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Does Tea Cause Gout Flare Ups?


Tea, throughout history of both the east and the west, has been known as a drink that works wonders. The health benefits it gives are simply overwhelming. Sadly, drinking a cup of this elixir is not a good idea for gout sufferers.

While many claims that tea is good for treating gout, they are simply empirical evidence that coincides with the fact that a person is a tea-drinker.

This article aims to explain why drinking tea has the tendency to cause gout attacks. Is it really good for gout? Is it a must-drink? Or maybe just another must-avoid?

Gout and Tea

To understand why tea will ignite a gout flare-up, and possibly a series of them, we should first understand what causes gout.

You maybe already aware of this, but here is a quick review for you:

Gout is a type of arthritis resulting from the crystallization of uric acid in the joints, specifically in the synovial fluids. However, the synovial fluids are probably the cleanest part of your body – it is an Eden where no foreign substance are supposed to exist there. There is no such thing as a uric acid crystal in there. Hence, with every time uric acid crystallizes an army of neutrophils is mobilized to respond thus sparking both pain and inflammation.

Here is something not commonly known:  uric is acid is not the sole cause of gout. Come to think of it, your body is one of nature’s most effective machination. It is very effective in self-preservation, such as flushing uric acid out.  How did it come that uric acid accumulates?

Uric acid is not the only junk in your body. There are other acids as well such as oxalic acid and lactic acid. Because of this the efforts of the kidneys and the liver are divided among the excretion of each individual acid. If it is only uric acid, the kidneys will gladly give you a thumbs up with a “No problem!” wink, but with all those acids, the kidneys will weep with suffering. Hence, it is not just uric acid that gout sufferers should avoid. If you are a truly dedicated to the relief of gout, you should avoid acidic foods and beverages, including teas. (Yes teas are acidic)

The acidity of teas lie between pH 6 to 2.5 (the lower the more acidic). Take note that pH 5 is ten times more acidic than 6, and 4 is a hundred times. What more will the 2.5 be? As you take an acidic meal, the uric acid will sink into half-oblivion as other acids are excreted. Hence, uric acid accumulates and voila! Gout flare-up burns its way into your joints.

A tea a day keeps the gout-flare away! (Nah)

Ironically, tea is revered as an anti-gout miracle cure. Unfortunately, NO.

Tea is said to be alkaline because it contains caffeine. There is no denying that caffeine is alkaline but that does not mean that the tea as a whole is alkaline. Think of it like this: does pouring a glass of seawater into a pool of freshwater makes the entire pool salty? Of course not. It is a matter of ratio between H and OH ions.

Contrary to the claims that caffeine will help ease your gout, it is in fact a trigger. Caffeine falls under a family of substance called xanthine. Caffeine has almost the same structure as purine and allopurinol. Hence, it can yield two possible results as it attracts the attention of the enzyme xanthine oxidase: it can be broken down into uric acid; or it can attract the attention of xanthine oxidase avoiding production of uric acid for a while. The latter may seem good, but it also means that you will produce twice the uric acid later as the unbroken purine is broken down. This sudden rush is a trigger for gout attack.

Conclusion

Tea is none but another addition to your astoundingly long list of “not-to-eat-‘coz-I-have-gout”. Many claims that it will help you get rid of your gout. Sadly, these claims are not true. If you want to regain the freedom to eat, tea is not for you.

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