In the episode of "A Bite of China 3" themed on "food nourishment", Zheng Yazhen from Guangzhou impressively cooked chicken soup for her father who suffers from gout. Is this intentionally misleading the audience by letting gout patients drink chicken soup, which is high in purine and should be strictly avoided?
Can gout patients drink chicken soup?
Gout is a chronic disease caused by a disorder in purine metabolism, where excessive uric acid is produced in the body, leading to the recurrence or aggravation of gout. Purine is a hydrophilic substance that easily dissolves in water, so meat soups such as pork rib soup, chicken soup, lamb soup, and hot pot soup have high purine content. The longer the cooking time, the more purine is dissolved in the soup.
Experts suggest that gout patients should generally avoid drinking such "meat soups". Even if the cooking time is short, the purine content is still relatively high. After stewing the soup, they can eat some meat from the soup, but they should not drink the soup. Even when eating meat, gout patients should only do so under the premise of long-term medication and stable condition.
Therefore, doctors do not recommend gout patients to drink chicken soup or other "meat soups". In addition, alcoholic beverages also contain high levels of purine, so it is best for gout patients to completely abstain from alcohol, including red wine. Wang Yifei pointed out that in the latest version of the international gout diagnosis and treatment guidelines, red wine has been excluded.
Meat purine content
1. The tested total purine content in meat from low to high (100.3 to 221.3 mg/100g) is as follows: beef, grass carp, pork, carp, lamb, rabbit, three-yellow chicken, duck, and shrimp. In other words, chicken meat has a relatively high purine content among meats.
2. The total purine content in meat gradually decreases during the boiling process, mainly due to the reduction of xanthine, and the final total purine content in the meat can be reduced to about 20% to 30% of the total purine content in raw meat or even lower. In about 15 minutes, the purine content in the soup is higher than that in the meat. So, everyone should understand that the longer the meat is cooked in the soup, the lower the purine content in the meat itself. The purine dissolves into the soup, so if you like to eat meat, you can consider eating boiled meat instead of drinking the soup.
Diet for gout patients
1. Drink more water. People with high blood uric acid and gout patients should drink more plain water, and it is not recommended to drink high-soup meat soups, fish soups, chicken soups, hot pot soups, etc. For meats with high purine content, they can be boiled with water and then eaten without drinking the soup.
2. Eat more alkaline foods and less acidic foods. Gout patients have a disorder in purine metabolism and abnormal uric acid levels. If they eat too many acidic foods, it will worsen their condition and hinder their recovery. Eating more alkaline foods can help replenish potassium, sodium, and chloride ions and maintain acid-base balance.
3. Fruits with low fructose content can lower the risk of gout attacks as they are rich in potassium and vitamin C.
4. Eat more vegetables and less staple foods. Eating more vegetables helps reduce purine intake, increase vitamin C, and increase fiber. Eating less staple foods helps control calorie intake, limit weight, and reduce fat.
