Vegetarian diet lowers gout risk,finds study

For vegetarians, one more reason to rejoice! Vegetarian diet lowers gout risk.

A vegetarian diet is known to have multiple health benefits. Adding one more to the list, a recent study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition has found that vegetarians experience a lower risk of gout. This protective association may be independent of baseline hyperuricemia.

A gout is a painful form of inflammatory arthritis caused by an accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joints. Untreated, it can lead to permanent joint damage and destruction of tissue.

Plant-based diets may target multiple pathways in gout pathogenesis (uric acid reduction and anti-inflammation) while improving gout associated cardiometabolic comorbidities. Tina H.T. Chiu, Department of Nutritional Science, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues prospectively examined the relationship between a vegetarian diet and gout and explored if this relationship is independent of hyperuricemia.

For the purpose, they followed 4,903 participants in Tzu Chi Health Study (Cohort1, recruited in 2007 to 2009) and 9,032 participants in the Tzu Chi Vegetarian Study (Cohort2, recruited in 2005) until end of 2014. Baseline serum uric acid was measured in Cohort1. Vegetarian status was assessed through a diet questionnaire that includes dietary habits and a food frequency questionnaire. The incidence of gout was ascertained by linkage to the National Health Insurance Database.

Also Read: Gout not primarily caused by diet: BMJ

Key findings of the study include:

• In Cohort1, lacto-ovo vegetarians had the lowest uric acid concentration, followed by vegans, then nonvegetarians (men: 6.05, 6.19, 6.32 mg/dL, respectively; women: 4.92, 4.96, 5.11 mg/dL, respectively).


• 65 gout cases occurred in the 29,673 person-years of follow-up; vegetarians experienced a lower risk of gout.


• In Cohort2, 161 gout cases occurred in the 83,019 person-years follow-up, and vegetarians also experienced a lower risk of gout.

Also Read: Gout patients unable to achieve uric acid targets at increased death risk

"Observations revealed a lower risk of gout in correlation with the Taiwanese vegetarian diet. Baseline hyperuricemia could have no impact on this protective association," write the authors.

For detailed study log on to https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2019.03.016