How to control uric acid

May 9, 2022

Share the article

Uric acid?

Uric acid is a carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen heterocyclic molecule. It is a natural waste product from the digestion of foods that contain purines. Purines are found to be in high content in some food such as:

Certain meats
Sardines
Dried beans
Beer

What are the home remedies to control uric acid
Which Food Will Reduce Uric Acid?
Can Uric Acid Be Reduced Naturally?
Is Lemon Good For Uric Acid?
What Foods Are High in Uric Acid?

Some purines are formed and broken down in your body itself.

It is normally the body’s function to filter out the uric acid through the kidney or in the form of urine. Uric acid can accumulate in your blood if you ingest too much purine in your diet or if your body is unable to eliminate this by-product quickly enough. Hyperuricemia refers to a high uric acid level. This can progress to gout, a disease characterised by painful joints that accumulate urate crystals. It can also make your blood and urine overly acidic.

Some of the reasons why uric acid can accumulate in your body are:

Diet
Genetics
Obesity
Stress

Some health disorders can also lead to high uric acid levels. A few of which include:

Kidney disease
Diabetes mellitus
Hypothyroidism
Chemotherapy
Psoriasis

What are the home remedies to control uric acid:

1. Limiting purine-rich foods

Purines are naturally occuring substances in most of the foods. This is then broken down by the body into uric acids. The process of metabolising purine-rich foods may lead to gout making the body produce too much uric acid. Not all the purine-rich foods are bad for our health and hence the goal must be to reduce the intake and not to avoid it altogether.

Some foods with high purine content are:

Excess alcohol
High-fat foods, dairy products
Sugary foods and beverages

Foods that contain very moderate amount of purine are:

Deli meats
Most other meat, including beef
Poultry
Crab

2. Eating more low-purine foods

Changing the diet containing high-purine foods to that with purine-less or the diets in which they are moderately present can help reduce the level of uric acid in the body. A few low-purine foods are:

Low-fat and fat-free dairy products
Peanut butter and most nuts
Most fruits and vegetables
Coffee
Whole-grain rice, bread, and potatoes

3. Avoiding drugs that might increase the uric acid levels

It is advised to avoid a few drugs that can increase the uric acid levels in the body. Some of those drugs are:

Diuretic drugs, such as furosemide (Lasix) and hydrochlorothiazide
Drugs that suppress the immune system, especially before or after an organ transplant.
Low-dose aspirin

Since the drugs that boost uric acid levels may provide important health benefits, people should consult a doctor before altering any prescriptions.

4. Maintaining a healthy body weight

Maintaining good health will help reduce the risk of gout flares. Obesity can increase the risk of gout, for young people especially. The risk of a metabolic syndrome increases with a person’s increase in weight. This can in turn cause an increase in blood pressure and cholesterol and as well as an increase in the risk of heart disease. While these effects are undesirable, being overweight is also associated with a higher risk of elevated blood uric acid levels, which increases the risk of gout.

Sudden decrease in weight can increase your risk of gaining more uric acids in our body. Hence it is important for people to maintain their weight, look after their diet carefully to create and maintain long-term sustainable changes to manage their weight.

5. Avoiding alcohol and sugary foods

Heavy intake of both alcohol and sugary drinks, such as sodas and sweetened juices, is associated with an increased risk of getting gout. Alcohol and sugary drinks can add unneeded calories to the diet, perhaps leading to weight gain and metabolic disorders.

6. Drinking coffee

It is proven through recent research that people who drink a lot of coffee are less likely to develop gout. Women who consume 1 to 3 cups of coffee per day have a 22% reduction in their risk of gout compared to those who drank no coffee. Women who drank more than 4 cups of coffee had a 57% reduction in their risk of developing gout.

7. Taking Vitamin C supplement

Taking a vitamin C supplement may reduce your risk of developing gout. According to a published source in 2011, it is revealed that vitamin C significantly lowered uric acid levels in the blood in 13 randomised controlled trials.

8. Eating cherries

Preliminary research reveals eating cherries may lessen the likelihood of gout attacks, particularly in persons with a history of the condition. A 2012 research of 633 persons with gout indicated that eating cherries for two days reduced the incidence of a gout attack by 35% compared to not eating cherries. Even after researchers accounted for risk factors such as age, gender, alcohol intake, and usage of diuretics or anti-gout medicine, the effect remained. The combination of allopurinol, an anti-gout medicine, and cherries reduced the chance of another attack by 75% in patients who already took the treatment.

In conclusion

Gout is a painful medical illness that frequently coexists with more dangerous conditions. While leading a healthy lifestyle may reduce the risk of future flares, it may not be adequate to treat the disease. Although some people with balanced diets also get gout, not everyone who eats a high-purine diet gets gout.

Diet, exercise, and other healthy lifestyle modifications can help with gout and other uric acid-related disorders. They cannot, however, always replace critical medical therapy. Take all drugs exactly as advised by your doctor. A proper diet, exercise, and medication regimen can help keep symptoms at bay.