I wrote my personal opinion on gout and alcohol a few months ago. I’ve enjoyed reasonable, and occasionally excessive, amounts of wine and beer since, and my opinion is unchanged. However, I must point out that this is my personal experience, and will not apply to all gout sufferers.
I think I need to do an in-depth article on alcohol and gout. I’ll put it on the list of things to do. Or maybe on the list of things to put on the list :-)
It is actually very confusing, but I fall back on my old maxim – each to their own gout.
Gout is a very complicated disease, caused by different factors. If you combine this with the fact that no individual food item (including drinks) is as important as total diet, then it’s easy to see why there are no simple answers.
As an overweight gout sufferer, I believe that my weight is the cause of my gout. Yes, alcohol contributes to weight gain, but I do not believe it directly makes my gout worse. In fact, as long as I remember to keep hydrated, I feel better after a drink. I am not condoning excessive alcohol consumption – my own or anyone else’s – but here is the place for gout opinions, and that is mine.
For a gout patient whose primary cause of gout is due to kidney problems then the picture is probably very different. It is vital that all gout sufferers have kidney function tests.
Beyond that, there are other things to consider. Do the health properties of red wine outweigh the effects of alcohol? At what point does alcohol stop being beneficial? Is there any point comparing different types of alcohol?
I think it’s too easy to get obsessed with these questions and forget that the best thing for gout is a healthy balanced diet and a healthy, happy lifestyle. Drinking too much or stressing over pleasures deemed to be forbidden will not contribute to those goals.
I will continue to report news on gout and alcohol as I get it. In the meantime, if you have some alcohol related questions or opinions, why not talk about them on your gout forum?
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Hi There,
I’ve had gout flare ups for many years since I hit my thirties, but I’m in a job that requires a lot of client entertainment and that means a lot of social drinking, most of it not excessive. For me, and I stress just for me, I’ve found that wine and what we Brits call cider (I believe in the states this is called hard cider,) doesn’t really act as a gout trigger, though excessive drinking and the subsequent dehydration has made a minor flare up much worse. For me I’ve found that I can get away with moderate drinking and sometimes excessive if I keep hydrated between attacks without it being causing an attack.
I firmly believe that the triggers for gout are different for everyone, and do get rather frustrated by the ‘one size fits all’ approach that most advice on gout seems to suggest.
I could not agree more, Robert.
Isn’t it strange how excess alcohol consumption becomes a Very Bad Thing, but excess iron consumption, which is probably much worse for our health, is positively encouraged.
Reminds me of the bloke who walked into a bar.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed.
I am a regular beer drinker, sometimes wine. In my own case, I do find it to be a significant trigger to attacks. This is likely due to my lack of hydration. (Pretty hard to remember to drink water if one is full of beer).
One of the worst mistakes I made was to try to have a beer or two to ease the pain of the first attack, before I knew what gout was about. Wow! Did that hurt!
I love red meat, but cannot attribute meats to my most severe cases.
Thanks for this section.
I am extremely interested in this topic, I am a drinker with a sailing problem. I have heard that in some distant foregin land inhabited by a primitive race, untouched by modern world, they do their boating alcohol free, but I believe they are headed for extinction and this is very likely the cause! Seriously, there are few things I enjoy as much as the first few dozen beers on a hot summers Friday afternoon at the boat.
I, through a cruel twist of fate was in the early stages of my first serious attack, and happened to drink 4-6 beers at a Xmas party(I really hardly ever drink out of boating season so the timing of this was spectacular). It was everything I have read about the pain of gout, and of course I had no idea of what was happening, likely one of the, if not the worst night of my life. Anyway I have this horrible pain associated with my beer now, so I read with great intent every spec of info on gout. To read these heartless, clinical types simply say that alcohol should be avoided as if it meant nothing, I have to ask where do these people come from?
I have been with gout for about tens years and every year the number of attacks increased, so I finally had the toe drained of fluid to be tested. Yes, gout. I have been on medication for 6 weeks and still had an attack even with diet modification. This last attack was after having the flu and getting dehydrated and celebrating valentine’s
day and the day after with two large glass of red wine at each meal. This attact went to my ankle with had never happened before. I am not sure which problem caused the attack so I plan on no alcohol for 2 months and hopefully no flu or colds.
I have been having issues with gout for tens years. I finally had my toe drained for testing and yes GOUT. I have been on medications for 6 wekks and still had an attack. I had the flu and came dehydrated and celebrated valentine’s day and the day after with 2 large glasses of wine at each meal. The attack went to my ankle which was a first. I have modified my diet and will now have no alcohol for 2 months and hopefully no flu or cold and we will advise.
I have never been a heavy drinker, other than the occasional “social” drink of a beer, or wine… for years now. I hate the “hang over” feeling next morning!, sohave kept my drinking very limited to rarely more than a glass or two in a week or sometimes months… Therefore I would conclude that alcolhol intake was not a contributor to my recent first out break. (two months now). I am not too overweight either…perhaps 5 lbs or so. It has to be the food that caused the gout!?
My beverage in take is Coffee in the morning, then water or juice & tea after lunch or the evenings, rarely pop (soda) of any kind.
Not necessarily. Kidney malfunction from disease, or more commonly genetics, is more likely.
Of course, it depends on your definition of overweight. Low-normal BMI is optimal to avoid gout. Those figures are certainly not average for my peer group. I can only think of 2 friends who are the equivalent of 140 pounds at six feet high. Neither has gout.
I have had gout for about 5 years. I was a bar manager for much of the last ten+ years, and so my drinking level was probably in the 99.99 percentile. Often times eight days a week. Indomethicin usually cleared the pain in a day, but I had no idea that the crystallization was still happening until I saw this site. In the last 10 weeks, I have not had one single drink, little red meat and fish, have lost 18 pounds on a 6 foot 204 lb frame. I am not overweight, I drink only water except for an occassional soda. I had some prime rib last night and I am having an attack today. What in the world is going on? Grapes, water, strawberries are in my regular diet, with no alcohol. Why is this attack happening?
Hopefully, it’s happening because you are getting better! See my explanation of how fixing your gout can cause pain at first – but then it gets better.
The key to managing your gout is to manage uric acid first, and pain second. This is true whether you are trying to manage gout by medication, diet or some other alternative.
At all times – know your uric acid number.
thanks for this great read i enjoyed it
That’s great – thank you.
We have discussed gout and alcohol again more recently in the gout forum. Why not add your experiences and opinions there?
This topic is getting quite old now, so I think we need something new about alcohol and gout.
Please share your thoughts, questions and experiences in the gout diet forum. You can add to an existing discussion, or start a new topic. I’m interested whether you think alcohol causes gout, if you think alcohol does not cause gout, or if you do not know, and you are just looking for answers.
Please see the gout forum guidelines before posting.