Soft drinks linked to gout

The risk of gout is 'strongly associated' with the consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks, according to a new prospective cohort study. Over a 12- year period, 46393 men with no history of gout at enrolment completed food frequency questionnaires to determine intake of soft drinks and fructose. During follow-up 755 cases of gout, based on American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, were confirmed. The investigators report that increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks was linked to an increasing risk for gout. Compared with an intake of less than one serving of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per month, the multi-variate relative risk (RR) for gout was: 1.29 for five to six servings per week, 1.45 for one serving per day, and 1.85 for two or more servings per day (p for trend = 0.002). However, 'diet' soft drinks were not associated with risk of gout. These findings were independent of dietary and other risk factors for gout, including body mass index, age, hypertension, diuretic use, alcohol intake, and history of chronic renal failure. In addition to fructose-sweetened soft drinks, other major sources of fructose intake, such as total fruit juice or fructose rich fruits (apples and oranges) were also associated with a higher risk for incident gout. "Prospective data suggest that consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks and fructose is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout in men," the authors write. They add, "fructose rich fruits and fruit juices may also increase the risk. Diet soft drinks were not associated with the risk of gout." Reference...