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Mushrooms and gout Executive summary There is no evidence that certain fruits, vegetables and mushrooms made gout worse. In fact, a high consumption of fruit, vegetables and mushrooms is linked to a lower risk of gout. Advice to gout sufferers to avoid foods such as spinach, asparagus and mushrooms is not justified. What is gout? Gout is a type of arthritis that is characterised by high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricaemia), and is more likely to occur in men than in women. The high levels of uric acid can trigger the deposition of sodium urate crystals in joints, causing intense pain1. Uric acid is an end-product compound from the breakdown of purines made within the body and consumed in the diet. Uric acid is normally eliminated via the kidneys such that uric acid stays at normal levels. High levels of uric acid could be due to reduced elimination, increased production, the consumption of high-purine foods, or a mix of all three. Some medications, such as those for high blood pressure, can also raise uric acid levels. Gout has long been associated with overweight, binge eating and alcohol consumption. Losing weight and avoiding alcohol is common advice for many people with gout as this reduces the incidence of gout attacks. Healthy eating is advised as many gout sufferers are also at high risk for heart disease and diabetes. Alcohol consumption, especially beer, is strongly associated with gout. Alcohol reduces uric acid losses via the kidneys1, 2, 3. Gout therapy The most common and effective treatment for gout is through medications that increase the excretion of uric acid via the kidneys. Modifying the diet to avoid very high purine foods may have an additional modest benefit with drug therapy, although dietary changes rarely lower serum uric acid by more than 10-20% 4, 5. There is now evidence that most purine-containing food, especially non-animal food, has little influence on gout. In the past, the most common dietary advice was to avoid purine-rich foods like animal flesh and offal, seafood, yeast extracts, peas, legumes, lentils, spinach, asparagus and mushrooms. It is not clear why spinach, asparagus and mushrooms were mentioned so frequently as green peas, broccoli and Brussels sprouts have more purine yet are never mentioned in text books or websites giving advice on gout. Foods such as dairy foods, possibly due to the dairy proteins, and vegetables, even those with moderate purine content, seem to be protective against gout 1, 6, 7. One paper even showed that coffee reduces gout risk. Non-animal foods not linked to gout There is no evidence that a vegetable or mushroom with a modest amount of purine will raise uric acid levels and trigger a gout attack. A study of over 47,000 men over 12 years (aged 40-75 years at the start of the study) found that a “moderate intake of purine-rich vegetables is not associated with an increased risk of gout”, whether purine-rich vegetables were taken as a group or individually 6. Another study of 92 men with gout and 92 controls found no link between purine intake and the occurrence of gout, or between fruit and vegetable intake and gout 8. The authors state that: “Our data support the observation that increased consumption of foods from plant sources, especially fruit and vegetables, reduce the risk of gout development.” A review of the lifestyle evidence to reduce gout attacks specifically mentions to consume purine-rich vegetables “as they do not increase the risk of gout.” 7 The review goes on to say that people who ate the most vegetable protein actually had a 27% lower risk of gout compared with those that ate the least. Mushrooms are very low in kilojoules and help control appetite, making them ideal for weight control. As weight loss reduces gout attacks in overweight people, mushrooms can have an additional benefit for the gout sufferer. Summary Although mushrooms are not a vegetable, they are commonly included in vegetables from a culinary and research standpoint. There is no documented evidence that mushrooms or vegetables cause gout or even raise blood uric acid levels. As health authorities encourage vegetable consumption for nutrients and health, avoiding certain vegetables may compromise nutritional health. The evidence to date strongly indicates that non-animal foods like mushrooms, fruits, legumes, nuts and vegetables may be protective against gout and therefore should not be restricted in those that suffer from gout. References:
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