Is pineapple a good addition to your gout diet?
Aaаh – the pineapple. The fruit that amazed Columbus way back to the year 1439, when he encountered it in Guadeloupe. Going back to Europe he called the newly discovered plant “pine of the Indians” (piña de Indes). And, for several centuries, this little “pine” was a symbol of wealth (because, you know, it was really hard to grow it in cold Europe and the expenses for this were quite big). Funny thing – the Europeans just enjoyed displaying it on their king tables, instead of eating it for quite a few decades.
So, it’s pretty hard to say the kings were treating the pineapples as a part of their daily diets. And they should! Pineapple is a little treasure chest, containing:
- quite a lot of water (86 / 100g) which is good for gout patients;
- dietary fibers 1.4 / 100g
- no fat (well ok, 0.12 / 100g. that is almost nothing);
- a lot of vitamins: Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), Pantothenic acid (B5), B6, Folate (B9), Choline and most important for gout suffering people – Vitamin C (whole 47.8 mg / 100g);
- a lot of minerals: Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorous, Zinc, Sodium, and Potassium – which is good for gout users.
To summarize: Due to the different good elements in a pineapple, it is counted as one of the several other fruits alongside cherries, watermelon, peaches, strawberries as a good addition to a gout diet that can help in reducing the gout flares and ease the gout symptoms over time. Potassium and Vitamin C, contained in high quantity in the pineapple will work well for gout flare reduction.
How to use. The above is considered to fresh fruit, and you shall always have in mind that we talk in our articles for moderate usage – e.g. a portion per day shall be considered a cup with chopped pineapple.
Important. Drinking pineapple juice that is packed and might have added sugar or fructose-glucose syrup will have the reverse effect. The same applies to conserved pineapples too. If you have uric acid reduction medication prescribed pineapple intake would not be able to replace it.