Two fizzy drinks a day 'can give you gout'
Last updated at 09:32 01 February 2008
As sales plummet over other health concerns, scientists revealed yesterday that carbonated drinks are behind a rise in the painful joint condition.
Gout, which affects 600,000 people in Britain, was once known as "the disease of kings" because only the very wealthy could afford quantities of alcohol usually associated with it.
A study of more than 46,000 men found those who had two or more cans a day were 85 per cent more likely to get gout compared to those who had one a month or less.
The risk also significantly increased among those who drank five to six a week, according to findings published online by the British Medical Journal.
Gout generally involves very severe attacks of joint pain followed by long periods of remission.
The condition is caused by the formation of urate crystals, formed by too much uric acid, within joints and other tissues.
Sweetened soft drinks contain large amounts of fructose, a naturally occurring sugar found in tree fruits that triggers gout by increasing the levels of uric acid in the blood.
Rheumatologist Dr Hyon Choi, of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, who led the study, said: "The risk of gout posed by the highest fifth of fructose intake was comparable to that seen with alcohol intake of 30g to 50g daily.
"Similarly, the magnitudes of risk posed by sugar- sweetened soft drinks or fruit juices were slightly larger than that of spirits."
In the United States, a doubling of the number of people with gout over the past few decades has coincided with a substantial increase in the consumption of soft drinks.
The news comes as a report revealed Britons are rejecting fizzy drinks. Market analysts Datamonitor says the amount of fizzy drinks consumed will fall from 61 per cent of all cold, soft drinks to 50 per cent over three years.
Datamonitor believes healthconscious Britons are abandoning sugary drinks on health grounds.
They are now more likely to drink bottled water or fruit juice.
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