Do beer and liquor raise uric acid?

pooled analysis · 2018 · landmark

“The food items with the strongest urate raising effect (beer and liquor) were associated with a 1.38 μmol/L increase in serum urate per serving per week, equating to a 9.66 μmol/L (0.16 mg/dL) increase per daily serving.”

Evaluation of the diet wide contribution to serum urate levels: meta-analysis of population based cohorts. BMJ
Who: Adults of European ancestry in five US cohorts (ARIC, CARDIA, CHS, FHS, NHANES III), excluding people under 18, with kidney disease or gout, or taking urate lowering or diuretic drugs
PMID 30305269

trial or observed group · 2010

“Dose-dependent increases in SU are noted in association with beer and total alcohol intake in both men and women, and with liquor intake only in men.”

Serum urate and its relationship with alcoholic beverage intake in men and women: findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort. Ann Rheum Dis
Who: CARDIA cohort of young US Caucasian and African American adults aged 18-30 at recruitment (mean age 25.1), with serum urate measured at years 0 and 20; sex-specific cross-sectional analyses
PMID 20525839

other primary study · 2015

“When different alcohol types were analyzed separately, the highest consumers of beer and spirits had significantly higher SUA levels in both cohorts, however the highest consumers of wine in the Australian cohort had significantly lower SUA.”

Cross-sectional analysis of nutrition and serum uric acid in two Caucasian cohorts: the AusDiab Study and the Tromsø study. Nutr J
Who: Caucasian adults from two population cohorts: AusDiab (Australia, aged >=25, 1999/00) and the Tromso Study 4 (Norway, 1994-95), excluding prior myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke
PMID 25971955

other primary study · 1984

“Serum urate and whole blood lactate and pyruvate levels did not significantly change during the three infusions (Table I).”

Ethanol-induced activation of adenine nucleotide turnover. Evidence for a role of acetate. J Clin Invest
Who: 5 normal subjects, mean age 24 yr (range 21-32), on a purine-free diet in a clinical research center (plus 4 normal ambulatory subjects in a preliminary acetate dose-response study)
PMID 6470146

other primary study · 2016

“In males, after adjusting for factors including age, race, education, income, diet scores, smoking status, activity level, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and medication used, heavy drinkers had an approximately 1.7-fold higher risk of hyperuricemia (OR: 1.657, 95% CI: 1.368 to 2.007, p < 0.001) than non-drinkers; moderate drinkers did not experience a significant increase in risk (OR: 1.232, 95% CI: 0.951 to 1.596, p = 0.114).”

The Relation of Moderate Alcohol Consumption to Hyperuricemia in a Rural General Population. Int J Environ Res Public Health
Who: Rural general population aged 35 years or older in Liaoning Province, China (4997 men and 6042 women); cross-sectional baseline data 2012-2013
PMID 27447659

other primary study · 2022

“Contrary to results from a meta-analysis which suggested that alcohol consumption increased the risk of hyperuricemia and gout [27], we found that the number of alcoholic beverages consumed per week had no causal effect on serum uric acid levels nor the risk of developing gout.”

The Relationship between Alcohol Consumption and Gout: A Mendelian Randomization Study. Genes (Basel)
Who: Two-sample Mendelian randomization using GWAS summary data (alcohol: 941,280 individuals; serum uric acid: 457,690; gout: 334,880), plus a clinical cohort of 40 recently diagnosed male hyperuricemia and gout patients split by alcohol status and 10 healthy controls in Shanghai
PMID 35456363

trial or observed group · 2010

“Wine intake was not associated with SU in either sex and total alcohol was associated with higher SU concentrations in both men and women.”

Serum urate and its relationship with alcoholic beverage intake in men and women: findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort. Ann Rheum Dis
Who: CARDIA cohort of young US Caucasian and African American adults aged 18-30 at recruitment (mean age 25.1), with serum urate measured at years 0 and 20; sex-specific cross-sectional analyses
PMID 20525839

other primary study · 2015

“Consumption of wine was not associated with higher SUA in any of the subgroups in either cohort.”

Cross-sectional analysis of nutrition and serum uric acid in two Caucasian cohorts: the AusDiab Study and the Tromsø study. Nutr J
Who: Caucasian adults from two population cohorts: AusDiab (Australia, aged >=25, 1999/00) and the Tromso Study 4 (Norway, 1994-95), analysed by sex and abdominal obesity
PMID 25971955

other primary study · 2014

“Although the serum UA concentration increased with increasing beer intake, our results supported the previously reported solitary finding that moderate wine drinking does not increase the serum UA concentration [37] .”

Metabolic syndrome, alcohol consumption and genetic factors are associated with serum uric acid concentration. PLoS One
Who: Czech adults aged 18-65 from Central Bohemia or Prague with no coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease or stroke (285 men, 304 women)
PMID 24827988

other primary study · 2023

“In women, SUA levels were decreased by 0.008 mg/dL for one gram increase in weekly wine consumption in the adjusted model ( P = .047) while a weak positive association was shown among men only in the age-adjusted model.”

Association between alcoholic beverage intake and hyperuricemia in Chinese adults: Findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Medicine (Baltimore)
Who: Chinese adults aged 18 or older from nine provinces in the 2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey (3418 men, of whom 195 drank wine)
PMID 37266646

other primary study · 2024

“Among alcoholic beverages, beer, wine, and shochu showed clear dose-response relationships.”

Changes in alcohol intake and serum urate changes: longitudinal analyses of annual medical examination database. Ann Rheum Dis
Who: Japanese adults aged 20 or over with at least two annual medical examinations at St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, excluding those on gout or hyperuricemia drugs (median age 47, 45% men)
PMID 38418204

pooled analysis · 2018 · landmark

“Wine was significantly associated with serum urate levels in the male cohort, along with eight other food items (beer, soft drink, skim milk, peanuts, eggs, cold cereal, brown bread, and non-citrus fruit).”

Evaluation of the diet wide contribution to serum urate levels: meta-analysis of population based cohorts. BMJ
Who: Adults of European ancestry in five US cohorts (ARIC, CARDIA, CHS, FHS, NHANES III), excluding people with kidney disease or gout or taking urate lowering or diuretic drugs; male cohort analysed separately
PMID 30305269

other primary study · 2023

“Although the association of serum urate levels with wine consumption is under debate, 11 , 18 , 30 this study supports the idea that wine consumption is associated with a substantial but milder increase in serum urate levels.”

Differences in the Association Between Alcoholic Beverage Type and Serum Urate Levels Using Standardized Ethanol Content. JAMA Netw Open
Who: Adults aged 20 or older attending medical checkups at St Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, 2012-2021 (36,463 men; 4883 male wine drinkers, 2088 wine-dominant men)
PMID 36930152

other primary study · 2026

“The wine effect showed the largest association (0.06 [95% CI, 0.01 to 0.11] mg/dL) compared to other beverage intakes.”

Sex-Specific Association of Drinking Habit and Alcohol Beverage Type With Serum Uric Acid in a Healthy Population. J Korean Med Sci
Who: Korean adults over 18 who had health examinations at Samsung Medical Center 2011-2016, excluding low eGFR, HbA1c over 9%, heart disease, cancer, stroke and aspirin use; men analysed separately
PMID 41527316