Uric acid

[VickiR]

I know that elevated levels, can, in susceptible folks, lead to gout; and that some kidney stones are composed of urates. BUT, my question is:

is there any research on this WOE and uric acid levels in the blood?

thanks! Vicki

[Angeline]

There are still at the stage where they are investigation whether or not low-carb works, so we are far away from an investigation on fine details like gout and the like.

If you do a search on Uric in the news forum you will find tons of discussion on the matter.

In the meantime I did find one study that links gout with drinking alcohol.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004...2055657726.html

[zedgirl]

I posted this in a thread about kidney stones. It is an excerpt from the book ‘Life Without Bread’ in the chapter about Heart Disease risk factors.


Uric Acid and Kidney Stones

An elevated level of uric acid is another risk factor for heart disease, the significance of which has been noted for years. The uric acid present in humans is a metabolite of dietary protein and nucleotides (or nucleic acids), both components of the cell nucleus.

High blood levels of uric acid are associated with deposition of uric acid in tissues, in urinary stones, or in the kidneys. With a low-carbohydrate diet, the intake of meat, and therefore that of nucleic acids and proteins, is increased. Consequently, the uric-acid levels should rise.

However, exactly the opposite happens. Figure 6.3 shows what happened to 193 patients with elevated uric acid levels under a low-carbohydrate diet. As you can see, the concentration of uric acid dropped immediately and reached a low point after four months. From then on, it slowly increased again until it stabilized at an intermediate value. The diet has a definite lowering effect on uric acid. Therefore, one may conclude that high uric-acid levels are caused at least partially by dietary carbohydrates.

For a long time, it has been known that infusion of sugar solutions, especially fructose and sorbitol, cause a quick elevation of uric acid. This is due to an overproduction of uric acid and not due to lowered excretion, because the rise in uric acid after sugar infusion can be suppressed by the body, using allopurinol. Allopurinol inhibits the enzyme xanthine oxidase, which aids in the production of uric acid. So it seems that carbohydrates stimulate uric-acid production. This alone should be a reason to put people with elevated uric-acid levels on a carbohydrate-restricted diet.

The fact that some levels rose over time shows that there certainly are cases of individuals who depart from the norm and experience a further rise in uric acid after a carbohydrate-restrictive diet is in place. The patients whose uric-acid levels increased had parallel changes in their cholesterol levels. These people probably had a metabolic disorder that was uncorrectable by a low-carbohydrate diet.