Research shows that diet has little influence on the precursors of gout

Dietary factors have a much less important influence on urate levels (a precursor to gout) than previously predicted, reveals a new study from the University of Otago.

The research, led by Dr. Tanya Major, a postdoctoral fellow, has revealed that a healthy diet can be linked to lower serum urate levels, which protects from gout. But the influence of diet on urate rates is overall very low.

Historically, diet has been associated with gout because some foods can trigger gout attacks and diet is often used as a disease management tool in patients with gout. Many studies have looked at specific foods and their relationship to serum urate or gout, but this study published in BMJ Today, we went further by assessing the magnitude of variation in serum urate of each food.

Importantly, the study found that no particular food explained more than 1% of the variation in serum urate levels and that, when all combined foods were considered, less half a percent of the variation of urate was explained.

In contrast, genetic variants account for much more variation in serum urate in research participants.

"We were not surprised that genetic factors have a greater influence on urinary serum than dietary factors, but what surprised us, is the magnitude of this difference: a about 100 times, "says Dr. Major.

Research shows that the diet has very little influence on urate levels, she says.

"This goes against medical opinion and public opinion in general, and we hope this will encourage physicians to focus on other ways of managing the rates of the disease." 39; urate and prevent gout attacks, such as the use of allopurinol, rather than on dietary changes that are likely to be of little help to the patient ".

However, Dr. Major insists on caution about the results because the study was conducted on a healthy population.

"This is the first step of our project, and research is now needed for people with gout, and we can not say for sure that nutrition will not have a greater influence on urate levels. these people, "she said. Explain

"However, it is important to note that the diet explains so little of the essential elements of the cause of gout."

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More information:
Tanya J Major et al. Evaluation of the contribution of diet to serum urate concentration: meta-analysis of cohorts based on population, BMJ (2018). DOI: 10.1136 / bmj.k3951