What Causes Uric Acid to Increase?

Common Causes of High Uric Acid Levels

Uric acid is a waste product that your body produces in the process of breaking down purines found in certain types of food and drinks. Your kidneys are responsible for filtering uric acid and then excreting it through urine. When the levels of uric acid in the body increase, it is known as hyperuricemia. It is due to excess production or inefficient discharge of uric acid.  

Which Organ is Responsible for Uric Acid?

The liver is responsible for producing uric acid. Whereas the kidneys are responsible for removing uric acid from our body. The process involves filtering uric acid from the blood, where about 70-80% is removed through urine. The remaining is excreted through the intestines.

What Will Happen if Uric Acid is High?

The medical term for having high uric acid is hyperuricemia. A slight rise in uric acid levels might not be noticeable. However, the level gradually rises due to a build-up in your blood, leading to symptoms such as pain.

If you do not take timely treatment of hyperuricemia, it can permanently damage:

• Joints
• Bones
• Tendons
• Ligaments

There is a link between high uric acid levels and other health conditions like:

• Diabetes
• Fatty liver
• Metabolic syndrome
• Kidney disease
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure

What Causes High Uric Acid?

Your body naturally produces uric acid to break down purines. Purines are found in various types of food, such as vegetables, grains, and alcoholic beverages. It does not harm your body in small amounts. However, eating purine-rich meals can lead to a rise in uric acid levels.

Here is a list of diet staples that are high in purines:

• Organ meats like liver
• Seafood like prawns
• Lentils like urad dal, rajma
• Alcoholic drinks like beer
• Sugary drinks or high fructose corn syrup
• Vegetables like spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, and mushrooms

How to Reduce Uric Acid Naturally?

An increase in uric acid levels might be due to existing health conditions, diet, and genetics. The standard uric acid is under 6.8 mg/dL. You can reduce the rise in uric acid levels naturally by incorporating certain changes in your lifestyle, such as:  

• Limiting Intake of Purine-Rich Food  : A low-purine diet involves including more fresh fruits and green vegetables and avoiding meat. The right kind of food is bread, cereal, and pasta. You can also include low-fat milk, yoghurt, cheese, coffee, eggs and wholegrain options.  
• Reduce Sugar : Fruits and honey have natural sugar, fructose. Your body breaks it down to release purines, eventually increasing levels of uric acid. However, fructose in sugary drinks tends to be absorbed more directly in the blood than in whole foods. Table sugar, corn syrup, and other fructose drinks also lack fibre, protein, or other nutrients.  
• Drink Water : Your kidneys tend to flush out 70 to 80% of the uric acid. You must have plenty of water to tackle this process. According to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), men should consume 3.7 litres of water per day, and women should intake 2.7 litres. This will ensure proper kidney functioning and keep high uric acid at bay.
• Avoid Alcohol : Alcohol consumption leads to dehydration and triggers high uric acid. Beer is said to be higher in purine than other alcoholic beverages, increasing the chances of high uric acid. It also tends to increase the metabolism of nucleotides, a source of protein, which converts into uric acid.    
• Caffeine : Coffee has been observed to reduce uric acid levels in two ways. Firstly, it competes with the enzyme responsible for breaking down purine, lowering the production rate of uric acid. Secondly, it speeds up the process of flushing it out.
• Managing Blood Sugar Levels : If you have high blood pressure, chances are that you are at a higher risk of developing hyperuricemia. An increase in uric acid levels tends to cause pathological changes like inflammation, oxidative stress, and vascular endothelial injury. This subsequently leads to a negative impact on blood pressure levels.  

When to Seek Medical Help?

Generally, you can manage a rise in uric acid levels by making lifestyle changes like tweaking your diet, having regular exercise and avoiding alcoholic beverages. However, you will have to get medical help when you see new symptoms like:

• Swelling
• Discolouration or redness
• Warm sensation in joints
• Pain during or after urinating

Timely diagnosis speeds up the treatment process, which reduces the chances of any serious medical condition. Consult a medical professional regarding the treatment plan, low-purine diet and medication plan.