Gout in a vegetarian - advice please

[BlueBumedFly]

My husband has been a strict vegetarian for many years. This year he has been struck down by what they think could be gout.

I have read that you need to avoid purines found in soya, beans, lentils, mycoprotein (quorn) and tofu..... Now, this is a tricky one given his vegetarian diet.

They say to avoid wholegrains?? What and eat white pappy bread?

Please, can anyone help me, especially with the mycoprotein issue?

Thanks in advance.

Don't know about the mycoprotein thing, but a friend of mine suffers hugely. She finds that cherries, either fresh, tinned, dried or juice helps a lot.
I'd contact arhtitis care or the rheumatism foundation or a support group for better advice.

Kreecher - thanks so much, I had heard the cherry thing but was unsure how effective it might really be. DH claims to hate them but I think you can get them in tablet form for arthritis so will go to a really good health food shop and scope it out x

bump?

How strange that you should post about gout now. Dh and I are veggies and he has been diagnosed today too!

We have also heard tomatoes and broccoli and cauliflower.

We are both really suprised by this as we eat a healthy diet and all of a sudden are being told to avoid so may 'healthy' staples. He is sat here, foot up, as I type, poor thing.

Lilibet - we have not been given any advice as yet, if you have time could you possibly let me know the foods they said to avoid?

Tomatoes too? What on earth can they eat then?

Many thanks in advance, was your DH given any medication to help other than painkillers?

Hi I'm Lilibets DH.

I've not been given much advice either. The Dr asked me lots of dietary questions, mainly around alcohol (quantities & types), and eliminating certain foods as triggers.

Her first food question was do you eat a lot of liver and marmite.........erm, as a vegetarian not really!

I have been given a leaflet which you can download online at

www.patient.co.uk/printer.asp?doc=23068747

This advises to cut down on alcohol, increase Vitamin C intake, reduce sugar-sweetened soft drinks & fruit juice. Also reduce oily fish & mussels, and lots of meat advice that isn't relevant to me.
The leaflet doesn't mention the vegetables that we have read elsewhere as being a potential cause, but we've been doing lots fo reading around.

I've also been prescribed a course of Indometacin 50mg, which should reduce the swelling and pain, and keep applying ice for around 20 minutes at a time which helps too.
I'll be glad when it calms down, and I think then its a case of cutting out / reducing different things to see if it prevents it kicking off again.

That is so helpful, many thanks turnupthebase. It's so odd as it is in dh's knee. It just seems to flair up and we cannot pinpoint the triggers just yet. Liver? Sometimes I really do wonder !! No marmite here either, but alcohol is an obvious one I guess....

Thanks so much for your help and I hope you flair up calms down soonest x

I hope it settles down soon, it is very painful. Meanwhile, may I be the first of (possibly) 1000s to say helpfully, You Must Give Up The Port.

Hell hath no fury like a bottle of port scorned .... Or one that's been banished to the back of the cupboard under the stairs.....