DASH Diet May Help To Prevent Gout Flares

Following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet could effectively lower serum uric acid levels, which are known triggers of gout, according to the results of a recent study.

Elevated levels of uric acid in the blood have been shown to be an etiologic precursor to gout. While diet has been shown to play an important role in determining blood uric acid levels, very little clinical data are available on what diets most effectively control these levels.
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To explore the potential effects of the DASH diet on uric acid, researchers conducted an ancillary study of a randomized, crossover feeding trial involving 103 adults with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension. The participants were randomly assigned to follow either the DASH diet or a control diet, and were further fed low, medium, and high sodium levels for 30 days, each in random order.

Overall, the DASH diet reduced serum uric acid by 0.35 mg/dL, with a higher effect among participants with baseline serum uric acid of 7 mg/dL or greater. Increasing sodium intake from the low level decreased uric acid levels by 0.3 mg/dL during the medium sodium level and 0.4 mg/dL during the high sodium level.

“The DASH diet lowered SUA [serum uric acid], and this effect was greater among participants with hyperuricemia. Moreover, we found that higher sodium intake decreased SUA, which enhances our knowledge of urate pathophysiology and risk factors of hyperuricemia,” the authors concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:
Juraschek SP, Gelber AC, Choi HK, Appel LJ, Miller ER III. Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and sodium intake on serum uric acid [published online August 14, 2016]. Arthritis Rheumatol. doi:10.1002/art.39813.