How To Use Folic Acid For Gout Relief And Prevention
Most of your folate consumption can be obtained through a balanced and nutritious diet. However, if you are unable to obtain the recommended amounts, then you can supplement with a capsule or tablet folic acid instead. The recommended amount of folic acid for adults Is 400 mcg daily. When taking folic acid independently, it is best to take it with a multivitamin or other B vitamins in order for the compound to be active.
Folic Acid Reduces The Gastric Side Effects Of Methotrexate
A study was conducted to study the efficacy of folic acid in reducing the gastrointestinal side effects caused by methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis.
There was a 79% decrease in the gastrointestinal toxicity in patients who received folic acid supplementation along with methotrexate.
This showed that folic acid has a positive effect in reducing the gastrointestinal side effects caused by methotrexate.
A study was conducted in which it was observed that fewer people suffered from stomach problems when they started taking folate supplementation along with methotrexate.
35 out of 100 people suffered from stomach problems when they took methotrexate alone, however, only 25 out of 100 people suffered from stomach problems when they took folic acid along with methotrexate.
In the same study, people were tested for the occurrence of mouth ulcers as a result of methotrexate treatment.
It was observed that 6 fewer people suffered from mouth ulcers when they took folic acid supplementation along with methotrexate.
What does this mean? Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are mostly treated with methotrexate which leads to gastrointestinal toxicity. Folic acid supplementation is given along with methotrexate to reduce the side effects caused by methotrexate.
Recommended Treatments For Managing Gout
1) Low-Purine Diet
As with all inflammatory conditions, nutrition is the first place to make changes. Always consult a trained professional for your specific needs, but you may find some of these suggestions a helpful starting place:
You can read more in our article Feeling Sore? Anti-Inflammatory Foods That Help.
2) Supplements
3) Reduce Consumption of Carbohydrates and Fructose
4) Drink Plenty of Water
You May Like: Allopurinol Side Effects Alcohol
Folic Acid Reduces The Toxicity Caused By Methotrexate
A study was conducted in which 2 doses of folic acid were used to see their effects on toxicity and efficacy of methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis.
At the end of the study, it was observed that the dose of folic acid did not affect the efficacy of methotrexate. Also, folic acid supplementation had reduced the overall toxicity scores in patients.
What does this mean? This means that folic acid is a safe supplement that can be used to protect rheumatoid arthritis patients taking methotrexate as it does not affect the efficacy of the drug and also reduces the overall toxicity caused by the drug.
Folic Acid Side Effects
Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction to folic acid: hives, rash, itching, skin redness wheezing, difficult breathing swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Common folic acid side effects may include:
-
nausea, loss of appetite
-
bitter or unpleasant taste in your mouth
-
confusion, trouble concentrating
Recommended Reading: Almond Good For Gout
Intense Big Toe Pain From Gout: A Classic Symptom Of An Attack
While the big toe is the most common place for a gout attack to happen, gout can also affect surrounding joints in the foot, ankle, and knee.
People with gout typically experience flare-ups, or attacks, of symptoms followed by periods with no symptoms. The attacks typically last 3 to 10 days. Some people go months or even years without a gout attack after having one. In other people, attacks may become more frequent over time.
Gout can be difficult to diagnose. Once its diagnosed, it can be treated with medication and lifestyle changes.
Vitamin B5 And The Stress Connection
Pantothenic acid is one of the vitamins involved in the conversion of uric acid which causes gout attacks. Vitamin C is another one. Pantothenic acid is one of the B vitamins . Its depleted when youre under a lot of stress as is vitamin C. Yet interestingly, doctors dont go beyond the thought that stress is one of the precipitating factors that causes a gout attack. Looking beyond stress as to what else happens when there is stress to find various deficiencies is the key to finding a solution.
Pantothenic acid isnt found in high amounts in any food. Its easily supplied by a pantothenic acid supplement. How much do you need? About 500 mg vitamin B5 is a good place to start, but you can take a lot more you could even take it four times a day when you have a gout attack. Its a B vitamin that is excreted through the urine if you have more than what your body can handle.
Read Also: Side Effects Of Allopurinol And Alcohol
An Expert’s Opinion On Why Eggs And Milk Are Actually Good For Gout
Written by Sandhya Raghavan | Updated : March 16, 2017 10:19 AM IST
Milk and eggs, two food items that are often believed to worsen gout, are actually good for you. When we talk about gout, words like uric acid and protein are often thrown around. Those suffering from gout may have heard a million times about why they need to stay off proteins and how it could be bad for them! It is frustrating indeed, especially when they have to hear, No eggs for breakfast! and Stay away from milk! every single day. A gout-friendly diet is already restrictive. A wide variety of Indian staples such as spinach and lentils are off limits. With such limited options, gout suffers often face the problem of finding satisfaction from meals. High satiety foods like milk and eggs always get a bad rap because they are good sources of protein, hence bad for gout.
What we need to know is that it is not the protein but the purine in these foods that make gout worse. To weigh in on this matter is expert Geeta Shenoy from Dietitian Geeta Shenoy’s Nutrition & Wellness Clinic, Chembur.
Eggs
Milk
Studies have proved that milk is, in fact, good for reducing uric acid levels in the blood, thus lowering the severity of gout. Milk also provides enough calcium for building their bone density and keeping uric acid at bay.
How many eggs and how much milk can you have per day?
References:
Journal of clinical epidemiology43
Image: Shutterstock
Does Folic Acid Lower Uric Acid
Find out if folic acid could be a possible treatment for gout.
Question:I have hadgoutfor more than 15 years with consistently high uric acid levels. Recently, however, I began taking 2 milligrams of folic acid daily, and I have since had two blood tests showing normal uric acid levels. What is the recent research concerning folic acid and gout?
Answer:High uric acid levels due either to excess production of uric acid or to abnormally low excretion of this waste product in the urine are what cause gout. In recent years there have been a few studies examining the effect of folic acid on uric acid production and excretion. These studies have shown that folic acid has no effect on uric acid levels.
It is interesting that in your case folic acid appears to have lowered gout uric acid, but appears may be the key word here. Is it possible you have made other changes that might have affected your gout uric acid level, such as switching medications for another health problem? I am glad your uric acid levels have stabilized, for whatever reason.
For the moment, I cannot recommend folic acid as a therapy for patients with gout, but it does appear that the issue should be studied further.
Jeffrey N. Katz, MD Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Don’t Miss: Is Onion Bad For Gout
Special Dietary Considerations For Gout
People who are diagnosed with hyperuricemia are encouraged to eat a healthy diet and consider the following:
- Moderate consumption of vegetables known to be high in purines, such as peas, asparagus, and oatmeal, does not seem to raise uric acid levels in the blood.8 Researchers suggest this variation may be due to their high fiber content.7
- Low fat or no-fat dairy products7,9 are low in purines and have an inverse relationship with hyperuricemia.
- Drinking plenty of water may aid in digestion and lower uric acid concentrations in the blood.
- Coffee and tea will not elevate uric acid levelsin fact, coffee may help lower uric acid levels.7,10
- Many people believe unsweetened tart cherries help prevent hyperuricemia and gout flares, and some research supports this idea.7,11–13
- Limited research suggests dietary supplements of vitamin C and folate may help treat or prevent hyperuricemia.10
In addition to lowering uric acid levels and reducing the risk of gout, a whole-foods, plant-based diet may lower overall levels of inflammation and reduce the risk of developing other types of arthritis.14,15 Healthy food choices may also decrease symptoms related to existing, chronic arthritis conditions.16–19
Read more about An Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Arthritis
Uric Acid Crystals Reduce Surface Levels Of Oat1 By Facilitating Its Internalization
To further investigate the detailed mechanism of how uric acid regulates OAT1 expression or trafficking, OAT1 stable expressing HEK cells were used and they were treated with or without MSU crystals for 24 h. The results demonstrated that treatment with MSU crystals resulted in a reduction in surface OAT1 levels however not in the total protein or mRNA levels . The internalized OAT1 levels were then measured, and it was identified that following treatment with MSU crystals, OAT1 internalization was increased . Notably, it was observed that treatment of HEK cells exposed to MSU with folic acid led to a reversal of these effects . Using confocal imaging it was also confirmed that although total OAT1 was not significantly altered , the reduction in surface expression levels corresponded with an increase in OAT1 internalization, while treatment with folic acid reversed this effect .
Read Also: Is Rice Good For Gout
Can You Drop 8 Pounds Weight Loss Helps Prevent Gout
If youre overweight, you are likely to have higher-than-normal uric acid levels, a primary risk factor for developing gout. Thats why weight loss is an important part of a gout diet.
Losing weight may help lower uric acid levels and reduce the risk that you will experience future gout attacks. In fact, a weight loss of about eight pounds or more led to long-term reductions in uric acid levels and gout attacks in overweight or obese people, according to a review of studies published in 2017 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
While some people with gout benefit from cutting back on foods that are high in purine, a chemical that contributes to uric acid formation, it is not clear how much purine intake makes a difference. You dont have to avoid all high-purine foods. Moderate changes to your eating style may help you feel better and reduce gout risks, and research suggests that purine-rich vegetables dont trigger gout. High-purine foods such as lentils and beans can be a smart source of lean protein.
Health Benefits Of Vitamin B9
Vitamin B9 benefits include preventing birth defects, preventing premature aging, preventing heart attacks. curing mental disorder and helping your body produce more red blood cells. Other benefits includes combating depression, acting as a coenzyme, supporting muscle build-up, combating free radicals, preventing cancer and aiding fertility.
Vitamin B9 or folic acid is required for DNA synthesis and for the metabolism of amino acids. It is primarily popular for its role in fetal health and development. Folic acid is highly recommended for preventing spinal cord defects and developing the nervous system of an unborn baby.
Don’t Miss: Almonds And Gout
Precautions With Folic Acid
Folic acid is generally safe to take, however, sometimes people can experience a few side effects like:
- Nausea
- Lack of concentration
- Numbness
Folic acid is an unstable compound which means that it can be easily destroyed by air, light, water, and light.
Therefore it is necessary to store the supplements in cold and a dry place.
Also, certain medicines interfere with the absorption of folic acid which can be harmful to the body.
Intake of folic acid should be avoided if you have an allergy if you have pernicious anemia or if you have metabolism problems.
Folic acid is an essential vitamin needed for the proper functioning of the body. Hence it is safe for most of the adults.
But still some minor considerations must be taken while administering the supplements in high amounts.
These precautionary measures are as follows:
Beware Of Researchers Conclusions
In one study on vitamin C and gout, 40 patients with gout were separated into two groups. Both groups received allopurinol, the standard drug for gout while one group of 20 patients also received a small dosage of vitamin C only 500 mg daily. However, the researchers did not find increased excretion of uric acid in the patients. They concluded that vitamin C doesnt necessarily help with gout however the same researchers found that those who have higher vitamin C levels have fewer gout attacks.
Reading research like this, you may easily give up and not take your vitamin C. However, dont give up, as vitamin C has many important functions in the body and youll always do better with it than without it.
There are many reasons why you shouldnt give up, and most are based on how the scientists ran the study. First of all, my personal view is that they did not give a high enough dosage of vitamin C. When we go to the real vitamin C experts, the Linus Pauling Institute, we find that a meta-analysis of 14 other studies did show that uric acid was decreased by a supplement of only 500 mg per day over 30 days in patients with gout.
Also Check: Is Tofu Good For Gout
When To See A Doctor
For many people, gout is a progressive disease. So you may start to notice more frequent flare-ups or more intense symptoms.
If you do, thats a good reason to call your doctor. Left untreated, gout attacks can eventually cause permanent damage to your joints.
Experiencing unpleasant or unusual side effects or not tolerating the side effects of the medicine youre taking are other good reasons to make an appointment with your doctor.
If you want to switch medications, try a new one, or add in a supplement, discuss that with your doctor too.
Csf Samples From Lnd And Control Individuals
A CSF sample was obtained in patients and control individuals via lumbar puncture, and aliquots were kept at 80 °C. CSF aliquots were thawed on ice and 100 L were centrifuged at 12,000 × g for 5 min at 4 °C. The supernatant obtained was transferred to a new tube, and 10 L PCA was added to obtain a final concentration of 0.1 N. The samples were kept on ice for 15 min, and then centrifuged at 12,000 × g for 5 min at 4 °C. The supernatant was neutralized with 5 M potassium carbonate and the samples were kept on ice for 15 min. The samples were clean by centrifugation at 10,000 × g for 10 min at 4 °C, and the supernatants were kept at 80 °C for HPLC determination. For HPLC assay the samples were thawed and filtered through a 0.22-µm spin filter by centrifugation at 5,000 × g for 5 min at 4 °C.
Don’t Miss: Gout And Tofu
Benefits Of Parsley For Gout
For those who are dealing with gout, parsley can have more specific benefits
The high level of chlorophyll in parsley, as well as the presence of minerals such as zinc, calcium, potassium, and magnesium, helps to ensure that your blood and body tissue pH does not get too far out of balance, i.e. too acidic.
Note: Your body needs to be slightly alkaline for general health. And this is even more important for gout sufferers because its more difficult for uric acid to crystallize in an alkaline environment.
Parsley is also a natural diuretic that can help your body to excrete any excess uric acid that has built up in your bloodstream, more effectively. This helps to promote kidney health and keeps your uric acid levels in check.
Eating parsley also reduces the likelihood of developing kidney stones and makes it easier to pass any that have started to grow: The diuretic effect of parsley helps to keep things flowing through your urinary tract so that kidney stones are excreted before they become too large.
Substances called apigenin and luteolin, which are found in parsley, have been shown to inhibit xanthine oxidase, which is an enzyme that helps to produce uric acid from purines. These also work as anti-inflammatories.
As you can see, the beneficial connection between parsley and gout potentially is a strong one. Add this herb to your diet to enjoy all the benefits. You can also get it as dried flakes, tea bags, and dietary supplements.
But dont go overboard