A new large-scale survey by researchers in the United States and Canada has found that drinking coffee helps lower uric acid levels in the human body, achieving the effect of preventing gout.
Elevated levels of uric acid in the blood are a precursor to gout. This disease, characterized by typical symptoms of joint pain and inflammation, is most common in adult men. Researchers from institutions such as the University of British Columbia in Canada and Harvard Medical School in the United States found in their investigation that increasing daily coffee intake can significantly lower uric acid levels in the blood.
The research team selected nearly 46,000 men over the age of 40 without a history of gout for a 12-year follow-up survey. Statistical analysis found that people who drink more coffee have significantly lower uric acid levels in their blood. Compared to those who never drink coffee, people who drink 4 to 5 cups of coffee daily have a 40% lower risk of developing gout.
The researchers further analyzed that it is not the caffeine component in coffee that is effective, because drinking decaffeinated coffee also has the effect of lowering uric acid levels in the blood.
Coffee is currently one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. In the United States, for example, more than half of Americans drink more than two cups of coffee on average every day. Therefore, researchers believe it is very important to study the potential health effects of coffee. This research was published in the June issue of the journal *Arthritis Therapy and Research*.