Three Healthy Salads for Gout Sufferers

How to Eat More Vegetables

When you have gout, something in your diet is way out of balance. In many people, it comes down to learning how to eat more vegetables.

You can change all that by simply working a big salad into at least one meal a day for a few weeks, and then increasing it to one for lunch and dinner daily. The difference you feel in your body will be quite amazing, and you will start to notice fewer and fewer gout attacks. The more vegetables and fruits you eat, the more various ways your body can decrease the uric acid levels that are associated with gout.

Here are a few different healthy salads and salad meals that might tempt you to start eating salads right away:

Lime Marinated Salmon Salad Meal

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound salmon steaks, cooked with the juice of 3 limes
• 4 cups spinach
• 1 head Romaine lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 leaves kale, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 red potatoes, boiled
• ¼ cup buckwheat or other sprouts
• 2 ounces olive oil
• 1 stalk broccoli, cut into florets
• 8 asparagus spears, diced
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds

Directions:

1. In a large salad bowl, add lettuce, kale and spinach. Toss.
2. Add broccoli, diced asparagus, carrots, and pomegranate seeds.
3. Toss. Add the red potatoes and salmon on top of the vegetables.
4. An additional salad dressing is optional.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Yield: 4 servings (14 servings vegetables)

Ingredients:

• 1 head red leaf lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• 3 kale leaves, sliced
• 1 bunch radishes, sliced
• 1 hot pepper, diced and de-seeded
• 1 lemon cucumber (or regular cucumber), sliced
• 12 grape or cherry tomatoes

Dressing for the salad (or use your own):

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add all the greens – the lettuce, kale and spinach leaves. Toss.
2. In a separate bowl or blender, mix ingredients for the salad dressing. Blend for 15 seconds.
3. Add the radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries to the salad. Toss again.
4. Drizzle the salad dressing on top, then toss lightly.
5. Add the eggs and walnuts on top of the salad as garnish. Serve.

You can add protein to this salad and make it into a complete meal.

Watercress Avocado Pineapple Salad

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches watercress, chopped
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ½ cup pineapple chunks
• ½ cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• ½ cup parsley, chopped finely
• ½ cup sprouts, any type except bean sprouts
• 1 cup lentils, cooked

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add the chopped watercress, sprouts, celery, and parsley. Toss.
2. Add the lentils and avocado. Toss lightly.
3. Add the pineapple chunks and juice. Toss lightly and serve along with full meal.

High vitamin C foods such as pineapple, strawberries and citrus fruits are extremely helpful in neutralizing the uric acid found in gout.

Well, now you know how to eat more vegetables! Making salads is easy to master. Just get busy – and put those gout attacks behind you!