Gout Forum - Low Purine Diet And Diuretics

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Q: Low Purine Diet And Diuretics

asked by: kornhauser on July 12th, 2007

New User

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

Replies(1)

JYY2

replied on July 18th, 2007

Experienced User

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.

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