Gout and Kidney Disease

Gout is a painful but common type of arthritis that is caused by uric acid crystal build up in the body’s joints. Gout flares typically start suddenly in one joint like toes or fingers and can last for days or weeks. Some symptoms of gout include: intense pain in a joint, swelling, redness and heat in a joint. If you are experiencing joint pain it is important to speak with your healthcare team. Today we will focus on gout and kidney disease.

Gout is often triggered by foods that are high in purines as they increase the uric acid in the body. Purines are compounds found naturally in foods, and some foods have more. When purines break down they form uric acid as a waste product. Gout and CKD are often found together. So let’s take a look at gout and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

How Are Gout And Chronic Kidney Disease Related?

The kidneys role is to filter waste products from our body. High uric acid levels can occur in our blood because with CKD the kidneys may be unable to remove all the uric acid. 

Gout is also associated with other conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, being overweight and even different medications can increase uric acid levels. But our diet plays a big role and can help manage gout.

What are common purine foods? Often doctors only recommend avoiding red meat but there are a lot of other foods with purines. Let’s take a look. 

The top foods to avoid for uric acid include: 

• Alcohol, 
• Dried fish (like anchovies, shrimp), 
• Organ meats (e.g. kidney, liver), 
• Game meats (e.g. deer, goose), 
• Fish (fresh tuna, trout, herring, anchovies, 
• Shellfish (shrimp, squid), 
• Deli meats.

Limiting how often you have these foods can help to reduce gout flares and help to manage gout and CKD.

Foods To Choose

The good news is the foods we choose to eat can help to decrease uric acid in the body and minimize recurrence of gout and CKD. Some of the best foods to include in your diet are: plant-based proteins (like tofu, beans, nuts), vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy products. This sounds quite familiar to the Mediterranean diet that we talk so much about with CKD.

But there are also other things we can do to help manage gout and CKD. Here are some of my top tips:

• Limit high sugar foods. Sugar-sweetened foods can increase the likelihood of gout. 
• Limit high fat meals. These have been linked to gout flares. 
• If having animal protein, limit the portion to 2.5 oz or 75 g per meal. 
• Include more vegetables. Aim for ½ your meal in vegetables. Have fruit as a snack.
• Stay hydrated. Make water your beverage of choice. But for some other drinks with CKD, check out this post.

Are You Looking To Manage Kidney Disease?

Making lifestyle changes with CKD is important. If you are wondering where to get started, check out Kidney Nutrition Fast Track or bite size pieces of information to help you preserve your kidney function. 

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