Gout is a form of arthritis that affects both men and women and results in chronic pain and inflammation due to the accumulation of uric acid in the joints. While there are several triggers of gout flare-ups, diet plays a major role in keeping the condition at bay. A simple solution to managing the condition is to plan a gout-friendly diet while taking into account the common foods to avoid for gout:

• Seafood rich in purine
  Purine is a colorless crystal found naturally in several foods that form part of the daily diet. Seafood, including mackerel, trout, tuna, anchovies, sardines, shrimp, and lobster, are some of the foods to avoid for people with gout as they have higher-than-normal purine content. Digestion creates uric acid as the byproduct of purine, which crystallizes and accumulates in and around joints, triggering pain and discomfort associated with gout.
• Meats rich in purine
  Although one cannot drastically switch to a meat-free diet, patients of gout should cut down on red meat and organ meat consumption as they are high in processed saturated fats and also have high purine content. Liver, kidney, bacon, turkey, brain, veal, venison, and even sweetbread are purine-rich red meats that cause the uric acid levels to spike. One must also cut down on consuming beef cuts, lamb cuts, and pork to ensure limited purine intake.
• Sugary beverages and alcohol
  Gout patients should avoid sugary beverages, along with beer, grain liquors like vodka or whiskey, and other hard liquor. Beer, especially, is prepared by aging malt using yeast, a common substance for fermentation that can result in an imbalance in vital compounds necessary for digestion. Any liquor, for that matter, forces the kidney to excrete the alcohol consumed instead of the waste byproducts of uric acid, which leads to a steady buildup of the acid in the body. Studies show that people who consume alcohol regularly are susceptible to acute gout attacks, so gout patients should say no to the bottle, even if a cold one is too tempting to resist! Similarly, sugary beverages are high in fructose, which is a byproduct of corn, and excess consumption of this additive is harmful.
• Processed and refined foods
  One should understand that anything bought off the shelves in the supermarket is rich in processed fats and refined sugars. Everything from morning breakfast cereals to one’s favorite pasties, cakes, snacks, bite-sized tidbits, and even jams, jellies, and marmalades contain a generous amount of additives and preservatives, and especially a high concentrate of fructose to increase their shelf life. Due to these additives, these foods trigger the uric acid levels in the bloodstream to spike and result in flare-ups, so processed and refined foods top the list of foods to avoid for people with gout.