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DASH diet may lower serum uric acid levels in patients with hypertension
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Patients with hypertension who adopted a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy and reduced in fats and saturated fats lowered their serum uric acid levels, according to results recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Researchers randomly assigned 103 patients (55% were women) with pre-stage or stage 1 hypertension to receive either the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet or a control diet. Patients were also fed either low, medium or high sodium levels for 30 days each in random order, according to researchers. At baseline and following each feeding period, researchers measured serum uric acid levels.
Results showed significantly lower levels of serum uric acid during both low and medium sodium intake among patients on the DASH diet, while high sodium intake had a nonsignificant reduction in serum uric acid levels. Researchers found a reduction in serum uric acid by -0.35 mg/dL among patients on the DASH diet vs. the control diet.
Serum uric acid was significantly reduced with both a medium and high sodium intake regardless of diet compared with a low sodium intake, according to results. Serum uric acid was lowered by -0.34 mg/dL with medium sodium intake and by -0.43 mg/dL with high sodium intake when aggregated across both diets, researchers noted.
“Results of this trial are good news to patients with high blood levels of uric acid or those at risk for gout,” Edgar R. Miller III, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a press release. “A dietary approach to prevent gout should be considered first-line therapy. This study suggests that standard dietary advice for uric acid reduction which is to reduce alcohol and protein intake, should now include advice to adopt the DASH diet.” – by Casey Tingle
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Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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