In the moment
- Rest and raise the joint. Keep weight off it and prop it up. Many people find a tented sheet or a foot cradle helps overnight.
- Ice it. A cold pack wrapped in a cloth, applied for short stretches, can ease pain and swelling.
- Hydrate. Drink water steadily. Good hydration helps your kidneys clear uric acid and is easy to keep up.
- Start treatment early. The medications that actually shorten an attack, the anti-inflammatories your doctor recommends (NSAIDs, colchicine, or a corticosteroid), work best the sooner they are started. If you have a flare plan from your doctor, this is when you use it. (2020 ACR Gout Guideline)
What to eat during a flare
There's no special flare diet, and no food ends an attack. That's the medication's job, above. The useful rule is to avoid adding to the load while the joint settles: build meals from foods that grade A or B in a normal serving, keep drinking water, and save the big high-purine meals. The ACR guideline's food advice (limit alcohol, purine-rich foods and high-fructose corn syrup) applies regardless of disease activity, so it holds during a flare too. (2020 ACR Gout Guideline)
Protein
- Chicken Egg Grade A, about 0 mg purine per 50 g
- Yogurt Grade A, about 9 mg purine per 170 g
- Tofu (Kinu) Grade A, about 26 mg purine per 130 g
Starch
- Rolled Oats Grade A, about 18 mg purine per 40 g
- Potato Grade A, about 6 mg purine per 85 g
- White Pasta Grade A, about 10 mg purine per 140 g
Fruit and vegetables
- Sweet Cherries Grade B, about 24 mg purine per 140 g
- Strawberries Grade A, about 3 mg purine per 140 g
- Cucumber Grade A, about 8 mg purine per 85 g
- Carrots Grade A, about 2 mg purine per 85 g
Want a protein beyond eggs, dairy and tofu? See how much protein you can eat with gout. For drinks, water first, then the rest of what you can drink.
What to avoid right now
- Alcohol. It raises uric acid and can prolong an attack. See alcohol and gout for why beer is the worst offender.
- High-purine meals. A flare is not the moment for organ meats, shellfish, or a big steak. If you are unsure about a dish, run it through the Dish Decoder first.
- Sugary drinks. The fructose in regular soda raises uric acid, so water or a diet version is the safer call.
- Pressure on the joint. Tight shoes or socks on an inflamed toe make it worse.
Do not change your medication on your own
This is the big one. If you take a urate-lowering medicine like allopurinol or febuxostat, do not stop it or change the dose on your own during a flare. A sudden swing in uric acid can actually make an attack worse. Standard guidance is to keep taking what you are already on and call your doctor about managing the flare itself. Starting a urate-lowering medicine is a decision for you and your doctor, and it does not have to wait for the flare to pass: the ACR guideline says treatment may begin during a flare alongside anti-inflammatory cover. (2020 ACR Gout Guideline) If you are not on any treatment and you are getting repeated attacks, that is a conversation worth having: long-term, it is medication and weight that bring uric acid down to a safe level, not diet alone.
Will a diet change end the flare?
Not on its own, and not quickly. Diet is a long-term lever that lowers how often flares happen. It does not switch off an attack that has already started. Once a flare is underway it is managed with anti-inflammatory treatment and joint care. Cherries and good hydration are reasonable supportive habits with some evidence behind them for lowering future risk (Zhang et al. 2012), so they are fine to lean on, but treat them as part of the long game, not an emergency fix. You can read our honest take on what actually helps, including cherries.
When to see a doctor
See a clinician if this is your first attack, if flares keep coming back, or if a flare is not improving over a few days. Get urgent care if a hot, swollen joint comes with a fever or chills, because a joint infection can look like gout and needs to be ruled out quickly. A doctor can confirm it is gout, treat the attack, and set up a plan to prevent the next one.
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Sources
- 1. Source: FitzGerald JD, et al. 2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout. Arthritis Care Res. 2020;72(6):744–760.
- 2. Source: Qaseem A, et al. Management of Acute and Recurrent Gout: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166(1):58–68.
- 3. Source: Zhang Y, et al. Cherry consumption and decreased risk of recurrent gout attacks. Arthritis Rheum. 2012;64(12):4004–4011.
Values are per 100g unless a note says otherwise, rounded to three significant figures. Per-serving figures are calculated from the unrounded measurement, so recomputing from the rounded number can differ by a milligram or so. A single determination is normal in food composition tables, not a defect. The fructose figure is derived, not a label value: it counts free fructose plus half of sucrose, because sucrose is half fructose and the body treats both the same way. A sucrose-sweetened food therefore carries roughly twice this much total sugar.
Last reviewed August 11, 2026.
Once the flare passes: the gout diet · foods to avoid · what actually helps
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