Sugar-sweetened beverages up risk of hyperuricaemia

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), but not diet soft drink, appears to increase the level of uric acid in the blood among adults, suggests a recent study, noting the need to strengthen existing recommendations to reduce SSB intake.

The investigators performed a longitudinal analysis using data from the Health Workers Cohort Study. In total, 1,300 adults aged 18–85 years were included in the analysis and followed from 2004 to 2018, with measurements every 6 years. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess SSB consumption during the previous year.

Hyperuricaemia was defined as a concentration of uric acid ≥7.0 mg/dL in men and ≥5.7 mg/dL in women. Fixed-effects logistic regression and generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to evaluate the association of interest. Both approaches included potential confounders.

Of the participants, 233 had hyperuricaemia. Median intake of SSBs was 472.1 mL/wk (interquartile range, 198.8–1,416.4) at baseline.

Participants with an SSB intake ≥7 servings/wk had higher uric acid than those with an intake <1 serving/wk (p<0.001). In addition, participants who increased their consumption from the lowest to the highest serving category had 2.6-fold higher odds of hyperuricaemia (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.27–5.26).

The GEE model showed a 44-percent (95 percent CI, 1.13–1.84) higher odds of hyperuricaemia in the 2–6 servings/wk group and an 89-percent (95 percent CI, 1.39–2.57) higher likelihood in the ≥7 servings/wk categories, compared with the <1 serving/wk category.

Of note, consumption of diet soft drinks did not correlate with hyperuricaemia.