Does Drinking Coffee Help With Gout?

Coffee! North America’s love affair, or should I say obsession, with the coffee bean is unrivaled by any other beverage. That is, of course, with the exception of water, which we have plenty of.

Coffee is consumed by over two-thirds of Americans in the morning and coffee shops can be found just about anywhere. In addition, we have specialty capsule coffee machines in our homes. We just can’t seem to get enough of it!

Coffee is mildly acidic (pH 5.0–5.1) and, due to its caffeine concentration, can be stimulating to humans. It is one of the most widely consumed beverages on the planet, and I, like everyone else, like a good cup of coffee. Drinking a cup or two a day is beneficial to gout sufferers!

So go ahead and visit Starbucks and savor every sip of your Grande Cappuccino. By the way, that’s my fave, and if you sprinkle some cinnamon on top, mmm….delicious!

What is the evidence on coffee and gout?

Coffee may be beneficial to your health in addition to its wake-up java jolt impact. Regular coffee use has been associated with a lower risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes, among other illnesses, according to studies.

Men over the age of 40 who consume coffee on a regular basis have a lower risk of acquiring gout, according to one study. The results of this 12-year study were reported in the medical journal Arthritis and Rheumatology.

By the way, this was research that tracked 45,869 people who had never had gout before. After 12 years, 757 of these men had gout, according to the study. Furthermore, the more coffee the men drank; the more they decreased their risk of a gout attack, the study claimed.

Men who consumed 5 or more cups of coffee per day looked to be at the lowest risk. Drinking one to three cups of coffee every day reduced the risk of gout by only 8%. Men who consumed four to five cups of coffee each day had a 40% decreased incidence of gout.

Guys who drank six or more cups of coffee per day had a risk of gout that was 59 percent lower than men who never drank coffee.

Wow! That’s a lot of coffee man! This link appeared to hold true for decaffeinated coffee as well! Although decaffeinated coffee produced an effect, it was not as potent as caffeinated coffee.

The researchers arrived at the conclusion that coffee decreased uric acid levels in the bloodstream. As a result, coffee consumers can avoid gout.

Some people, however, are unable to consume such high amounts of coffee. To be fair, the specific mechanism by which coffee can protect you from gout is unknown.

Could a cup of coffee in the morning help you avoid painful gout attacks? While some evidence suggests that this popular beverage may help you avoid joint pain, if you already have gout, the caffeine it contains may cause flare-ups.

Gout is diagnosed in a variety of ways

Medical professionals frequently use a variety of methods to officially diagnose gout in a patient. Clinical suspicion, laboratory tests, and imaging scans are examples of these. Visual cues can include swollen, red, and warm toes, which may require additional testing.

Additional tests may include arthrocentesis, which involves the removal of synovial fluid from your joints for observation. A negative birefringent monosodium urate crystal with a needle-shaped structure would test positive.

Laboratory blood testing can also reveal elevated white blood cells, elevated ESR, and high uric acid levels. The monosodium uric acid will show up as a twofold contour sign on ultrasound, and the tophus will be a combination of hyperechoic and hypoechoic structure.A hypoechoic mass is bodily tissue that is denser or more solid than typical. The density of hyperechoic masses is lower than that of hypoechoic masses. They could be made up of air, fat, or fluid.

Caffeine and the Risk of Gout

Coffee has been shown to be effective in preventing the onset of gout in people who do not yet have the disease. If you already have the condition, though, the caffeine in coffee may be a problem. Especially if they aren’t coffee drinkers on a regular basis.

Since gout is on the rise, several studies have been conducted to determine the cause(s) of this dramatic rise. Here are a handful of the studies that looked at caffeine, coffee, and tea and their effects on gout development.

According to a 2010 study, people who abruptly increased their intake of caffeinated drinks like tea and coffee were more likely to get gout attacks.

  • Men who consume coffee have a lower risk of developing gout, according to a study sponsored by the American College of Rheumatology.
  • Women who consume coffee had a lower risk of developing gout, according to a study published by the American Society for Nutrition.

While regular coffee consumption showed positive outcomes in the treatment of gout symptoms, coffee binging had the opposite effect.

 

  • According to one study, those who use minimal caffeine on a daily basis but abruptly increase their coffee consumption in one day are at risk.
  • Women who consumed sugary drinks were more than twice as likely to develop gout, according to a 25-year research involving nearly 79,000 women. Keep in mind that caffeine was not listed as a risk factor in the study, only the sugar level of the beverages.
  • Those who consumed four or more cups of coffee each day had a 40-60% lower risk of gout than those who didn’t, according to a 12-year study of nearly 45,000 males. Surprisingly, even decaffeinated coffee was linked to a lower risk of gout.

Caffeine should be eaten in a constant amount daily rather than overindulging if you want to lower your risks of developing gout. Also, to get your caffeine fix without raising your chance of a painful gout attack, try sugar-free energy drinks or unsweetened coffee and tea.

Sugary drinks are most likely the most damaging in terms of gout risk, and this is true regardless of caffeine concentration. Many dietary restrictions precede gout treatment, although moderate caffeine consumption appears to be safe thus far.

Coffee drinking on a daily basis may reduce the risk of gout by lowering uric acid levels in the bloodstream.

NutriGout Dietary Supplement for Gout

Why can coffee do this?

When you have gout, your doctor will prescribe you two types of medication: uricosurics and xanthine oxidase inhibitors. Coffee is a methylxanthine which means it can block the metabolization of purines which are the source of uric acid.

When you drink coffee, you essentially keep your uric acid levels low. In addition, there is a polyphenol in coffee called chlorogenic acid which helps with insulin sensitivity. Decreased insulin sensitivity in the body also means better uric acid elimination.

Uricosuric medications

Uric acid crystals can grow in the joints because of high uric acid levels. Uricosuric medicines act by increasing the quantity of uric acid excreted by the kidneys to lower blood uric acid levels.

Uric acid is removed from the body by the kidneys, and uricosurics help with this process.

Caffeine isn’t always thought of as a uricosuric, yet it does have certain uricosuric characteristics.

Despite the absence of clear evidence supporting their efficacy and safety in this illness, uricosuric medications have long been used to treat gout. 

Chlorogenic acid

According to research, the antioxidant chlorogenic acid, a component of coffee, may play a role in coffee’s ability to reduce the risk of gout. Chlorogenic acid and other antioxidants have been shown to help lower blood insulin levels.

Insulin and uric acid (the substance that causes gout) levels are linked. When insulin levels are low, uric acid levels tend to be low as well. One study found that people who drank multiple cups of coffee per day had reduced uric acid levels.

Green coffee extract is the most common form of chlorogenic acid supplementation. It provides several health benefits and is most commonly used to lower blood pressure and weight.

Recent research suggests that chlorogenic acid may also lower blood sugar levels, improve mood, and aid in the treatment of infections.

Green Coffee

While most people are familiar with green tea, green coffee is probably unfamiliar to many. Green coffee, like green tea, is one of the newest weight loss aids that people are turning to because of its numerous benefits.

However, both are complete opposites. Green tea contains antioxidants, whereas green coffee contains chlorogenic acids, which are found only in raw coffee.

Green coffee beans are simply normal coffee beans that have not been roasted. In other words, they have not been processed in any way.

As a dietary supplement, green coffee bean extract has become increasingly popular. They can also be obtained as whole beans, which can be used to prepare hot beverages in the same way that roasted coffee beans can.

A mug of pale green coffee tastes nothing like the roasted coffee we’re used to. It has a considerably softer flavor than coffee and is frequently compared to herbal tea.

Moreover, despite their similar origins, their chemical makeup is vastly different from that of roasted coffee.

Green coffee beans are high in chlorogenic acids, which are antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances with numerous health benefits. Although, some chlorogenic acid can be found in roasted coffee products, the majority of it is lost during the roasting process.

Because green coffee does not go through the roasting process that black coffee does, it has a higher caffeine content. The real difference, however, is most likely insignificant.

The coffee and tea connection

Gout, the most prevalent inflammatory arthritis in adult males, is preceded by high uric acid levels in the blood. Coffee and tea use are thought to alter uric acid levels, although there is no conclusive consensus in the medical profession.

Caffeine, as well as its catabolic metabolites theobromine and xanthine, is an important component of tea and coffee. These molecules are structurally related to uric acid, a recognized antioxidant found in relatively high concentrations in blood, but they also exhibit prooxidant activity.

Because of the structural similarity between uric acid and caffeine and its metabolites, researchers investigated the antioxidant and prooxidant characteristics of these substances.

What about tea?

What’s more, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their coffee and tea intake over the previous month.

The level of uric acid in their blood was checked, and it was discovered that as coffee consumption increased, the amount of uric acid in their blood decreased. Increased tea consumption, on the other hand, did not have the same effect.

“These findings suggest that components of coffee other than caffeine contribute to the observed inverse association between coffee intake and uric acid levels,” the researchers state. It’s not clear why coffee lowers gout risk.

The researchers point out that coffee contains a high concentration of the powerful antioxidant phenol chlorogenic acid. According to research, this has an impact on the risk of gout.

The effect of milk, which is commonly used in coffee, is one apparent omission from this paper. In addition, there appears to be a link between the ability of dairy proteins to reduce uric acid levels.

Conflicting information about the health benefits of coffee

There’s a lot of contradicting information out there concerning coffee’s health advantages. When it comes to gout, it might be tough to determine whether your morning cup of Joe will help or hinder you.

Experts in arthritis recently convened to review the latest gout research. Caffeine has been shown in certain studies to enhance a person’s risk of developing gout. However,

There isn’t enough evidence to imply that coffee increases your risk of gout. However, some researchers say there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that drinking coffee reduces the incidence of gout.

Coffee side effects

Coffee is a widely popular drink, but it comes with caveats. First, it’s addictive. One can go from drinking one cup to five cups a day so be very careful with this.

It’s fine to have one more cup than normal on days when you didn’t get enough sleep. Just make sure you don’t make it a habit. It’s very easy to fall into this routine and become dependent on coffee.

Caffeine has also been known to cause stomach upset and vomiting. If you find that you’re sensitive to coffee and react this way, minimize your consumption or avoid it completely.

Another side effect is insomnia and restlessness. Because coffee is a stimulant, it can make you hyperactive even at times when you should already be relaxing.

One thing about gout is that stress and lack of sleep can exacerbate it. So try to avoid drinking coffee in the late afternoon. Schedule your day so that all your important tasks are done in the first half. That way, you don’t need to rely on coffee to perform these activities.

Avoiding caffeine in the late afternoon will also allow you to sleep better at night.

More serious side effects of caffeine include elevated high blood pressure and rapid heart rate. If you have an existing heart problem, you cannot drink too much coffee as this may make your condition worse.

A lesser-known side effect of coffee is fatigue. There’s no denying that drinking coffee can help you feel more energized. However, if you drank too much caffeine the day before, you might feel weary the next day.

Can coffee cure my gout?

Remember, though, that drinking coffee will not heal your gout. Simply put, if you consume coffee, you are statistically less likely to develop gout. However, I do not advise you to have four or more cups of coffee every day.

According to studies, men are more likely than women to develop adverse effects from excessive coffee consumption. Insomnia, a racing heart, muscle tremors, and anxiousness are just a few of the symptoms.

If anything, mix it up with some decaf coffee. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, reduce your coffee consumption or caffeine from other sources. Choose organic coffee over the regular Folgers or Maxwell House type of coffees.

Think twice about adding those sweeteners

You’ll also want to keep an eye on what you add to your coffee, particularly cream and sugar. Overdoing it on the cream and sugar in your coffee can lead it to lose its essence.

Caffeine may raise blood sugar levels, making diabetic control more difficult. As a result, diabetics should exercise caution. It can also cause an elevation in blood pressure and heart rate in people with hypertension or heart disease.

Starting with creamer, opt only for whole options like milk or almond milk. These are healthier choices compared to the small white packets of creamer.

You can get away with just regular old brown sugar to sweeten it. However, it’s also a good idea to look at healthier alternatives like maple syrup, honey, or stevia. These are natural and are less likely to cause a gout attack.

Grind your own coffee beans!

To take it one step further, you might even want to buy your own coffee beans and grind them at home. Just use the blender you already have and make your own coffee with a French press.

Making coffee this way makes it taste so much better than processed coffee. It also makes you less likely to add anything to it since it already tastes amazing by itself.

Coffee can help with digestion and colon cleansing by stimulating bowel movement. Remember that drinking too much coffee might cause dehydration and constipation. As a result, it’s critical to drink it in moderation in order to receive the benefits.

It’s easy to see why individuals would brew a cup of coffee every morning when there are so many health benefits.

If you’re concerned about developing gout or causing a gout flare-up, talk to your doctor about how to effectively manage your disease. Before increasing your caffeine intake, see your doctor, especially if you have any other medical issues.

 

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