New research derived from the larger Nurses' Health Study has found a new connection between drinking fructose-rich beverages like soda and developing joint arthritis. According to Dr. Hyon Choi and colleagues from Boston University, drinking high fructose beverages increases uric acid levels in the blood, which eventually deposits into the joints where it causes gout.
Published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association, the report claims that people who drink one fructose-rich beverage a day are 74 percent more likely than those who drink less than one per month to develop gout. And those who drink two or more fructose-rich beverages a day are 97 percent more prone to the disease than minimal drinkers.
Strangely enough, even orange juice appears linked to gout. Once-a-day orange juice consumption raised risk levels by 41 percent, while drinking two servings a day resulted in a 142 percent risk increase. However, other kinds of juices did not appear to exhibit the same effects.
"Physicians should be aware of the potential effect of these beverages on the risk of gout," explained Choi and colleagues in their report.
The team also noted that women with a body mass index (BMI) above 30, as well as those who drink alcohol, are at an even higher risk. And even though only one percent of women who participated in the study ended up developing gout, excess fructose consumption is never a good idea because the sugar component in its processed form can aggravate proper insulin function, induce type-2 diabetes, and lead to obesity.
Sources for this story include:http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Womens...
