The habit of consuming alcohol and seafood is a combination that can be detrimental to people at risk or suffering from gout. When the body receives a lot of purines from food, the metabolism will create uric acid. Meanwhile, alcohol affects the kidneys’ ability to process and excrete uric acid, and can promote an increase in the concentration of this substance in the blood.
In other words, a meal rich in seafood and alcohol can cause the body to face two factors at the same time: more raw materials that increase uric acid, while the ability to remove uric acid is limited. If this condition occurs in a person who already has high uric acid levels, the risk of losing control of the disease is even more of a concern.
This condition is even more noticeable if the eating habit lasts for many days. When uric acid levels are continuously high, urate crystals can accumulate in the joints and trigger an inflammatory response, causing the pain, swelling and redness characteristic of gout. For people with a medical history, continuous fun with seafood and alcohol can become a trigger for an acute gout attack.
Not only gout, eating too much and using alcohol regularly can also cause digestive problems such as bloating, indigestion, stomach pain or diarrhea. If prolonged, a high-protein diet combined with alcoholic beverages is not beneficial for weight control, metabolism and overall health.
In general, eating too much of one type of food is not good or drinking too much alcohol is warned by many experts to be harmful to health. People can eat seafood in moderation and avoid eating too much at one time. The diet needs to be diverse, balanced and ensure all groups of substances necessary for the body. Seafood, meat and protein-rich foods can still appear in the diet in appropriate amounts, instead of being completely eliminated. Maintaining regular exercise during the holidays is also important. Choosing forms of exercise that suit your body type and drinking enough water can support overall metabolic health.