The main cause of gout for most people is the food that they eat. Gout can be caused by kidney affections or by a genetic malfunctions too, but most of the patients have it because they eat a lot of food that causes gout. So the best way to prevent the painful gout attacks is to be informed on what are the types of food that cause gout and try to maintain a healthy diet.

The types of food that cause gout are the ones that are rich in chemicals called purines. After the body digests these foods the purines inside them turn into uric acid which is afterwards eliminated by the body through the kidneys. But if there's too much uric acid in the body not all of it can be 'processed' by the kidneys and a part of it gets in the blood. After some time it will start to crystallize into a hard shell into the joints and cause the gout attack. So if you eat low-purine food the uric acid will be slowly eliminated from the body and gout will go away.

The food that contains the largest amount of purines is red meat. Eating liver and brain will also raise your uric acid level. Some fish have purines in them and some vegetables too.

Here's a detailed list of foods that are known to cause gout: kidneys, brain, sardines, sweetbread, herring, gravy, spinach, asparagus, peas, sea food, mushrooms, eggs, and even hot-dogs.

As you may see there are both meat and vegetable foods with many purines in them. There also are drinks that may increase the uric acid. Among these you can find beer, carbonated drinks, coffee, black tea, and in general all drinks that contain alcohol. If you have been diagnosed with gout it's important to stop drinking alcohol.

Some of the ingredients that can be found in many foods form a lot of acid after digestion. These are: flour, sugar, chocolate, pasta, jelly and salt.

Many people that have been diagnose with gout continue to eat these foods and their illness persists, and so do the painful gout attacks. If you want to cure yourself you will have to take the prescribed medication and change your diet. If you do this your gout will surely go away.