Why is beer high in purines

American College of Rheumatology. Mayo Clinic. Kaneko K, et al. Determination of purine contents of alcoholic beverages using high performance liquid chromatography. Biomedical Chromatography. Neogi T, et al. Alcohol quantity and type on risk of recurrent gout attacks: An internet-based case-crossover study.

The American Journal of Medicine. Towiwat P, et al. The association of vitamin C, alcohol, coffee, tea, milk and yogurt with uric acid and gout. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases. Wang M, et al. A meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and the risk of gout. Clinical Rheumatology. November CreakyJoints is a digital community for millions of arthritis patients and caregivers worldwide who seek education, support, advocacy, and patient-centered research.

We present patients through our popular social media channels, our website CreakyJoints. We represent patients through our popular social media channels, our website CreakyJoints. Many sugar-sweetened juices can increase your risk for gout, but naturally-sweetened juices like orange juice may also be a gout risk trigger. Fructose is a sugar that is added to soft drinks, but it occurs naturally in orange juice, so drinking too much OJ could be as risky as drinking a sugary soft drink.

Studies show that caffeine may protect you from gout because caffeine is similar in chemical structure to a common gout medication. But other research shows that increasing your caffeine intake can actually trigger gout pain — in fact, one study found that suddenly doubling your caffeine intake could increase the risk of gout symptoms by up to 80 percent. So if you are a coffee or tea drinker, caffeine could be helping protect you — just remember that a sudden binge could bring on a gout attack.

Consuming some energy drinks is akin to going on a caffeine binge. However, as the majority of these drinks are sweetened with fructose, one can infer that they are likely to also increase gout attacks," warns Sloane. Not everyone with high uric acid gets gout pain, but studies show that uric acid is increasing in the American diet. Protect yourself by keeping an eye on what you eat and what you drink. Uric acid is the byproduct of chemical compounds called purines.

These chemical compounds can be found in foods like red meat and seafood. These crystals most commonly form in the kidneys and around the joints, causing pain and inflammation. Roughly 8 million adults in the United States have gout. The most common risk factors for gout include:. These dietary factors can all cause high uric acid levels in the blood, leading to the development of gout. Can drinking too much alcohol cause gout or trigger a gout flare-up if you already have the condition?

Conversely, can cutting back on alcohol relieve your gout symptoms? Alcohol is a source of purines. These compounds produce uric acid when broken down by the body. Alcohol also increases the metabolism of nucleotides. These are an additional source of purines that can be turned into uric acid. In addition, alcohol affects the rate at which uric acid is secreted. That can lead to increased levels in the blood. When it comes to purine content , not all alcohol is created equal. Spirits have the lowest purine content.

Regular beer has the highest. Past research found that both beer and liquor substantially increase blood uric acid levels, with beer playing a more significant role. Beer intake seems to be associated with an increased risk of hyperuricemia in men. This is especially true for men with a high alcohol intake 12 or more drinks per week.

In other words, although not everybody who drinks alcohol will experience hyperuricemia or gout, research supports a possible connection. According to the Mayo Clinic, gout is a form of arthritis that is highly complex and can affect any one. Since these attacks can occur suddenly, you might wake in the middle of the night in excruciating pain.

Diet is one of the biggest risk factors for gout. Food items that are rich in uric acid, such as alcoholic beverages like beer, fructose sugars, and red meat can all increase your risk for getting gout. You might be wondering what purines have to do with gout. Purines are essentially in everything and can be converted into uric acid.

Since the body needs purines, it tries to hold onto this molecule. However, purines need to be broken down into smaller pieces through the kidneys. It comes out as uric acid. Too much uric acid, though, will cause health problems. Lessening gout attacks means going on a low-purine diet. Medical professionals also recommend that you increase your liquid intake to help the kidneys and to flush out any excess uric acid.

Similarly, you should avoid alcohol—in particular, beer—since alcohol causes dehydration, which counteracts all the work your kidneys do to process purines. Not only that, but beer contains a lot of purines.