Other Claims Against Caffeine
You may have heard or read about other negative health effects from caffeine consumption, but as of now, there just isnt enough evidence to fully endorse those as legitimate health concerns.
Some of those negatives include:
- Adrenal fatigue
- Accelerates bone loss. Src.
- Tremors
Caffeine is a drug and can affect people differently just like any other substance. Its important that consumers understand how caffeine interacts with their bodies in regard to their personal health histories. For some consumers, swapping morning coffee for a shot of ginger or another naturally energizing beverage could be a better alternative. Sprint Kitchen;has some good recommendations.
The food and beverage industry spends millions, if not billions, of dollars worldwide to fund studies and promote caffeinated products as safe or even healthy.
Fortunately, caffeine is one of the most researched substances on the planet and there does exist some unbiased data from which to glean some reliable information from.
While much of the research published does allude to the safety and even potential benefits of caffeine , there are a handful of research studies that highlight the potentially harmful effects of caffeine.
The risks of suffering from any of the harmful effects of caffeine are diminished by being aware of how much is personally being consumed daily.
It is also important to be aware of any pre-existing medical conditions that may contribute to caffeines negative effects.
Alcohol And Gout Risk
Although beer may be the worst drink for gout, any alcoholic beverage can trigger gout symptoms in people who are prone to the disease. “Alcohol causes the kidneys to excrete alcohol instead of excreting uric acid. That increases the amount of uric acid in the blood, which could provoke a gout attack in about one or two days,” warns David Freeman, MD, a rheumatologist at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass.
Energy Drinks And Gout Risk
Coffee isnât the only beverage of which to be wary. Consuming some energy drinks is akin to going on a caffeine binge. These drinks may also be high in sugar, so you could be risking a âdaily double” for gout risk. “No studies have evaluated the impact of energy drinks on gout. However, as the majority of these drinks are sweetened with fructose, one can infer that they are likely to also increase gout attacks,” warns Sloane. Not everyone with high uric acid gets gout pain, but studies show that uric acid is increasing in the American diet. Protect yourself by keeping an eye on what you eat and what you drink.
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Is There A Link Between Drinking Coffee And Gout
Date: 02/07/2019 | Topics : Gout Flare Prevention, Lifestyle Tips for Gout,
If you start your day with coffee, youre in good company. According to the results of a survey commissioned by the National Coffee Association, 64 percent of Americans 18 or over drink it every day.1 Everyone knows that coffee is warm, comforting and can help you feel energized, but is there a link between drinking coffee and gout?
Assessment Of Coffee And Tea Intake
During the home interview, coffee and tea intake were determined from responses to the food frequency questionnaire administered to participants to assess their usual consumption over the past month. Using the US Department of Agriculture food composition sources, we estimated that the caffeine content of the individual beverages was 137 mg per cup of coffee, 47 mg per cup of tea, and 46 mg per bottle or can of cola beverage .
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What Is Caffeine And Is It Good Or Bad For Health
Each day, billions of people rely on caffeine to wake up, or to get through that night shift or an afternoon slump.
In fact, this natural stimulant is one of the most commonly used ingredients in the world (
Caffeine is often talked about for its negative effects on sleep and anxiety.
However, studies also report that it has various health benefits.
This article examines the latest research on caffeine and your health.
Is Drinking Tea A Good Cure For Gout
Looking back to the history of countries located on both east and west, the tea is considered and known to be a drink which gives wonders. Also, it is giving many overwhelming health benefits. However, a cup of tea is not meant to be drunk by the individuals who suffer from gout.
There are various claims about the tea being a good idea in order to treat gout. However, these are just firsthand evidence which corresponds to the fact that an individual is a tea-drinker.
The goal of this article is to explain for what reason that drinking tea can possibly cause gout attacks. It makes us think like is it really a good choice for gout? Is it a must avoid or a must drink?
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Potential Risks Of Caffeine
Although caffeine has some health benefits, you shouldnt consume it heavily. Caffeine can interact with medications and health conditions to cause negative consequences. Consider the following before consuming caffeine:
Habit-Forming;
First and foremost, caffeine is habit-forming and may become addictive. Consuming caffeine in large amounts for a long period of time can lead to withdrawal feelings such as headaches and irritability in many people. While caffeine withdrawal is mild compared to many other forms of withdrawal, it can still be unpleasant. Consider the potential effects before increasing your caffeine consumption.
May Cause Headaches
Caffeine can lead to headaches and migraines for two reasons. First, if you have formed a caffeine addiction, failing to consume caffeine one day can lead to withdrawal symptoms like headaches. Meanwhile, consuming a much larger amount of caffeine than you normally do can also cause headaches. While some patients who have migraines find caffeine to help reduce their symptoms, other people find that consuming caffeine triggers migraines.;
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Risks And Side Effects
Caffeine intake over 400 milligrams per day could lead to an elevated heart rate, mild dehydration, jittery feeling, increased risk for some diseases, and caffeine withdrawal. Caffeine itself isn’t addictive, your body may become accustomed to the stimulant.
If you decrease your caffeine intake it could lead to withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, increased fatigue, and difficulty focusing.
It’s also important to be mindful of what you drink with your coffee. Do you add a lot of creamer or dairy to your coffee? How much sugar or sweeteners are you adding to your coffee?
The added sugars and fat that is added to coffee increases your total calorie intake for the day, which could make weight maintenance more difficult, and the added sugar could put you at risk for developing conditions like diabetes.
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Gout And Caffeine Studies
Since gout is on the increase there have been many studies which seek to identify the cause for this dramatic increase.
Below are just a few of the studies that have looked at caffeine, coffee, tea and their influence on a person developing gout.
- A study sponsored by the American College of Rheumatology found that men who are coffee drinkers actually decrease their risk of experiencing gout. ;src.
- A study from the American Society for Nutrition showed that women who are coffee drinkers also had less risk of developing gout. src.
- Another study showed that people who binge on caffeine are more likely to have a gout attack. This means that people who usually have little caffeine daily but occasionally have a lot of caffeine in one day are at risk.
- A related study looked at the lifestyles of 79,000 women over a 25 year period and found that women who consumed at least one sugary beverage daily were twice as likely to suffer with gout than women who very rarely drank sugary beverages. This study didnt list caffeine as a factor, but just the sugar content of the beverage. src.
Caffeine May Trigger Gout Attacks
Increased Caffeine Intake Linked to Recurrent Gout Attacks in Study
Nov. 11, 2010 — An extra jolt or two of caffeine may trigger a gout attack in people with the painful and often disabling arthritic condition, preliminary research suggests.
“We found that overall, as the number of servings of caffeinated beverages increased, so too did the chance of having recurrent gout attacks,” says Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.
For example, drinking four servings of caffeinated beverages in the previous 24 hours was associated with an 80% increased risk of recurrent gout attacks, compared with having no caffeinated drinks.
Drinking more than six servings of caffeinated beverages in the previous day was associated with a 3.3-fold higher risk of a flare-up, the study of 663 gout patients suggests.
When habitual and occasional caffeine drinkers were looked at separately, the link was only observed in people with gout who typically drink less than two caffeinated beverages a day, Neogi tells WebMD.
“As little as three servings a day could do it for these people,” she says.
“In contrast, in people with gout who usually have two or more caffeinated beverages a day, increasing caffeine intake doesn’t appear to raise the risk of gout attacks,” Neogi says.
The findings were presented here at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting.
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Coffee Consumption May Lower Blood Uric Acid Levels
Arthritis Care Research News Alerts.;2007;57:816-821.;
High uric acid levels in the blood are a precursor of gout, the most common inflammatory arthritis in adult men. It is believed that coffee and tea consumption may affect uric acid levels but only one study has been conducted to date. A new large-scale study published in the June 2007 issue of Arthritis Care & Research examined the relationship between coffee, tea, caffeine intake, and uric acid levels and found that coffee consumption is associated with lower uric acid levels but that this appears to be due to components other than caffeine.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world; more than 50 percent of Americans drink it at the average rate of 2 cups per day. Because of this widespread consumption, its potential effects have important implications for public and individual health. Led by Hyon K. Choi, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, the current study was based on the U.S. Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted between 1988 and 1994. It included over 14,000 men and women at least 20 years old who consented to a medical exam in which blood and urine specimens were obtained. Coffee and tea consumption were determined based on responses to a food questionnaire that assessed intake over the previous month. Researchers estimated the amount of caffeine per cup of coffee or tea using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Tables
What Is The Evidence On Coffee And Gout
A study conducted over a 12 years span published by the Arthritis and Rheumatology medical journal proved that men over the age of 40 who drink coffee regularly had a lower risk of developing gout. This was a study that followed 45,869 with no history of gout at baseline by the way and 757 of these men developed gout after the 12 years. Furthermore, the more coffee the men drank; the more they decrease their risk of a gout attack the study claimed.
Men who drank 5 or more cups a day appeared to have the lowest risk. Drinking one to three cups of coffee a day lowered gout risk by only 8%. The risk of gout was 40% lower for men who drank four to five cups a day and 59% lower for men who drank six or more cups a day than for men who never drank coffee. Wow! Thats a lot of coffee man! This correlation also seemed to hold true for decaffeinated coffee too! Decaffeinated coffee did have an effect, although it wasnt as large as the effect of caffeinated coffee. The conclusion the researchers came to was that coffee caused reduction in uric acid levels in the blood stream allowing coffee drinkers to avoid gout.
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Why Can Coffee Do This
When you have gout, your doctor will prescribe you two types of medication: uricosurics and xanthine oxidase inhibitors. Coffee is a methyl xanthine which means it can block the metabolization of purines which are the source of uric acid. When you drink coffee, you essentially keep your uric acid levels low.;
In addition, there is a polyphenol in coffee called chlorogenic acid which helps with insulin sensitivity. Decreased insulin sensitivity in the body also means better uric acid elimination.
Does Caffeine Make Gout Worse
Well, there may be some good news for gout sufferers. Several studies suggest that caffeine, in and of itself, may not be linked to a higher risk of either incident gout or recurring gout.
In fact, at least one study, published in 2007, found quite the opposite: an inverse association between long-term coffee consumption and serum uric acid. In other words, the study found that blood uric acid levels decreased with increased coffee intake.
And remember, gout is caused by higher-than-normal uric acid levels in the bloodstream so this, and similar studies, suggest that coffee may actually reduce the risk of gout , not increase it.
However, the study couldnt find an association with tea or with total caffeine consumption . But it did find an association with coffee.
So it seems that other components in coffee may be responsible for lowering uric acid, not the caffeine. Exactly what or how this works is unknown, although there are some theories.
For example, coffee contains chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol that studies show may help improve insulin sensitivity and reduce glucose levels. This is interesting in our context because a study has linked improved insulin sensitivity to increased uric acid excretion which, of course, can then lead to a reduction in blood uric acid and a lower gout risk.
Also, other studies suggest that chlorogenic acid helps to inhibit iron absorption in the body which, since iron overload is a risk factor for gout, reduces the risk of gout.
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Does Coffee Affect Gout
Coffee is a stimulant drink that can help you keep alert and may help boost your mood throughout the day. We know well that it has some caffeine. And it contains some antioxidants, too. Drinking it in moderation is commonly considered safe for most people. But if you have gout, does it affect your gout or should you avoid it?
List of nutrients in coffee
When talking about coffee, caffeine may strike first in your mind. ;Yap, this beverage is a common source of dietary caffeine. See also the amount of caffeine in coffee and decaffeinated coffee in here!
But it is not only about caffeine. There are other essential nutrients in coffee that can help provide some health benefits. In fact, it is a complex mixture of other nutrients and chemicals. These include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fats , alkaloids, carbohydrate, and even some antioxidants .
According to a study, black tea is one of top leading sources for antioxidants in the average American diet. And we know well that antioxidants are the healthy and essential substance to fight against free radicals that are thought as a trigger of cancer.
Even some scientific evidences suggest that drinking coffee moderately may help reduce the risk of some health conditions. These include type-2 diabetes, some kinds of cancer, and Parkinsons disease.
Coffee and gout
Some studies suggest that men who have habit of drinking coffee may have lower risk of gout than men who dont.
A word of caution
What Happens If You Drink Too Much Green Tea
According to WebMD:
Drinking too much green tea more than five cups per day, for example is POSSIBLY UNSAFE. It can cause side effects because of the caffeine. These side effects can range from mild to serious and include headache, nervousness, sleep problems, vomiting, diarrhea, irritability, irregular heartbeat, tremor, heartburn, dizziness, ringing in the ears, convulsions, and confusion. Green tea seems to reduce the absorption of iron from food. Drinking very high doses of green tea is LIKELY UNSAFE and can actually be fatal. The fatal dose of caffeine in green tea is estimated to be 10-14 grams . Serious toxicity can occur at lower doses.
As long as you dont have any of the conditions listed above, and your doctor has cleared you to take green tea, and you restrict yourself to two or three cups per day , then you should get all the potential health benefits without any nasty side effects.
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You Can’t Avoid All Purines
There are too many sources of purines to eliminate them all from your diet. You will stay healthier overall if you eat some foods with purines. Remember that vegetable purines have never been shown to promote gout attacks, and that low-fat dairy products are protein sources that lower your risk of gout pain. People with gout can still enjoy meat in moderation, but should limit meat, fish, and poultry to 4 to 6 ounces a day.
The Potential Effect Of Coffee
While more research is needed, studies suggest that drinking coffee is associated with a lower risk of gout.3,4 One study of more than 45,000 male medical professionals found that the group who drank the most coffee had the lowest risk of gout.3 The risk of gout was 40 percent lower in participants who drank four to five cups of coffee each day, and nearly 60 percent lower in those who drank six or more cups each day.3 The potential benefits of coffee were less pronounced in participants who drank one to three cups per daythese individuals saw just an eight percent reduction in their risk of gout.3
Data from a separate review of a nationally representative sample of American adults also suggest that coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of gout.4 It is not exactly clear why or how drinking coffee may reduce the risk of gout.3,4 However, researchers from both studies agree that coffee is a major source of a strong antioxidant that may affect gout risk.3,4
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