Canadian researchers report that drinking 4 to 6 cups of coffee daily, compared with no coffee, was associated with reduced serum uric acid levels and incidence of hyperuricemia. Daily 4 to 5 cups of coffee intake was associated with 0.26 mg/dl serum uric acid decrease, where as 6 cups of coffee daily intake was associated with serum uric acid level lower by 0.43 mg/dl.

The researchers interviewed 14, 758 participants in the US (6, 906 men and 7, 852 women) for their coffee and tea drinking habits and evaluated their serum uric acid levels.

Tea intake showed no association with serum uric acid level.

They found no association between serum uric acid level and caffeine intake from beverages. However, they found a modest inverse association with decaffeinated coffee consumption. They suggested that ingredients in coffee, other than caffeine, may be responsible for the decrease in blood uric acid level.

The result from the Canadian researchers is in agreement with a previously reported study on Japanese men. The Japanese study also reported that coffee consumption, not tea consumption, was inversely associated with serum uric acid levels.

Elevated serum uric acid, hyperuricemia, is linked with diseases such as gout and cardiovascular disease.

The study was reported in the June 2007 edition of the Journal of Arthitis Care and Research.

 

 

More on gout and diet:
Gout causes, diagnosis, symptoms, and cure
Food high/low in uric acid
Gout Causes: Food High in Purines and Uric Acid, and Alcohol
Gout and diet: Serum uric acid level and coffee and tea intake
Low purine diet cookbooks and gout related books

Blood uric acid, cardiovacular disease and diabetes:
Uric acid, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus
uric acid, background
Serum uric acid, hypertension and metabolic syndrome
Serum uric acid, obesity and hyperglycemia
Serum uric acid and antioxidant or pro-oxidant activity
Serum uric acid, inflammation and renal disease
Hyperuricemia and nutritional approach

 

Source:

Choi, H. K. and Gary Curhan. 2007. Coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption and serum uric acid level: The third national health and nutrition examination survey. Journal of Arthritis Care and Research, 57(5): 816-821.