Sugary drinks increase risk of gout

A new study shows that drinking too much soda, orange juice, or other sugary drinks appears to increase the risk of developing gout, especially in women.

Previous research has shown that high intake of sugary sodas, fruit juices and fructose was associated with an elevated risk of gout in men. So a team of researchers from Boston University and Harvard teamed up to look for an association in women. They examined at data from approximately 79,000 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study.

The incidence of gout, a painful type of inflammatory arthritis, in the U.S. increased from 16 per 100,000 people in 1977 to 42 per 100,000 in 1996. That rise coincided with a significant jump in soda and fructose consumption, the researchers noted.

The risk was even higher among participants who drank two or more sugary sodas beverages a day.

The researchers note that their findings have practical implications for the prevention of gout in women, and that doctors should be mindful of the possible consequence of these beverages on the risk of gout. “Our data provide prospective evidence that fructose poses an increased risk of gout among women, thus supporting the importance of reducing fructose intake.”

Since gout is comparatively rare among women, the sugared filled beverages likely contribute only moderately to a woman’s chances of getting it. Nevertheless, this is the first study linking sodas and sweetened fruit juices to women’s gout risk.