Experts say that diet for gout and type 2 diabetes is perhaps the main method of treating these diseases. Often, apart from following a diet, the patient may not require any other treatment for a long time. Compiled in accordance with all the rules of a healthy diet, the medical table can effectively influence the level of insulin and urate in the blood. At the same time, special attention is paid to the amount of purines, fat and cholesterol in products, which makes it possible to reduce the energy value of the menu.
A well-designed diet can help control both diseases.
Why do you need a diet for diabetes and concomitant gout?
Gout and type 2 diabetes very often develop at the same time. This is largely due to common risk factors, among which obesity plays the most prominent role. And diet can be the key to managing these ailments.
Unfortunately, many patients underestimate the importance of diet. Meanwhile, a strict diet can not only normalize sugar and uric acid levels, but also reduce weight, reduce stress on joints, and prevent the risk of cardiovascular diseases. A therapeutic diet will also cope with such diabetes companions as high cholesterol and arterial hypertension.
Some overweight patients actively practice fasting and various strict dietary restrictions. This cannot be done, since a deficiency of nutrients provokes a sharp release of uric acid salts, and a lack of carbohydrates causes hypoglycemia.
What is diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus is a pathology that, if uncontrolled, can irreversibly harm health. Problems with metabolic processes are explained either by a lack of insulin in the body or by cell resistance to it. Diabetes comes in 2 forms:
- Insulin dependent - type 1. A weakened pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin. The glucose content in the bloodstream does not decrease - without insulin it will not be absorbed by cells. Typically, type 1 occurs in young patients, develops unexpectedly, and promotes sudden weight loss. Treatment consists of constant insulin injections.
- Non-insulin dependent diabetes – type 2. There is enough of your own insulin, even in excess, but for unknown reasons it cannot affect cells and tissues.
Diabetes
The result of an imbalance in type 2 lesions is the inability to absorb glucose and increased concentration. More often, this form develops in people after 30 years of age. The pathology is characterized by excess weight. Medicines should reduce tissue resistance to insulin and stimulate production in the pancreas.
Allowed products for illnesses
The treatment table for gout and diabetes should resemble a vegetarian one, but in a less strict version. It is recommended to include fish and chicken or rabbit meat, vegetables, herbs, fruits, grains, eggs, and pasta in your diet. Low-fat fermented milk drinks are very useful - they alleviate gouty arthritis and improve the condition of patients with diabetes.
Some products are more active in combating the symptoms of ailments, so you should pay special attention to them. For example, vegetables and fruits rich in anthocyanins prevent the crystallization of monosodium urates in the joints and help reduce blood glucose concentrations.
The most plant pigments are found in eggplants, black currants, cranberries, lingonberries, plums, cherries and cherries. It is recommended to include at least one of these products in your daily diet.
Cucumbers, oranges, lemons, celery, carrots, oats and pineapple absorb excess urates and reduce cholesterol levels.
Omega-3 fatty acids are very beneficial for patients with gout and type II diabetes. They are found in shrimp, sardines, salmon, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, walnuts, soy and flax seeds.
Patients are allowed to eat a small amount of bread; olive or flaxseed oils are allowed.
During the period of an acute gouty attack, more stringent restrictions are introduced, leaving only liquid dishes in the diet: lactic acid drinks, cereals, pureed vegetable soups, jelly, natural juices and unsweetened compotes.
Basic principles of nutrition for gout
It is important to follow several recommendations for shaping your daily diet. The diet for gout and high uric acid, what is possible and what is not, includes the following rules:
- Eat the right fats. When reducing the level of animal fats in your diet, include vegetable oils, in particular olive, sunflower, and corn oils.
- Lose weight. Excess body weight aggravates the course of the disease, provokes kidney dysfunction, and eliminates the possibility of normal excretion of uric acid. If you are overweight, reduce the energy value of your diet.
- Drink a lot. In the absence of edema and normal kidney function, abundant fluid intake is recommended. It is important for you to drink at least two and a half liters of liquids per day, including plain water with lemon juice, as well as fruit and berry juices, herbal teas, rosehip infusion, and milk.
- Take a multivitamin. To correct the condition, it is especially important to consume sufficient amounts of vitamins C, PP and B2.
- Eat foods that alkalize your urine. These include almost all fresh fruits and berries. Their value in the diet also lies in their high potassium content, which has a diuretic effect.
- Drink alkaline mineral water. It alkalinizes urine, which makes its composition active against uric acid. The alkaline reaction of urine helps dissolve dangerous compounds and reduces the risk of disease progression.
- Avoid alcohol. Alcoholic drinks disrupt kidney function, which makes it impossible to remove uric acid from the body. Even taking them periodically can provoke an attack and exacerbation.
- Reduce salt content. Salt itself promotes the deposition of uric acid crystals in the joints. Its increased content in food reduces the intensity of urine excretion and causes swelling, which eliminates the diuretic effect necessary during exacerbations. Reduce salt intake in dishes to a minimum.
It is also worth arranging fasting days. Once a week, give your body a relief from rich food. What is good for you is one-day mono-diets on foods low in purines. In the summer, arrange fasting days on watermelons, which perfectly remove uric acid and salts from the body. In spring and autumn, use cucumber and apple mono-diets. In winter, potato is suitable. All of these foods are rich in potassium and fiber that are valuable to you.
What is prohibited to consume
When gout occurs in parallel with diabetes, you should avoid three types of foods that can harm the body and aggravate the patient’s condition:
- alcohol, including beer;
- foods rich in purines - red meat and products made from it, offal, legumes, rich broths, instant noodles, various sauces and canned food.
- products containing fructose - peaches, pears, bananas, apples, grapes, blueberries, dried apricots, figs, raisins, honey, refined sugar and, oddly enough, ketchup.
The consumption of salt, confectionery products made from white flour and yeast dough, fried, smoked and pickled foods is excluded or sharply limited. As for drinks, sweet carbonated waters, strong tea and store-bought juices are prohibited.
The importance of staying hydrated
For gout complicated by type II diabetes mellitus, it is necessary to consume a sufficient amount of clean liquid - at least 2–2.5 liters per day. It is better if it is mineral water with an acidity of 7 pH and a mineralization of 5–20 mg/l. Fruit drinks made from cranberries and lingonberries or an infusion of dry leaves give a good cleansing effect.
People with kidney or heart problems should increase their fluid intake very carefully and only do so under the supervision of a doctor. Otherwise, swelling and deterioration in well-being may begin.
If such symptoms appear, you should limit the amount of water and drink exactly as much as is excreted in the urine, not forgetting about foods containing liquid.
Sample menu for gout
A therapeutic diet for gout reduces the risk of relapse of the disease, relieves pain, and normalizes the functioning of the urinary system. In addition, such a nutritional system helps normalize body weight and is one of the principles of a healthy lifestyle.
Diet for gout and high uric acid, do’s and don’ts, sample menu:
First day:
- Before meals: a glass of rose hip decoction.
- 1st breakfast: tea with milk, cabbage salad.
- 2nd breakfast: vegetable juice.
- Lunch: borscht with vegetable broth, a piece of boiled meat with white sauce (no more than 100 g)
- Afternoon snack: a glass of rose hip decoction.
- Dinner: buckwheat with milk, vegetable cabbage rolls.
- Before bed: fruit juice.
Second day:
- Before meals: a glass of rose hip decoction.
- 1st breakfast: tea with milk, beet salad, dressed with butter or sour cream.
- 2nd breakfast: vegetable juice.
- Lunch: vegetable soup with barley, cabbage schnitzel.
- Afternoon snack: fruit juice.
- Dinner: carrot cutlets, jelly.
- Before bed: watermelon or a glass of yogurt.
The list of dishes can be combined, do not forget that the effect of diet therapy can be achieved and consolidated for a long time only with its full compliance.
Healthy recipes
For some, following a diet may seem like a boring and unpleasant burden, forcing you to eat tasteless and meager. But that's not true. From the permitted list of products you can prepare a lot of not only healthy, but also appetizing dishes.
First meal
Flavorful vegetable soup
For the first course, aromatic soup made from cauliflower, carrots and a can of green peas is ideal. Vegetables are washed, cut and dipped in boiling water. After 10 minutes, add canned peas, beaten egg, 20 g of cow butter, aromatic herbs and salt.
Cream soup with champignons
French cream soup is no less tasty. To prepare it you will need:
- onion - head;
- medium carrots - 1 pc.;
- lemon juice - 50 ml;
- sugar - ½ spoon;
- cream - 50 ml;
- vegetable oil - 40 ml;
- champignons - 1 package.
Vegetables and mushrooms are finely chopped and lightly stewed, then chopped in a blender. The finished mixture is poured with water and boiled for 5–6 minutes, then lemon juice, sugar and seasonings are added. Served with cream.
Second course
For the second course, you can make steamed chicken meatballs with a side dish. For minced meat take:
- white meat - 600 g;
- onion - head;
- boiled rice - 200 g;
- milk - 70 ml;
- egg - 1 pc.;
- loaf or white bread - 150 g.
All ingredients are passed through a meat grinder or crushed in a blender, seasonings are added and meatballs are formed. They are steamed. Boiled buckwheat, potatoes or stewed vegetables are used as a side dish.
Dessert
And for dessert - a very tasty cottage cheese casserole. For the treat you will need 2 packs of low-fat cottage cheese, 3-4 eggs, 100 g of semolina, a glass of 15% sour cream, any fresh or dry fruit, salt, vanilla, sugar. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed and poured into a baking dish. Cook in the oven at 180° until an appetizing crust appears.
Sample menu
Below is a menu for the week that fully complies with international and Russian recommendations on the principles of healthy eating. The daily set of products does not contradict the permitted list and maintains the optimal daily calorie content within the range of 1200–1500 Kcal.
Morning | Day | Evening | |
Monday | Rice porridge, bread, black tea with milk | Fresh cabbage soup, egg, fish with vegetables, compote. | Carrot cutlets, plums, kefir. |
Tuesday | Boiled potatoes, vegetable salad, bread, oatmeal jelly. | Beetroot soup, chicken tenders with rice, juice. | Vegetable stew, smoothie with black currants, rosehip infusion. |
Wednesday | Oatmeal, bread, egg, green tea. | Puree soup with mushrooms, chicken balls with buckwheat, biscuits, juice. | Cottage cheese with berries, vegetable cabbage rolls, kefir. |
Thursday | Potato casserole, cucumber and tomato salad, bread, oatmeal jelly. | Creamy cauliflower soup, baked fish with rice, juice. | Cottage cheese casserole with prunes, biscuits, berry smoothies, green tea. |
Friday | Mashed potatoes, bread, salad with vegetables, green tea. | Milk noodle soup, boiled chicken, vegetable stew, oatmeal cookies, juice. | Omelette, carrot cutlets, orange, rosehip infusion. |
Saturday | Oatmeal, bread, cheese, black tea with milk, | Vegetarian borscht, potato casserole with minced meat, fruit, juice. | Risotto with vegetables, kefir, biscuits. |
Sunday | Oatmeal porridge, bread, egg, fruit dessert topped with yogurt, rosehip infusion. | Puree potato soup, chicken stewed in sour cream sauce, rice, juice. | Zucchini stuffed with carrots and onions, cottage cheese with prunes, green tea. |
In between meals, you can “snack” with a glass of kefir or yogurt, oatmeal jelly, drink a compote or a decoction of rose hips. Lingonberries and cranberries are very useful. They can be added to cottage cheese or smoothies, made into fruit drinks, or eaten just like that.
What can you eat if you have gout?
Gout is not a simple disease that requires a responsible attitude and adherence to the principles of proper nutrition. Therefore, it is necessary to understand what you can eat if you have gout. The product table will help us with this.
Diet for gout and high uric acid, what you can eat, food table:
List of foods you can eat: | Features of use: |
Black or white bread, savory pastries. | |
Marshmallows, marmalade, jam, marshmallows, non-chocolate candies, ice cream. | |
Cereal porridge with milk, vegetarian borscht, potato soups with added cereals, salads with fresh and pickled vegetables, vinaigrette, vegetable caviar, vegetable, milk or sour cream sauce. | In this case, the milk should be diluted. |
Oranges, tangerines, green apples, dates, persimmons, dried fruits (except raisins), strawberries, lemons, apricots, pears. | Naturally, you should not eat only fruits and in large quantities. Nutrition should be complete and varied. |
Dill, corn, beets, onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, white cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, pumpkin (helps improve metabolism). | Garlic is most useful, as it helps eliminate the inflammatory process. In addition, vegetables are actively used during fasting days. Potatoes and cucumbers have a large amount of potassium, so they enhance the removal of uric acid from the body. |
All cereals except legumes. | Beans are on the list of foods that should not be eaten, as they contain uric acid, and in large quantities. |
Marine cephalopods, crustaceans, shrimp, lean fish (salmon, trout), squid. | These foods are very beneficial for gout. The diet includes boiled fish, and it is advisable to drain the broth. |
Rabbit, turkey, chicken. | Any meat is consumed 2-3 times a week and no more than 170 g. |
Drinks include: green tea, tea from fruits and berries, tea with milk and lemon, juice (any, even tomato), herbal infusions, fruit drinks, compotes from fruits and berries, fresh cucumber juice, alkaline mineral water for gout is also very useful , rosehip decoction, chicory.