You can prevent gout by avoiding food with high purine levels, doctor says

Papaitan, monggo, ginisang sitaw, and tahong (mussels) make a good meal, but pair them with ice-cold soda and you're off to a dream — until your uric acid levels shoot up and you get gout. Then you're off to a nightmare. 

These dishes and drinks contain high purine content, which can cause the blood's uric acid levels to shoot up. Having high levels of uric acid can form urate crystals which in turn can cause gout.

At present, patients diagnosed with gout cannot be cured of it.

The aforementioned dishes are "excessive outside sources of uric acid."

"Ang mga Pilipino, basically, under-excretor ng uric acid. Ibig sabihin, hindi tayo masyado efficiently nakakapag-labas ng uric acid normally sa ating katawan. Tapos sasamahan mo po ng excessive outside sources ng uric acid, katulad sa mga pagkain." Dr. Jonathan Consignado, a rheymatologist explained in a recent Pinoy MD episode.

According to the report, other dishes high in purine content include red meat from pigs and cows, organ meat like animal liver, tongue and intenstine, seafood, and alcoholic beverages.

Consignado advised patients experiencing gout to not restrict themselves from eating these types of food.

"Hindi talaga ito absolutely bawal sa kanila. Kailangan lang nilang kumain nito kasi good source 'to ng protein, pero in its tamang amount, in moderation na," he said.

In the "Pinoy MD" report, Sison listed down some low-purine content food such as: green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and dairy products.

Meanwhile, Consignado advised gout patients to increase water intake and oral fluid intake by two to three liters, so they can flush out the uric acid from their system. — Angelica Y. Yang/LA, GMA News