Should I Drink Lots Of Water
Dehydration may be a risk factor for gout although this is not well proven in research. Drinking 1 1.5 litres of fluids a day is recommended for general health benefits. However if you are taking diuretics or have heart or kidney problems, talk to your doctor about the right amount of fluids for you to drink.
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All Alcohol Even Wine Raises Risk Of Gout Flare
By Ronnie Cohen, Reuters Health
5 Min Read
NEW YORK – Bad news for gout sufferers who enjoy drinking the fruit of the vine – new research finds that all types of alcohol, even previously exempt wine, can bring on attacks of the painful condition.
I dont want to sound too dogmatic and say, You must stop drinking, lead author Dr. Tuhina Neogi told Reuters Health. But, the Boston University rheumatologist said, based on this study, I would counsel patients that any type of alcohol may trigger an attack.
Its not just beer or hard liquor that can trigger attacks, but also wine, she said.
Gout is a potentially debilitating form of arthritis that afflicts more than 8 million American adults, and the number is rising, Neogis team writes in The American Journal of Medicine.
The so-called disease of kings causes joints to swell and redden. It most often strikes overweight mens big toes but also claims feet, ankles, knees, hands and wrists. A link between intoxicating beverages and gout has been suspected since ancient times.
A 2004 landmark study of more than 47,000 men found that drinking beer and hard liquor – but not wine – increased the risk of developing gout.
Neither has wine been shown in other studies to bring on attacks in people who already have gout, the way beer and liquor have.
Nonetheless, Neogi said, some of her patients report they cant even sniff wine without having a gout attack.
Servings Of Wine For Gout Patients
Wine and gout attacks are related based on how severe the affection is and how much wine you actually have. From this point of view, a single serving of wine whether straight or mixed over 24 hours will not necessarily harm you. Of course, it will increase the overall risk, but a serving is insignificant. On the other hand, having a serving every 24 hours may not be the best idea, as the body will keep receiving a trigger.
Furthermore, having up to two servings within 24 hours will increase the risk of a gout attack by 36%. Have three or four servings and the risk will go up to 50%. As you have probably guessed already, the more wine you have, the more risks you expose yourself to. It makes no difference what type of wine it is or how strong it is.
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Is There Any Links Between Osteoarthritis And Diet
Q) I would like to know whether any research findings suggest links between osteoarthritis and diet. I am a 66-year-old active retired teacher. I had a total hip replacement in August 2011 and have recovered well. My surgeon has told me that it is likely I will require another hip replacement on the other hip in about five years although at present I am not experiencing any hip pain. I hope that exercise, weight control and sensible eating plus supplements such as glucosamine and fish oil will help to slow the progression of the disease. What does the latest medical research say about nutritional therapy which claims that avoidance of specific foods that cause food sensitivities can relieve the pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis? To put it simply, can food heal me?
This answer was provided by Dr Philip Helliwell in 2013, and was correct at the time of publication.
Soft Drinks And Gout Risk
Several studies have found an increased gout risk from sugar-sweetened drinks. This link has been found in both men and women. One large study found that just one sugar-sweetened drink per day doubled a woman’s risk of developing gout compared with women who had less than one sugar-sweetened drink per month. “Studies show that sugar-sweetened drinks and fruit juices are associated with an increased incidence of gout attacks. Interestingly, these studies show that diet soda intake is not related to increased frequency of gout attacks,” says Sloane.
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About Our Arthritis Specialist
A/Prof Leong Keng Hong is a senior consultant Rheumatologist at Gleneagles Medical Centre and Adjunct Associate Professor, Yong Yoo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. He founded the Osteoporosis Society in 1996 and served as its President until 2004. He was also the Inaugural Chairman of the Chapter of Rheumatologists, College of Physicians, Academy of Medicine, Singapore from 2004-2007 and its current Chairman until 2013.
Foods Ok To Eat With Gout
- Purine-rich veggies like beans or lentils, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, peas or mushrooms
- Cherries, especially fresh cherries not packed in sugary syrup, or fresh cherry juice.Note: Cherry juice is a popular alternative therapy for gout management, but its not clear whether or not drinking cherry juice helps gout. In some research on healthy volunteers, cherry juice mildly lowered urate levels, but it failed to lower urate levels in people with gout. Even strong proponents of cherry juice acknowledge that its effects on urate level are small, so cherry juice does not replace a medication to lower your urate.
- Moderate amounts of coffee
- Vitamin C, preferably in fresh, whole fruits, but ask your doctor if you should take a supplement
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What Foods Should You Eat
Although a gout-friendly diet eliminates many foods, there are still plenty of low-purine foods you can enjoy.
Foods are considered low-purine when they have less than 100 mg of purines per 3.5 ounces .
Here are some low-purine foods that are generally safe for people with gout (20,
- Fruits: All fruits are generally fine for gout. Cherries may even help prevent attacks by lowering uric acid levels and reducing inflammation (
- Vegetables: All vegetables are fine, including potatoes, peas, mushrooms, eggplants and dark green leafy vegetables.
- Legumes: All legumes are fine, including lentils, beans, soybeans and tofu.
- Nuts: All nuts and seeds.
- Whole grains: These include oats, brown rice and barley.
- Dairy products: All dairy is safe, but low-fat dairy appears to be especially beneficial (
The Link Between Gout And Alcohol
The link between gout and alcohol has long been assumed with doctors advising their gout patients to stay away from the beverage. Drinking alcohol regularly can cause some serious repercussions to gout sufferers, especially those who drink beer.
Due to indulgent lifestyles becoming more common, the number of gout cases over the years have increased too.
Beer
If beer is your alcohol of choice, consider lowering your intake as soon as possible.
Its been strongly associated with gout attacks as not only does it contain alcohol but it also has the highest level of purines than any other alcoholic beveragesomething that your doctor told you is the probable cause of your gout. Its also very high in brewers yeast which is known to worsen gout pain.
In one study, they found that patients who consumed a 12-ounce serving of beer per day were almost two times more likely to have gout compared to those who dont drink alcohol.
Another extensive study found that two to four beers a week increased ones chances of developing gout by 25 percent. The more beer they drank, the more likely they were to suffer from a gout attack. Too much alcohol increases uric acid production and makes it difficult for the body to get rid of.
Hard Liquors
Hard liquors have the same effect though not as severe. Spirits like vodka and whiskey raise the risk for a gout attack but only half as much as beer.
Wine drinkers are not safe either.
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Should I Take Calcium And Vitamin D Supplements
Q) I once was told the hard, arthritic lumps on my finger joints were caused by excess calcium sediments hardening. Why then do I take recommended calcium and vitamin D tablets? Wouldn’t this give me even more calcium in my body? Should I take them or not?
I’m 72 and have hip, knee, hands and feet problems but otherwise very healthy and happy.
Joyce – 2018
A) The lumps on your finger joints are called Heberdens nodes and usually affect the joints closest to the ends of the fingers . Heberdens nodes are caused by growth of bony spurs from the joint surface called osteophytes. They can happen when a joint is affected by osteoarthritis.
Heberdens nodes arent caused by an excess of calcium and vitamin D. Supplements of calcium and vitamin D are usually used to help keep the bones strong and prevent fractures, but if youre not clear why you’re taking these supplements it’d be a good idea to ask your GP or pharmacist for help in making a decision about whether or not it would be beneficial for you to keep taking them.
This answer was provided by Dr Tom Margham in 2018, and was correct at the time of publication.
Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar
ACV does have many general benefits. They include the following:
- Components of apple cider vinegar include acetic acid, potassium, vitamins, mineral salts, amino acids, and other healthy organic acids.
- A study in
- found that apple cider vinegar helped protect rats from obesity-related problems like high blood cholesterol and high blood glucose.
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Gout & Alcohol: Why It Matters
You wont necessarily have to give up alcoholic beverages if youre diagnosed with gout. Why does alcohol intake matter at all? Some people who drink a lot of alcohol never get gout. Alcohol can increase levels of uric acid in your body. So it can be a strong cause of hyperuricemia and gout. Alcohol works to raise urate levels by decreasing how much urate your kidneys excrete. Beer has earned a reputation as being especially bad for gout, since it has this effect on your kidneys, but also because beer has its own proteins that are broken down to urate in the body. So drinking beer raises urate in two different ways.
Beer and liquor are especially linked to higher uric acid levels, and wine is linked to this as well. Moderate intake of alcohol is generally defined as two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. However, even moderate drinking on a regular basis is associated with a higher risk of recurring gout attacks.
You may be able to drink occasionally and not experience a gout flare, but regular drinking of any type of alcohol puts you at risk. Also, heavy or even regular moderate drinking adds calories to your daily intake. It can contribute to weight gain in some people .
While only you can decide how much, what or when to drink alcohol, your doctor and nurses can advise you on how to make these changes in a healthy way. Keep these thoughts in mind when you talk about drinking with your healthcare professionals:
Wine Implicated In Gout Flares
Beer and hard liquor have long been known to increase the risk of gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, but according to a 2014 study in The American Journal of Medicine, wine also can contribute to recurrent gout attacks.
Gout occurs when excess uric acid builds up around joints often in the big toe, but also in the feet, ankles, knees, wrists and elbows leading to episodes of intense pain, redness and swelling. It affects more than 8 million adults in the United States, and the numbers are rising sharply, due mainly to obesity and other lifestyle factors.
In the 2014 study, 724 gout patients completed questionnaires every few months as well as after gout attacks about their diet, medications, exercise and number of alcoholic drinks consumed. The researchers compared what a participant consumed on an average day to what that participant had consumed in the 24 hours before a gout attack. Researchers looked at the overall effect of alcohol on gout attacks as well as the individual effects of wine, beer and liquor, while taking diet and other factors into account.
Results showed that a single serving of wine, beer or liquor in a 24-hour period didnt significantly increase the chance of repeat gout attacks. But consuming more than one to two drinks a day did by 36%. With two to four drinks, the risk rose 50%, and it continued to rise with the amount of alcohol consumed.
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Red Wine Consumption Reduces Cardiovascular Risk
Studies have indicated that patients who have chronic inflammatory arthritis are at a high risk to be affected by cardiovascular events20.
Elderly patients with arthritis have a higher probability of developing atherosclerosis. It has been shown that inflammation plays an important role in the atherosclerotic process.
Rheumatoid arthritis increases cardiovascular disease risk by increasing oxidative stress and dysfunction of the endothelium .
The polyphenolic compounds present in red wine helps in reducing the development of heart diseases in healthy individuals.
Studies have shown that on the consumption of red wine the ratio of good cholesterol: bad cholesterol increased significantly. In patients with type 2, diabetes consumption of 150 ml/day of red wine decreased total cholesterol/High-density lipoprotein ratio.
What does this mean? This suggests that polyphenols of red wine have a significant role in lowering the risk of heart disease in arthritis.
What Is Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is made from fermented apple cider. Fresh apple cider is made from the juice of crushed and pressed apples. A two-step fermentation process turns it into vinegar.
First, yeast is added to speed up the natural fermentation process. During yeast fermentation, all the natural sugars in the cider turn into alcohol. Next, an acetic acid bacteria takes over and converts the alcohol into acetic acid, which is the main component of vinegar. The whole process can take several weeks.
This long fermentation process allows for the accumulation of a layer of slime composed of yeast and acetic acid. This goo is a collection of enzymes and protein molecules known as the mother of vinegar. In commercially produced vinegar, the mother is always filtered out. But the mother has special nutritional benefits. The only way to buy vinegar that still contains its mother is to buy raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar.
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Does Alcohol Cause Gout And Can You Drink With Gout
Anyone who has had the misfortune to suffer from a gout attack will tell you how excruciatingly painful it is, and it can be very difficult to treat. However, it is avoidable with a monitored diet. One question which comes up time and time again with regard to this is does alcohol cause gout?
To truly understand if alcohol causes gout, lets look at the condition itself.
Gout is a form or arthritis, tiny crystals form around the joints, in the hands and feet in particular. Swelling occurs, as does a great deal of discomfort.
A gout attack can come on suddenly, often overnight. The crystals are a by-product of uric acid, which is a chemical produced by the body to break down purines.
Foods such as offal, oily fish, seafood, game, yeast extract , as well as beer, stout and port, are all very high in purines, so if any of these are your tipple of choice, then the answer to does alcohol cause gout, is that it is probably a major factor.
There is some good news for beer drinkers though. Gout is becoming more and more common, and some people have labelled purines as the new gluten. So purine free, or low purine beers are starting to hit the market. It is also important to add, that if you enjoy beer, being susceptible to gout doesnt mean that you have to abstain completely. I must add that I say this from a personal view, not a medical one.
Ive spoken to many other gout victims in the past, and there is very much two camps of different opinion.
Best & Worst Types Of Alcohol For Gout
A study published in The American Journal of Medicine reported that the consumption of beer or spirits can increase ones risk for gout.7 A 12-year study conducted by Harvard Medical School assessed the potential differences in risk of gout posed by different alcoholic beverages. The researchers found that beer consumption conferred a larger risk than spirits, while wine consumption was not associated with a risk of gout.8
The risk of gout depends on the type of alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed, and the frequency of consumption. For example, one study determined that the consumption of 2 or more beers per day increases the risk of gout by more than 2.5 times.6
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What Should You Avoid Drinking With Gout
Alcohol should not be consumed during bouts of gout, and it should be limited between bouts, especially beer. You cant go wrong with sugary foods and drinks. Sugar-sweetened foods like sweetened cereals, baked goods, and candies should be consumed in moderation or avoided altogether. Fruit juices with natural sugars should be avoided.
Red Wine Prevents Cartilage Damage And Protects Bones
Bone mineral density was studied by a group of scientists in individuals who consumed red wine.
It was found that red wine prevents bone loss in older men. Resveratrol prevents bone loss and promotes bone metabolism.
It stops the synthesis of vascular endothelial growth factor that suppresses activation of kinases in osteoblasts . This is preventive for cartilage damage.
What does this mean? Red wine polyphenols prevent the progression of arthritis by inhibiting bone and cartilage loss. It can prove very useful in treating osteoarthritis.
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