Does Coffee Have Citric Acid, and How Does It Relate to Gout?

A study by Japan's National Defense Medical College and Osaka University followed more than 150,000 Japanese adults and found that each additional day of coffee consumed per week was tied to roughly a 25 percent lower risk of gout. The result challenges the older concern that caffeine metabolism raises uric acid and triggers gout attacks.

Interest in coffee's acids and compounds has grown alongside this research. Citric acid is one of several organic acids found in coffee, though levels vary by origin and roast, which is why some lots taste sour. Earlier reviews from China and elsewhere already suggested coffee intake does not raise uric acid as once assumed.

The relationship between coffee and gout has always been a topic of concern for coffee lovers. In the past, people worried that caffeine metabolism would raise uric acid levels, but in recent years, multiple studies have pointed to the opposite conclusion. A large-scale study jointly conducted by the National Defense Medical College of Japan and Osaka University, involving more than 150,000 Japanese people, analyzed the association between weekly coffee consumption frequency and uric acid levels as well as gout incidence. The results showed that for each additional day of coffee consumption per week, the risk of gout decreased by about 25%. This finding provides new data support for coffee's role in preventing gout and has also prompted further thinking about coffee components and the mechanisms of gout. This article will summarize the core conclusions of the study, previous research evidence, and expert opinions to help readers scientifically understand the relationship between coffee and gout.

Recently, researchers seem to have paid particularly close attention to coffee. In Japan, a team explored how to process coffee grounds more efficiently and in a more environmentally friendly way, even turning them into coffee ground chocolate; cardiology experts pointed out that drinking coffee does not directly interfere with heart rhythm, and moderate consumption is actually beneficial to cardiovascular health and may even help extend lifespan. And the latest data analysis from Japanese medical researchers even proposed that drinking coffee can indeed reduce the risk of gout.

Nikkei reported on April 5 that a research group from the National Defense Medical College of Japan and Osaka University analyzed the association between weekly coffee drinking frequency and uric acid indicators as well as gout incidence among more than 150,000 Japanese people who had undergone genomic individual difference analysis surveys.

Gout occurs because the concentration of uric acid in the blood rises, and a large amount of uric acid travels through the bloodstream to joints throughout the body, causing joint pain of varying severity. According to the previous general view, caffeine in coffee produces uric acid after being metabolized in the body, so it easily raises uric acid levels and induces gout.

However, in recent years, multiple studies in China and abroad have shown that drinking coffee not only does not worsen gout attacks, but may also have a certain preventive effect. One reason is that caffeine is metabolized in the body into methyl urate, which is different from urate, does not accumulate in the body, and does not form tophi; another reason is that coffee is weakly alkaline, which helps maintain the body's acid-base balance and improve insulin levels. At the same time, coffee also has a certain diuretic effect and can promote the excretion of uric acid from the body.

The New England Journal of Medicine once published a survey pointing out that drinking a certain amount of coffee every day is beneficial for lowering blood uric acid. In 2007, researchers from institutions including the University of British Columbia in Canada and Harvard Medical School in the United States conducted a 12-year follow-up survey. The results showed that compared with people who did not drink coffee, gout patients who drank 4 to 5 cups of coffee a day had a 40% lower risk of attacks. Song Xin, a dietitian in the Nutrition Department of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, also introduced a research result: coffee can lower serum uric acid levels and reduce the risk of gout. Men who drink 4 to 5 cups of coffee a day can reduce the incidence of gout by 40% and 59%, respectively.

Although many studies have supported coffee's preventive effect on gout, relevant statistical analysis and data support had previously been lacking. Therefore, this Japanese research team divided weekly coffee drinking frequency from 0 to 7 times into eight stages for data analysis. The analysis results showed that within one week, for each additional day of coffee drinking, the risk of gout could be reduced by about 25% (however, how many times per day, how much is consumed, and whether milk or sugar affects uric acid indicators were all outside the scope of this investigation).

Therefore, long-term coffee consumption helps alleviate gout attacks. The research team also believes that in the future, through in-depth analysis of coffee components, it may be possible to reveal the mechanisms of gout onset and prevention methods, but it is still unclear which components in coffee play a role in reducing gout attacks.

Professor Hirotaka Matsuo of the National Defense Medical College of Japan said: "For a long time, many people believed that coffee was closely related to gout attacks. But the analysis in this study shows that increasing the number of days on which coffee is consumed does not cause fluctuations in uric acid levels, but instead reduces the risk of gout attacks."

In addition, scholars involved in this study also pointed out that gout attacks are more closely related to weight gain and lifestyle, and life stress as well as increases in body fat and vascular fat will more directly drive up uric acid indicators.

Although coffee is beneficial to heart health and can also reduce the risk of gout attacks, in most cases these conclusions are based on the premise of moderate consumption of pure black coffee without sugar or milk, and that the drinkers themselves do not have diseases that may be affected by coffee.

At the same time, coffee is not a miracle cure. When the body feels unwell, it is important to seek medical attention promptly. Paying more attention to dietary habits and lifestyle, persisting in exercise, and going to bed earlier are the most reliable ways to maintain health.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.