Purines in Beer Cause Gout?

Lets do some detective work and see if the purines in beer theory really holds water. Here’s some support info for the purines in beer case:

Examples of high-purine sources include: sweetbreads, anchovies, sardines, liver, beef kidneys, brains, meat extracts (e.g., Oxo, Bovril), herring, mackerel, scallops, game meats, beer (from the yeast) and gravy. I got this straight out of Wikipedia.

More Info About Purines in Beer

This chemistry dude actually has some good information about what purines are and their connection to beer and also diabetes – watch now:

Purines in Beer and in Alcohol

According to WebMD, there was some sort of study done by The Lancet and Hyon K. Choi. They did a 12 year study on 47,000 men to see what the effects of purines in beer, purines in alcohol and purines in wine did for the causes of gout. Check it out:

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“People with gout are often told to avoid foods that contain high levels of purines, a substance that breaks down into uric acid. High-purine foods include organ meats such as liver, fatty red meats, and certain types of seafood. Beer contains much higher amounts of purines than other alcoholic beverages, and the researchers suggest that this may explain their findings.”

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More recent information is linking High Fructose Corn Syrup, Fructose and other forms of sugar to be directly connected with the an increase in uric acid levels as well. Because in the process of making beer,  maltose is a by-product. While the amount of maltose or sugar is not that high in a single beer, continuous and frequent consumption is now suspect for adding to the problem of gout with beer drinkers as well.

MY tophi when away!!!! It was there for a month, then it started leaking, I pressured it, rubbed it, and the clear gel came out, then a little blood…now it’s gone!  My finger looks normal (except for the inflammation it has)  In January I changed my diet; no meat, very little chicken, lots of veggies, tofu, fish, lots of alkaline water, lemons, and of course walking 3 or 4 times a day, about 2 miles each.  I’ve been keeping busy with yard work, washing my car, being positive.  I took a combination of gout, joint, kidney, liver multi-vitamins, read a lot about gout in your blogs and all over your website, and prayed. My gout is gone!  I just have arthritis on my fingers, and sometimes my feet hurt when I walk.  Oh, also no BEER, but I still have some now and then.  I’m continuing everything I have done above, I’m not changing back to my old ways of eating and ‘couch potato’ ways. Thanks to you for inspiration too!!!  I know there are people with gout far worse than I was, and it was scary seeing those pics of their feet.

PS: I never went to the dr. or took any kind of meds.  ALSO I bought a ‘grounding mat’ , read about it, it works.

~ Ruben

Personally, my experience points me in the direction of red wine. Red wine has been in the news a lot lately due to the antioxidant “resveratrol” that it contains. To add to that, it was also found by The Lancet study that; “No increase in risk was seen among wine drinkers.”  Woohoo! Red wine it is!

 ☆ Hooch…no bueno for gout.