Orange Juice and Gout

Gout and Orange Juice Discussion

Don:
there are so many conflicting reports on three beverages: coffee, tea, and orange juice.

Certain sites say these (or some of them) are excellent, others say they are the worst. What are your feelings/experiences?

GoutPal:

The hydration effects of these, and most other drinks, are far more important for gout than anything else.

Ignore any claims that caffeine in drinks may worsen gout throughout it’s diuretic effect. You will never get enough caffeine from these drinks to cause dehydration problems.

Coffee has been shown to be beneficial for gout.

The same study showed that tea consumption is not associated with a risk of gout – i.e. it is unlikely to have either positive or negative effect. [Please note that there are recent studies showing a positive gout benefit for tea. Links soon, or use the search box near the foot of the page.]

I’ve only found one relevant study relating orange juice with gout, and, quite frankly, I don’t fully understand it. In “Comparative Value of Orange Juice versus Lemonade in Reducing Stone-Forming Risk”, Odvina shows that orange juice promotes excretion of uric acid. Beyond that, the study is more concerned with formation of kidney stones, so gout risks are not really investigated. The study does state that

Through its alkalizing effect, orange juice also lowered the calculated amount of poorly soluble undissociated uric acid, which could reduce the propensity to form uric acid stones

So, it appears likely that orange juice is beneficial to gout sufferers.

One important point to bear in mind, Don, is that total gout diet is always more important than individual food items. In a good diet, the variety of foods should ensure that no one food dominates to the extent that it has significant influence.

 

Orange Juice & Gout – Next Steps

2011 update: see Orange Juice and Gout. You may also like the related natural gout remedy page.