Plant-based protein diet lowers serum urate in gout patients

A Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style diet with an emphasis on plant-based protein reduces serum urate relative to that rich in carbohydrates or unsaturated fat, reports a recent study.

The authors performed a secondary analysis of the Optimal Macronutrient Intake Trial to Prevent Heart Disease feeding study, a three-period, crossover design, randomized trial of adults with prehypertension or hypertension. Participants were given three DASH-style diets in random order, each for 6 weeks.

The DASH-style diets emphasized different macronutrient proportions: carbohydrate, protein, and unsaturated fat. In the protein-rich diet, nearly half of the protein were sourced from plants. The effects of these diets on serum urate were compared at weeks 4 and 6 of each feeding period.

One hundred sixty-three individuals met the inclusion criteria for the final analysis, with mean serum urate level of 5.1 mg/dL at baseline.

Of the three DASH-style diets, only the plant-based protein diet lowered serum urate at the end of the 6-week feeding period (–0.16, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], –0.28 to –0.04; p=0.007). Both the carbohydrate- (–0.03 mg/dL, 95 percent CI, –0.14 to 0.09; p=0.66) and the unsaturated fat-rich diets (–0.01 mg/dL, 95 percent CI, –0.12 to 0.09; p=0.78) did not reduce serum urate from baseline.

The protein-rich diet reduced serum urate by 0.12 mg/dL (95 percent CI, –0.20 to –0.03; p=0.006) and by 0.12 mg/dL (95 percent CI, –0.20 to –0.05; p=0.002) relative to the carbohydrate- and the unsaturated fat-rich diets, respectively.

“Future trials should test the ability of a DASH-style diet emphasizing plant-based protein to lower serum urate and prevent gout flares in patients with gout,” the authors said.