Posted on September 2, 2008 in Latest News
Gout is another name for metabolic arthritis. As compared to other forms of arthritis gout or metabolic arthritis is the most painful. In case of gout the joints are affected due to the excess accumulation of uric acid crystals. Foods with high content of purine like organ meat, red meat and shellfish are suppose to worsen the gout. But to the surprise of researchers even sweetened soft drinks can worsen gout condition.
According to a latest research conducted by health professionals of Canada, sweetened soft drinks significantly increases the risk of gout. The research study was conducted on 46, 393 Canadian males. The research study lasted for 12 years and the individuals were asked to fill a detailed questionnaire regarding their diet and health every 4 year. By the end of the research study 755 men were reported to develop gout.
As compared to non sweet soda drinkers’ researchers found that the regular sweet soda drinkers are more likely to develop gout. During the research study researchers found that:
- The risk of gout was increased by 29% in individuals who drank 5-6 soft drinks in a week
- In case of individuals consuming 1 soft drink daily the gout risk increased by 45%.
- And lastly individuals consuming 2 or more sweet soda in day the gout risk were raised by 85%.
The research study also found that diet sodas don’t affect gout risk. The affect of soft drinks on joints is comparable to that of alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverage like beer can increase the gout risk by 49% per daily serving. Whereas daily serving of spirits increased the gout risk by 15%.
Expert Comments on the Research Finding:
Hyon K. Choi, MD, PhD from University of British Columbia said: “This is the first study and a very large one linking these commonly consumed products to this common disorder. We find that if you have high consumption of fructose your gout risk is doubled. And that is due to easily available sugary beverages.”
Chief of Rheumatology at Atlanta VA Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University, Karen Atkinson, MD, MPH was surprised by the research finding. She said: “It is a shock. Most of us think of purine-rich foods as those that increases gout risk because they feed directly into uric acid pathway. Certainly fructose processed by the liver can affect that pathway, but this is not what we usually think of.”
She further warned that even though the research study establishes a link between sweet soda and gout but that doesn’t means that cutting down the soda consumption will reduce the gout risk.
Since there are various factors causing gout hence diet cannot be solely blamed for gout condition. Hereditary and family history also plays an important role in the development of gout in an individual. Lastly Karen Atkinson said: “But most doctors would agree that high-fructose carbonated beverages don’t have any nutritional benefit. You don’t want to be pouring high-fructose soft drinks into your body.”
Source: Blame Sweet Soda for Gout?
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October 27th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Keep up the good work.