Effects of Dietary Factors on Gout: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Recent studies reveal that in spite of the increase in the prevalence of gout, the role of dietary risk factors in the development and management of this condition remains unclear.
Therefore, this review work aimed at clarifying the role of dietary factors in the risk and management of gout.
An extensive search of literatures published between 1960, to 2018 was performed on the databases of PubMed, CINAHL, Science direct, Cochrane, BMJ, Ann Rheum Dis, and BioMed to identify relevant Cohort, Prospective, and Population based, or Cross-sectional studies that examined the effect of diet on gout.
A total of 19 studies (2 Cohort studies, 5 Prospective studies, 1 Population based studies, and 11 Cross sectional studies) were included in this review work. And the methodological quality of these studies was evaluated using the quality assessment tool for observational and cross-sectional studies developed by the National Heart, Lungs and Blood Institute.
This work revealed that a positive association exist between intake of sugar sweetened beverages and the risk of gout. It also revealed an inverse relationship between the increase in coffee consumption and the risk of gout. The multivariate relative risk (RR) for incident gout based on coffee intake grouping of 0, <1, 1 - 3, 4 - 5, and > 6 cups per day, were 1.00, 0.97, 0.92, 0.60 (95% confidence interval 0.41 - 0.87), and 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.19 - 0.88), respectively (P for trend is equal to 0.009).
In addition, this work also recorded a positive association between risk of gout and the consumption of either meat or sea food. The multivariate relative risk of gout among participants who consumed meat at a mean daily intake of 2.5 servings per day was recorded as 1.41 (95% CI, 1.07 to 1.86; P for trend = 0.02).
In summary, this research successfully clarified the role of dietary factors in both the risk and the management of gout. It also showed that while the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, purine - rich foods (like meat and seafood), and fructose rich fruits increased the risk for gout, the consumption of coffee and dairy products reduced the risk for gout. Therefore, it is safe to suggest that dietary risk factors should be considered when gout patients are being managed.