Can gout/diabetes be controlled by diet? This diet pattern is recommended!

As people age, their body functions gradually decline and they are more likely to develop chronic diseases. Especially for those who have been eating an unbalanced diet for a long time, their health condition will deteriorate.

Diet plays an important role in human survival and maintaining good health, and its relationship with health and disease is becoming increasingly prominent. Long-term unbalanced diet structure will inevitably increase the risk of chronic diseases. Especially for the elderly, the risk of diabetes and gout is higher than that of young people.

Many elderly people, upon learning that they have contracted a disease, begin to rely on medication to maintain their condition, while neglecting their diet. They think that since they are already ill, it is useless to pay attention to their diet. In fact, this is not the case. A reasonable diet can effectively control the progression of the disease.

How big an impact does diet have on chronic disease?

The quality of diet is closely related to the occurrence and development of chronic diseases. Even if you have already suffered from a certain disease, as long as you can eat a targeted and reasonable diet, you can control the development of the disease well and even reverse it.

Take diabetes and gout, which are both highly prevalent among the elderly. These two diseases are somewhat related. Especially for the elderly, if they suffer from diabetes, their risk of developing gout is 2.09 times that of non-diabetic patients. [1]

Many studies have confirmed that adjusting the dietary structure can play a positive role in controlling these two diseases.

The "Chinese Expert Consensus on Relieving Type 2 Diabetes" released in 2021 states that lifestyle intervention can alleviate the progression of type 2 diabetes, slow the progression from prediabetes to diabetes, and even reverse high blood sugar to normal levels. Scientific dietary management can continuously alleviate the symptoms of type 2 diabetes and reduce the risk of complications. [2]

Another study conducted a dietary intervention on gout patients, adopting a diet with restricted energy, high whole grains, and low saturated fatty acid foods for 4 months. The results showed that the uric acid levels of gout patients decreased by 18% and the monthly frequency of gout attacks decreased by 67%. [1]

Therefore, even if you have a chronic disease, you should not give up adjusting your diet. Diet can control the development of chronic diseases, allowing some people with chronic diseases to temporarily get rid of medication, reduce psychological burden, and improve quality of life.

Dietary Patterns to Control the Development of Chronic Diseases

Since the development of chronic diseases can be controlled by adjusting diet, is there a diet that can both control diabetes and reduce the incidence of gout?

Yes, it does exist, and it’s the DASH diet.

In the 2019-2022 U.S. News Best Diets ranking, the DASH diet ranked in the top three among 40 diets. The original purpose of this diet was to control and lower blood pressure, mainly for people with high blood pressure. It has the characteristics of high calcium and magnesium, high potassium and low sodium, low saturated fatty acids, and low sugar. Therefore, in addition to being beneficial for controlling blood pressure, it can also play a certain role in controlling blood sugar.

In addition, studies have found that the DASH diet can also reduce blood uric acid levels in patients with hyperuricemia, thereby reducing the risk of gout. [1]

How to eat the DASH diet?

Since the Deshu diet is so good, how can we implement it in our daily life? Here are 9 key points to practice it:

Vegetables: about 4-5 servings per day, 100 grams per serving, 100 grams of raw vegetables is about the size of a fist when cooked. This is similar to the 300-500 grams of vegetable intake recommended in our country's "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents". It is recommended that more than half of it should be dark vegetables, and choose more vegetables with high magnesium content.

Because magnesium is involved in carbohydrate metabolism, studies have shown that magnesium deficiency can lead to reduced insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Vegetables with high magnesium content: green amaranth, Shanghai greens, beet leaves, endive, sweet potato leaves, celery leaves, kale, water spinach, fennel, fresh peas, Chinese cabbage, kale, okra, etc.

Fruit: 4-5 servings per day, 1 medium-sized apple is about 1 serving, about 400 grams of fruit per day. It is recommended to choose more low-GI fruits, such as apples, peaches, cherries, pears, plums, and grapefruits.

Among them, cherries can increase uric acid excretion. One study found that eating cherries for more than two consecutive days can reduce the risk of gout by 35% compared to people who do not eat cherries. [1]

Dairy products: 2 servings of low-fat milk or skim milk, 1 serving is about 236 ml. According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", the elderly should drink 300-400 ml of milk per day. If they drink more than 400 ml, it is recommended to choose low-fat milk or skim milk.

Dairy products are a good source of calcium, which helps lower uric acid levels and reduces the risk of gout.

Meat and soy products: Eat 2 or fewer servings of meat, 50 grams per serving, eat less red meat, such as pork, beef and mutton; choose more white meat such as chicken, duck, fish and shrimp, and remove the skin of poultry.

Choose less foods with high purine content, such as animal liver and kidney, animal brain, sardines, anchovies, caviar, broth, hot pot soup, etc.

If eating fish, it is recommended that the elderly choose fish belly, which is the part of the fish belly, because the meat here is softer and easier to digest and absorb. Although the fat content is high, it is mostly unsaturated fatty acids, which is beneficial for controlling blood lipid levels.

Eating 25 grams of soybeans every day corresponds to 72 grams of northern tofu, 140 grams of southern tofu, 40 grams of shredded tofu, and 55 grams of dried tofu, which can be adjusted flexibly.

Don’t worry that eating soy products will induce gout. Studies have shown that the purine content of soy products is not associated with the risk of gout. Eating beans may not increase the risk of gout, but may actually reduce it. [1]

Cereals and tubers: It is recommended to eat 6 to 8 servings of cereals and tubers every day, of which at least 2/3 should be whole grains. The 2022 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents also emphasizes the need to increase the intake of whole grains. It is recommended to replace refined white rice and flour with 1/2 to 2/3 of whole grains at each meal.

Compared with refined white rice and flour, whole grains contain more dietary fiber and B vitamins, which help delay blood sugar after meals. For patients who already have type 2 diabetes, if they can increase their intake of whole grains, they can effectively control their weight and help improve their condition.

Recommended choices: buckwheat, barley, black rice, quinoa, sorghum rice, brown rice, rhubarb rice, millet, black barley, etc.

Cooking oil: 2 to 3 servings a day is enough, 1 serving is about 10 grams. It is recommended to choose n-3 series cooking oil. For cooking, you can choose olive oil, tea oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil. For salad dressing or soup, you can choose flaxseed oil and perilla oil.

Nuts: 1 serving per day or 3-5 servings per week, 1 serving is about 10 grams. Nuts are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which help lower postprandial blood sugar.

If you increase your intake of nuts, you can also reduce the amount of cooking oil you use. For example, if you eat 10 grams more nuts, you can reduce the amount of cooking oil by 10 grams. If you eat macadamia nuts, pili nuts, and other nuts that have a high fat content, you can reduce the amount of cooking oil by 15 to 20 grams.

Recommended choices: hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, cooked cashews, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts, etc.

Salt and sugar: Salt should be controlled within 5 grams. Sugar is best not to be eaten, including honey and sugary drinks.

Drink more water: Drinking too little water is a risk factor for hyperuricemia and gout attacks. For diabetic patients, they already have symptoms of "polyuria" and also need to drink more water to replenish water. It is recommended to drink at least 2000 ml of water a day.

In addition to the above 9 dietary principles, you should also change the order and speed of eating. The faster you eat, the higher your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Studies have found that following the dietary order of vegetables, protein, and staple food can help improve fasting blood sugar, postprandial blood sugar, and glycosylated hemoglobin in patients with prediabetes, and can effectively control the progression of the disease. [3]

Summarize:

Adjusting the dietary pattern plays an important role in controlling the occurrence and development of chronic diseases. Even if you are already ill, don't just rely on medication to maintain your condition. Of course, you can't just rely on diet without treatment. A reasonable diet combined with active treatment will have better results.

References:

[1] Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou. Chinese Nutrition Science Encyclopedia 2nd Edition (Volume 2)[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2019

[2] Zou Dajin, Zhang Zheng, Ji Linong. Chinese expert consensus on the remission of type 2 diabetes[J]. Chinese General Practice, 2021, 24(32): 4037-4048.

[3] Li Yao, Zhang Peili, Teng Yun. Effects of different dietary orders on blood glucose in patients with prediabetes[J]. Nursing Research, 2019, 33(20): 3493-3497.