Red meat increases gout risk
A high intake of purine-rich meat (particularly red meats) and seafood significantly increases the risk of developing gout, while a high intake of dairy products, particularly low-fat dairy items, strongly protects against the painful joint condition.
A high intake of purine-rich meat (particularly red meats) and seafood significantly increases the risk of developing gout, while a high intake of dairy products, particularly low-fat dairy items, strongly protects against the painful joint condition.
A number of dietary factors have been suspected of causing gout since ancient times but never proven. Patients with gout have been typically advised to avoid habitual intake of purine-rich foods such as meats, seafood, purine-rich vegetables, and animal protein, although the relations have not been confirmed.
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston examined potential dietary risk factors for gout in 47,150 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. They used food-frequency questionnaires to assess diet every 4 years. Over a 12-year-period, 730 confirmed new cases of gout were documented among the participants in the study. The risk of gout was 41 percent higher for men with the highest meat consumption compared with those with the lowest intake. For seafood consumption, the risk was 51 percent higher. It was found that each additional daily serving of meat was associated with a 21 percent increase in the risk of gout, and each additional weekly serving of seafood was associated with a 7 percent increase in risk.
No increased risk, however, was seen with the consumption of purine-rich vegetables, which include peas, beans, mushrooms, cauliflower and spinach, or with overall protein intake. Increased consumption of low-fat dairy products, on the other hand, appeared to reduce the risk of gout -- by 44 percent for men with the highest consumption versus lowest intake. After taking into account these dietary component, other traditional risk factors had no effect - including being overweight, having high blood pressure, older age, alcohol use, use of diuretics, and chronic kidney failure, the team notes.
Dietary manipulation in conjunction with behavioural modification may have a much more substantial impact in reducing the risk of gout than currently perceived. Most patients with gout, however eventually require long-term medications to lower blood levels of uric acid.
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