It's the Coffee, Not Caffeine, for Gout Prevention

Robert W. Griffith, MD

It's been known for some time that coffee-drinkers are less likely to develop gout, but new analyses are showing the possible role of caffeine in the protective effect. Publishing online in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, the researchers describe their results taken from 46,000 men enrolled in the US Health Professionals Study over a 12-year period. During this time, 757 of them developed gout. Using serum uric acid levels of 7 mg/dL or more as indicating the likelihood of gout, they found that the more coffee the men drank, the less likely they were to develop gout. One to 3 cups of coffee a day lowered the gout risk by 8%. But 4 or 5 cups a day reduced the risk by 40%, while those drinking 6 cups a day or more had a 60% reduction of gout risk.

An interesting finding was that caffeine, whether from coffee or tea, was not linked to a protective action. This was shown when the researchers found that decaffeinated coffee also had a protective effect - although slightly less than the 'real stuff'. I guess the hunt will now be on for the coffee component that actually provides the protection, so that it can be modified, synthesized, patented, developed, registered as a drug, and promoted.

The researchers don't advise people to start drinking more coffee immediately. More than 3-4 cups a day might possible lead to calcium loss and caffeine dependence. But for those of us already drinking 5-6 cups a day, we can keep on track!

Source
HealthandAge Blog

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