Hey all, I have been a gout sufferer for a decade now. last attack lasted 4 months. When I went to my Dr. last, he had concerns about my blood pressure and my cholestral (both very high) and I do not like taking meds or having procedures if avoidable, so i created my own diet, with my being prone to gout in mind. so far, so good, I lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks and lowered my cholesterol by 30 points, and have not ant any gout warnings. After 6 weeks, had my blood tested for uric acid, a small rise, but not bad. I have taken 2 weeks off the severe aspects of the diet (but not returned to my normal eating patterns, kinda halfway back to my norms) and will be resuming the diet again for another 4 weeks.

OK, here is my diet- First the To-Do's, then the No-no's, then the products.

It may get boring, but it works.

Although, if you are creative, you can make it less boring.

Its also easily portable to work

The To Do's

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Read the labels on all foods. (you will be surprised) For example, on some foods, you will note it is a certain percent fat, but no or little saturated fat. This is a good thing. In the reverse, you will find products with higher cholesterol than the fat percentages would cause you to expect. This is because in these foods, the carbs get changed to fat after ingesting.
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make sure to watch the saturated fats especially.
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expect to eat 1/2 your normal volume per day, BUT Eat more small meals per day, 4-5 little meals works out better. Makes your body burn off better. Its like stoking a furnace
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Eat as much produce as you care for in which the edible parts are Green or brown in color, then orange/reds, then yellows
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At least one salad per day, But I recommend 2 per day. with 1 tablespoon of no-fat or low fat dressing. (For myself I, water it down to spread it further) Or I make my own dressing. (one of many examples would be-citrus juice, certain spices & herbs & water make a great, tasty & refreshing no fat dressing)
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Eat a minimum of 2 servings of Soluble fiber per day (helps eliminate fats & Cholesterol from the blood) and more if you can/want. Soluble fiber is found in oats, oatmeal, oat bran, wheat bran, barley; beans, legumes, barley, citrus fruits and certain fruits, psyllium, vegetable gum include konjac gum, pectin, guar gum and gum arabic, to name a few. Oats have the highest proportion of soluble fiber among cereals.
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Beans are good sources of both fiber types. The cereal containing highest level of soluble fiber is oat bran, which has about 14% soluble fiber. All other food grains contain much less soluble fiber than oat bran. A common entree for me is Hormels vegeterian chili. They use vegetable protiens to make it seem like it has meat, for the purpose, its good and inexpensive. To create variety, I add in various veggies, spices, herbs, etc.
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Bake, Broil or Boil meats. No frying. You can eat ground beef, IF you "brown" it, and then rinse (with HOT water) all the fat off immediately while the meat is still hot. As to flesh based protien (beef, poultry & fish) For myself, because of gout I limit my protein to 60-70% of the RDV,. If you are not gout prone, you can eat 100% or more protein, but it should be mostly fish (salmon,Tuna, swordfish- very high in the good fat that actually helps lower cholesteral), then white meat chicken (no skin). maybe once a week, for a treat, a little bit of very lean red meat. (Dark meat chicken & most beef, very high in fats- after you eat this way for a few weeks, if you eat some regular red meat or dark meat chicken, you will be surprised at how much grease you will notice. It will be on your tongue & mouth for hours, and be unpleasant) My most common protien is one 7 ounce no drain bag of Tuna per day (spread over several meals). One bag is 70% of the RDV of protien, so your not
overdoing it, if like me, you are gout prone. I use the 7 oz bag instead of the 6 oz can of tuna, because they include the water weight in the can. In the bag, you get twice as much Tuna. Plus i buy mine at the 99 cent store, so thats not bad ! For variety I flavor with various no/lo fat suaces, relishes, herbs, spices etc.
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Make your own low fat / no-fat sauces for your food to replace the flavor (mostly comes from fat) that we are used to, for meats & produce. Learn to use spices to make good flavors with the goal of minimal sugar & fat (percieved) needs in foods. Use water, or fruit / vegetable juices as your base liquid, not oil.
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Take a good multi-vitaman daily
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Beverage of Choice should be water. between a half gallon to 3/4 of a gallon per day to flush out your system. You can flavor with a little fruit juice (but no sugar) No Sodas (including diet) & limit coffee & tea to once a day

the No-No's

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No more than 1 plain baked potato or one serving (small) of Pasta per week, if any at all.
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No more than one small serving of rice per week
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No shellfish
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No oils, except when really a necessity, then a little Extra virgin Olive oil only
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Limit Bread to one or 2 small servings a week at the most, if at all
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Limit intake of carbs to 35% at the most, of the RDV per day
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Limit intake of Saturated fat to 15 - 20% at the most, of the RDV per day.
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Limit intake of Cholesterol to 10-20% at the most, of the RDV, EXCEPT for Fish (Tuna & Salmon) Cholesterol. The Fish cholesterol is Omega-6, it is the good fat. Lowers your bad fats.
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Limit sugar to tea & coffee only, and cut that amount of sugar in half
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Limit eating processed foods, especially those with made with Corn syrup (very bad) & High fructose syrup. we do not process/digest corn syrup well, it acts as a carb, gtransforms to fat.
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Only one "normal" (small) snack per week, if any at all.
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NOTE: Before eating those so called "Low-fat" frozen dinners (including the big name brands), read the labels. For the amount of food you get, vs. the cost, they are higher fat than you are thinking. I compared. Some were low (6 grams sat fat) but most of the flavors ranged as high 15-22% fats, and it would take 2 of these to make one meal. You are better off (both in terms of fat, carbs & cost) eating otherwise (see my shopping list)
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Basic rule of thumb is If its produce & its white (potato, banana, etc) limit severely as it is higher in carbs. Eat a lot more produce that are Green or brown in color, then orange/reds.
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My Shopping List - From the 99 cent store and / or The Dollar tree

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7 oz bag (no drain) Tuna- You get better value than the can, because a 6 oz can of Tuna, they are including the water weight in the can. You only get half as much actual tuna with the can. - You can eat a whole bag per day. A whole bag a day gives you 75% RDV of protien, No saturated Fat, No Carbs & 30% of choesteral-However, much of this is the good fat, not the bad fat.
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Hormel vegetarian Chili - 99% fat free-you can eat a half can to a full can per day
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Any low fat & No-fat soup products (especially Haines & Westbrea brands)- depending on the fats & carbs, you can eat half a can to 2 cans per day. Tomato soups are good too, use the crackers I will mention below.
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Varied & products such as Haines Breakfast bars (only 1 bar per day) & some of their crackers, also healthy valley crackers (cracked pepper, vegetable, etc) which are very low in carbs, no sat fat etc. You can eat 1/3 of a box of the health valley crackers per day.
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Red Peppers in the jar - Because red peppers are out of season, by the time you buy & roast, its just as easy & frugal to buy the 12 oz jar of roasted peppers. also other jarred/frozen produce without fats and low carbs
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Good & Hearty (or any other brand w/ out added sugars, corn syrups etc) of Oatmeal
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Sometimes they have organic cereals with no added sugars or corn syrups
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Ryecrisp fat free crackers (great source of soluble fiber-even if they do have the texture of cardboard)
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Low fat or no fat (and low sodium) Beef broth (Healthy Valley brand) use in place of Hot choc, tea & coffee when you want a hot drink (it sounds odd, but it works & you adjust quickly-it tastes good)
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any other food products that fit the guidelines concerning fats (especially saturated) & carbs
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Extra virgin Olive oil
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Spices & herbs for flavoring

My Shopping List - Produce store

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anything green, brown, red, yellow, orange, that you enjot the taste of. Eat raw, baked, boiled or roasted. No frying. If you boil, save the water, use for soup etc, as vitamins & other nutritional needs leach out into the water.
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Beans, lentils, etc etc.
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Thats it for now

following are some some sig lines then my contact information
"Your talent is Gods gift to you. What you do with it, is your gift back to him."
"If you hear a different drummer, take a chance. The road you choose to travel means the difference in the dance." -Daniel Morgan
Joseph Falcone 818-342-8000 rennmanjoe@... messenger screen name is rennmanjoe