High intake of fruit juice and sugar loaded beverages tied to gout

Canada: High intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and fruit juices are associated with an increased risk of gout, the association, however, was not seen for fruit intake, according to a review published in the journal BMJ Open.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with hyperuricemia and gout. Whether other important food sources of fructose-containing sugars share this association is unclear. Sabrina Ayoub-Charette, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to assess the relation of important food sources of fructose-containing sugars with incident gout and hyperuricemia.

"The study is significant as gout is not only problematic on its own but is also associated with the development of hypertension, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease," write the authors.

The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 3 prospective cohorts (n=154,289; 1761 cases of gout), including the Nurses' Health Study and the National Runner's Health Study. Prospective cohort studies that investigated the relationship between food sources of sugar and incident gout or hyperuricemia were included.

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They found that:

• Fruit juice and SSB intake showed an adverse association when comparing the highest to lowest intake of the most adjusted models.


• There was no significant association between fruit intake and gout.


• The strongest evidence was for the adverse association with SSB intake (moderate certainty), and the weakest evidence was for the adverse association with fruit juice intake (very low certainty) and lack of association with fruit intake (very low certainty).

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"The pooled analyses revealed that there was moderate certainty of evidence that SSB intake was associated with a 208% increase in incident gout when comparing the highest with the lowest intake. There was very low certainty of evidence that fruit juice intake was associated with a 77% increase in incident gout and that fruit intake was not associated with incident gout. There was no data available for other important food sources of fructose-containing sugars," wrote the authors.

For detailed study follow the link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024171