelerate purine synthesis, leading to hyperuricemia and increased uric acid excretion. If you eat high-purine, high-protein, and high-fat foods while drinking, it is more likely to cause an acute attack of gout, which is not uncommon in clinical practice. Therefore, gout patients are advised to stay away from alcohol.