Korean researchers suggest your morning brew, midday latté or post dinner espresso could be the key to reducing the risk of gout.
The research entitled ‘Effects of Coffee Consumption on Serum Uric Acid,’ led by a team of Korean researchers published online in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism on January 20, 2016, reviewed nine studies between 1999 and 2014 to see if there was any link between coffee and its influence on serum uric acid.
Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis, more commonly affecting adult men, and is triggered by the crystallisation of uric acid (a product of food breakdown excreted in urine) that builds up in joints or surrounding tissue, causing sudden intense swelling and pain.1,2
The authors of a recently published online article entitled ‘Coffee Has a Positive Influence on Gout Risk’, commented that the Korean study, suggests moderate coffee intake is recommended for both men and women as a key measure to prevent high build up of uric acid.
The research also showed women who drank four to six cups of coffee a day and men who drank one to three cups of coffee daily experienced lower levels of uric acid.
Although the new research study didn’t explain why coffee has this impact, previous research ‘Coffee Consumption May Lower Blood Uric Acid Levels – The Precursor of Gout’, suggests coffee intake is associated with l, higher insulin levels. As there is a link between high levels of insulin and high uric acid levels, researchers are suggesting decreased insulin and uric acid levels experienced by drinking coffee, may help reduce the risk of developing gout.
So, for the sake of your health, pick up your phone and organise a coffee date!
1. Fight back against gout. Harvard Health Publications, 2016. Available at: http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/fight-back-against-gout. [Last Accessed February 3, 2016].
2. Doherty, M., New insights into the epidemiology of gout. 2009. Available at http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/content/48/suppl_2/ii2.full. [Last Accessed February 3, 2016].