Sugary soft drinks linked to gout in men

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Drinking sugar sweetened soft drinks and fructose is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout in men, Canadian and U.S. researchers found.

Researchers at Vancouver General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston said conventional dietary recommendations for gout have focused on the restriction of purines -- found in high levels in meat and meat products, especially liver and kidney -- and alcohol, but with no restriction of sugar sweetened soft drinks.

The researchers tracked 46,000 men age 40 and over with no history of gout for 12 years. The men completed regular questionnaires on their intake of more than 130 foods and beverages. After 12 years, the researchers documented 755 newly diagnosed cases of gout.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found the risk of gout increased with greater intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and the risk was significantly increased with an intake level of five to six servings per week.

The risk was 85 percent higher among men who consumed two or more servings of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day compared to those who consumed less than one serving per month, the study said. Diet soft drinks were not associated with the risk of gout.