Low Purine Diet And Diuretics Posted: 07-12-07 08:08am
Hello,
I'm 24 male, and I just had a blood test,
and found out my uric acid level is 9.21
mg/dl. My dad and uncle also have high
uric acid level (around 10 mg/dl) and they
take allopurinol daily.
Since I didn't have any gout attacks (yet)
and in the same blood test my BUN was 18.1
mg/ml it means I didn't drink much before
the blood test. Perhaps that's why the
uric acid level was so high.
Anyway, before I'll start taking the
allopurinol, I decided to try to avoid
purine-rich food, which means (please
correct me if I'm wrong) tomatoes, red
meat, potatoes, seafood and beer.
The one thing I don't understand is the
relation of diuretics and dehydration. It
says on wikipedia that I should drink a
lot, especially water, and that vitamin C
is a good diuretic. If I drink a lot, it
means that I will wash out the uric acid
excess, but then I would also dehydrate
because I will urinate a lot?
What should I do about the drinking?
If i drink mostly Coke, could it increase
my uric acid level?
Many thanks for your answers,
Tom
|
JYY2
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 227
Posted: 07-18-07 18:20pm
Drinking more water can dilute the blood
and the urine to lower their uric acid
levels. It does not cause dehydration nor
excrete more uric acid in the urine. The
amount of water to drink a day is 2~3
litres ; or, drink enough water till the
color of the urine is clear. The best
liquid to drink is slightly alkaline
water. Avoid soda drinks. They have pH
around 2.5 and contain phosphoric acid,
other acids, sucrose, and fructose, which
are all bad for hyperuricemia and gout.
Diuretic is a substance that causes
kidneys to produce more urine. It doesn't
help excrete more uric acid. Loop and
thiazide diuretics can elevate the blood
uric acid. To increase uric acid
excretion one needs to take uricosurics
such as Sulphinpyrazone, probenecid , or
benzbromarone.
Low purine diet helps, but not a whole
lot. Uric acid content and pH of foods
and drinks can be found at
ICuredMyGout.org . Take care.
