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Diet for high uric acid
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

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A diet for elevated uric acid is a complex, balanced diet that allows you to normalize the level of uric acid in the body. Let's look at the features of nutrition for elevated uric acid, prohibited and permitted foods, as well as an approximate menu for a week.
Uric acid is a metabolic product that is formed as a result of purine metabolism processes. If there is a lot of uric acid in the blood (above the norm), this means that a large amount of purines enter the body with food, or they are too intensively converted into a metabolite, or the process of removing uric acid from the body is disrupted. Before starting treatment for this pathology, the doctor will first review the patient's diet and make his own adjustments.
Due to the increased content of uric acid in the body, gout may occur. Uric acid turns salt into crystals with sharp edges. Salts are deposited in tissues and joints, causing severe pain when moving and painful attacks. In many people, increased uric acid appears as a result of hereditary predisposition. A diet for increased uric acid is an excellent way to lower its level with minimal discomfort for the body. In addition to the diet, patients are prescribed a set of drugs that help normalize gout.
You will have to follow a diet for elevated uric acid throughout your life, as the disease may recur. A therapist or urologist can create a menu and select products, but before that, the patient must undergo a series of tests that will help create a correct and effective diet for therapeutic purposes.
Diet for high uric acid
Nutrition for high uric acid should be balanced and dietary. The first thing to do is to give up meat broths. Only lean meat is allowed and only boiled, but no more than three times a week. Fatty dishes, pickled, smoked and fried foods are strictly prohibited. It would not be superfluous to refuse or minimize the amount of salt consumed and adhere to a drinking regimen (1.5-2 liters of water per day).
Of the drinks, special attention should be paid to mineral water, as it helps remove uric acid from the body. Of the alcoholic drinks, a small amount of vodka is allowed. In addition to the diet, the patient is prescribed a set of physiotherapeutic procedures and plasmapheresis. This allows the blood to be cleansed of excess uric acid and the salts deposited by it. It is strictly forbidden to sit on low-calorie diets or fast. Since this will lead to an exacerbation of the disease and increase the level of uric acid to the maximum mark.
It is important to remember that you need to eat often. The diet should be based on products with a low purine content. It would not be superfluous to observe fasting days on fermented milk products or vegetable and fruit nutrition. Traditional methods of treatment recommend consuming carrot and celery juice, as they help remove uric acid from the body. This also applies to flax seed infusion, birch bud infusion or cranberry broth. All these nutritional tricks help speed up the metabolism in the body and remove uric acid.
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What is the diet for high uric acid?
An acceptable level of uric acid in the bloodstream is considered to be:
- in the female body – 0.15-0.45 mmol/l (6 mg/dl);
- in the male body – 0.18-0.53 mmol/l (7 mg/dl).
If the detected values exceed the norm, there is a risk of the acid falling into a solid form and the accumulation of formed crystals in various systems and organs. This happens with alcohol abuse, deliberate dietary restrictions, constant use of diuretics, improper nutrition with predominant consumption of sweets and fatty foods.
A diet for increased uric acid in the bloodstream can significantly improve the patient's condition, as well as reduce the dosage of medications prescribed due to the disease. If a patient with increased uric acid develops gout - a chronic pathology associated with a disorder of uric acid metabolism - then the new nutritional principles will have to be followed for life.
Let's take a closer look at what the diet should be like for elevated uric acid.
- A diet with some restriction of protein foods (approximately 0.85 g of protein per kilogram of the patient's weight for a normosthenic body type). The amount of proteins is reduced by limiting the consumption of meat and fish products, beans and other legumes. Dairy products are allowed, but they should not make up more than half of all proteins consumed. The restriction also applies to the consumption of fatty foods (less than 1 g / kilogram of weight), especially those containing meat and cooking fat. It has been proven that such types of fats prevent the excretion of uric acid by the urinary system. Preference is given to vegetable oils, which facilitate the course of metabolic processes, especially when the pathology is combined with hypertension, obesity, atherosclerotic changes in blood vessels.
- Exclusion of dishes and food products with a high content of purines (the list of products will be given below) and oxalic acid. Meat and fish products are consumed only occasionally, and only boiled, because during boiling most of the purines remain in the broth. For this reason, any broths or sauces based on them are prohibited.
- In order for uric acid to be excreted from the body better and faster, it is necessary to establish a drinking regime. If there is no tendency to edema (heart or kidney diseases), it is recommended to drink at least 2 liters of water per day, preferably in the first half of the day. As a rule, the peak of the increase in uric acid in the blood falls at the time of dehydration of the body: as a result of too hot weather, visiting a bathhouse, etc. You can drink clean drinking water, as well as freshly squeezed juices (vegetable and citrus), whole milk and kefir, mineral water (alkaline), diuretic infusions and rosehip tea. To increase the volume of excreted urine, you should limit the amount of salt consumed (up to 8.5 g / day), and also refuse canned foods, sausages, semi-finished products.
- Elimination of alcoholic and alcohol-containing drinks, including beer and dry wines. It has been proven that a crisis increase in uric acid in the body occurs even with a single consumption of a fatty, dense lunch accompanied by alcohol.
- Once every 7 days, you should have a fasting day, mainly dairy or vegetable. A good effect is given by fasting on freshly squeezed fruit, vegetable or berry juices. Complete starvation is not recommended: during starvation, active breakdown of complex proteins occurs, which leads to an increase in the amount of uric acid in the bloodstream.
- If the increase in uric acid occurs against the background of obesity, then nutrition should also be aimed at reducing excess weight. In such a situation, the emphasis is on a sharp limitation of meat and fish products, giving preference to milk and fermented milk products. Weight loss should not be abrupt - optimally from one to one and a half kilograms per week.
- If the increase in uric acid occurs against the background of nephropathy, then the diet is structured in accordance with the dietary principles recommended for kidney diseases.
To reduce the level of uric acid, a therapeutic diet close to diet No. 6 is prescribed. In case of a tendency to obesity, diet No. 6e with a reduced daily calorie content is recommended.
Sample menu for elevated uric acid
Following the rules of nutrition and an approximate menu for elevated uric acid will help normalize the body's condition. Let's look at a therapeutic diet for one day, which is recommended to be followed for a week.
Breakfast
- A glass of milk or any fermented milk drink.
- Croutons fried in olive oil or bran.
Snack
- Low-fat yogurt.
- An apple or a couple of orange slices.
Dinner
- Boiled rice with fresh vegetables or salad.
- Lean boiled meat.
- Fruits.
Snack
- Tea or juice.
- Some biscuits.
Dinner
- Carrot or zucchini puree.
- Fried eggs in olive oil.
- Yogurt.
Infusions and decoctions from traditional medicine recipes will help to lower the level and remove uric acid from the body.
- Pour boiling water over the lingonberry leaves and let them steep for 30-40 minutes. It is recommended to take the infusion one tablespoon before each meal.
- A decoction of birch leaves infused in boiling water is another useful remedy for elevated uric acid. The decoction should be taken 50 grams during meals.
We present to your attention a weekly version of a sample menu for a diet for high uric acid.
Day 1
- Breakfast: weak brewed coffee with cream, toasted bread with orange jam.
- Snack: yogurt.
- Lunch: cabbage soup with fresh cabbage, fried potatoes, weak tea.
- Afternoon snack: a cup of milk, a rusk.
- Dinner: stewed zucchini with carrots, scrambled eggs, kefir.
Day II
- Breakfast: tea with lemon, cheesecakes.
- Snack: banana.
- Lunch: potato soup, vegetarian cabbage rolls, oatmeal jelly.
- Afternoon snack: fruit salad.
- Dinner: vinaigrette, cheese sandwich, dried fruit compote.
Day III
- Breakfast: cottage cheese with sour cream and dried fruits, rosehip tea.
- Snack: apple.
- Lunch: milk soup, barley garnish with a piece of boiled chicken breast, currant juice.
- Afternoon snack: fermented baked milk, rusk with apricot jam.
- Dinner: vegetable stew, compote.
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Day IV
- Breakfast: omelette with herbs, Borodino bread, glass of orange juice.
- Snack: a handful of nuts.
- Lunch: okroshka, rice casserole, fruit jelly.
- Afternoon snack: fruit salad.
- Dinner: potatoes stuffed with vegetables, green tea.
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Day 5
- Breakfast: soft-boiled egg, nalistnik with cottage cheese, tea with milk.
- Snack: orange.
- Lunch: noodle soup, potato casserole, compote.
- Afternoon snack: fruit mousse.
- Dinner: carrot cutlets with sour cream, a cup of fermented baked milk.
Day 6
- Breakfast: oatmeal with milk, freshly squeezed carrot juice.
- Snack: baked apple with cottage cheese.
- Lunch: buckwheat soup, boiled fish fillet with mashed potatoes, herbal tea.
- Afternoon snack: cottage cheese with honey.
- Dinner: vegetable salad, cheese platter, compote.
Day VII
- Breakfast: dark flour pancakes with jam, tea with milk.
- Snack: grapefruit.
- Lunch: vegetarian borscht, potato meatballs with sour cream sauce and herbs, tea with lemon.
- Afternoon snack: pear.
- Dinner: lazy dumplings with cottage cheese, jelly.
Between meals it is recommended to drink a glass of water, possibly alkaline carbonated water. At night - a cup of kefir, unsweetened yogurt or milk.
Diet recipes for high uric acid
Vegetarian cabbage rolls
Ingredients: white cabbage, 150 g rice, 2 carrots, 200 g Adyghe cheese, 50-70 g nuts, dill, 30 g butter, salt, bay leaf, some raisins, tomato sauce (or pureed tomatoes).
Place the cabbage without the stalk in salted boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes (depending on the ripeness of the cabbage). Remove from heat, take out of boiling water, cool, remove the leaves. Cut off the dense veins from the leaves (do not throw them away). Cook the salted rice. Grate the carrots, cut the cheese into small cubes, chop the nuts. Finely chop the trimmed cabbage veins and unused leaves.
Place nuts and carrots in a frying pan with heated sunflower oil. After a few minutes of stewing, add cheese. After 4 minutes, add finely chopped cabbage, salt and stir. Next, add boiled rice and chopped dill, remove from heat. Add washed raisins to the filling, knead. Stuff the cabbage leaves.
Put a few pieces of butter in a saucepan, place the cabbage rolls (seams down), pour in tomato sauce and add a little bay leaf. Wait until it boils, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to minimum. Simmer for 45-60 minutes (depending on the type and age of the cabbage and the size of the cabbage rolls).
If desired, you can add onions, garlic, eggplants, etc. to the filling.
Potato and pumpkin stew
Ingredients: 2 potatoes, 200-300 g pumpkin, 1 carrot, salt, parsley leaves, olive oil.
Peel the potatoes and pumpkin and cut into random cubes. Fry in vegetable oil in a frying pan without a lid, stirring occasionally. Randomly chop the carrots, add to the potatoes. Fry on low heat for 10 minutes. Salt, add parsley, check the potatoes for readiness. If ready, you can serve. Simple and delicious.
Grilled vegetables
Ingredients: 2 eggplants, 2 bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, 2 Yalta onions, 2 cloves of garlic, thyme, cilantro and parsley leaves, vegetable oil.
Grill the eggplants and peppers, cut into circles or strips, until soft. Blanch the tomatoes, chop them together with the onion, and mix with the eggplants and bell peppers. Season with dressing: mix sunflower oil with crushed garlic, finely chopped herbs, and salt. Enjoy!
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Buckwheat cutlets
Ingredients for the dish: 150 g buckwheat, 1 medium onion, 3 cups flour (200 ml each), salt to taste, 1 egg (raw), breadcrumbs, vegetable oil.
Boil buckwheat, finely chop the onion and fry, add to the boiled buckwheat. Add flour and salt. Knead. Cool the mixture and add the egg, mix again. Form cutlets, roll in breadcrumbs and fry. Enjoy!
What foods can you eat?
What foods can you eat with elevated uric acid is a question that interests people who are new to this disease. The diet should include a lot of fermented milk products, lean poultry, meat and fish, but only boiled. It is also recommended to eat egg dishes, but no more than two per day. A diet with cereals with a small addition of vegetable and butter will be useful.
As for flour products, the diet for high uric acid allows you to eat ground bran, wheat and rye bread, but not in large quantities. Vegetables and dishes made from them can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Vegetable soups will be useful. For desserts, you can eat fruits, dried fruits, fermented milk products, berry compotes and kissels. As for drinks, preference should be given to juices, coffee with milk, herbal infusions, compotes, green tea. We offer you a short list of products that you can eat while following a therapeutic diet:
- Seafood, rabbit, chicken, turkey, fish.
- Eggs, milk, fermented milk drinks.
- Pasta and cereals in small quantities.
- Any vegetables, in any form and quantity.
- Jam, honey, dried fruits (raisins are prohibited), nuts.
- Juices (fruit and vegetable), teas, decoctions, compotes, infusions, mineral waters, low-mineralized (alkaline) waters.
- Apples, citrus fruits, berries (raspberries are prohibited) and any other fruits.
- Oil (sunflower, flaxseed, sesame, olive).
- Sweets: fruit mousses and creams, marmalade, jelly, kissels, honey, preserves and jams.
- Gravies and sauces: only vegetable or sour cream and milk.
- Spices: vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice, bay leaf.
- Greens: parsley, dill, cilantro.
- Liquids: weak tea, freshly squeezed juices, milk, rosehip tea, compotes.
What foods should you not eat?
If you are busy making a diet to lower the level of uric acid in the body, it will be useful to know what foods you cannot eat. First of all, you need to give up sausages, liver, smoked or fried fish, as well as canned fish and meat. You cannot eat meat broths, pickles and hot sauces.
Strong alcoholic drinks and teas are prohibited during a diet for high uric acid. You can't eat pastries and baked goods made from puff pastry either. You should be careful when eating mushroom dishes, sorrel and cauliflower (if possible, give up these vegetables). In addition to the rules of nutrition, you need to have fasting days. During such days, you can drink milk, fruits and vegetables. Only a nutritionist or your doctor can tell you exactly which foods are prohibited for consumption.
Reviews of diet for high uric acid
The vast majority of patients report a significant improvement in their condition with proper nutritional adjustments. Gout sufferers claim that, thanks to changes in nutrition, relapses of the disease have become less intense and occur significantly less frequently, and the need for medications has decreased.
Unfortunately, gout cannot be cured completely. However, the patient himself can control the course of the disease by reducing the number and intensity of attacks, as well as reducing the content of uric acid in the bloodstream. To normalize the amount of the final product of purine processes in the blood, the diet must be properly balanced. Under no circumstances is it recommended to allow either overeating or fasting, however, fasting days are welcome:
- unloading on dairy products (1.5 liters of kefir, or milk, or low-fat fermented baked milk per day; you can combine 1 liter of kefir or milk and 300-400 g of low-fat cottage cheese);
- vegetable unloading (1.5 kg of cucumbers per day, or other permitted vegetables);
- fruit unloading (1.5 kg of fruit, preferably citrus or apples, per day);
- fasting day on watermelons.
Practice shows that a diet for high uric acid is the main condition for successfully combating the pathology. Review your diet, and you will forget about the disease for a long time, and also protect your kidneys from complications of gout.
A diet for elevated uric acid is a simple and accessible way to bring the body back to normal. Following a diet and proper nutrition rules in combination with medications and physiotherapy is the key to health.