Drinking orange juice every day ‘doubles women’s risk of gout’

Women who drink just two glasses of orange juice a day are twice as likely to get gout, scientists claim.They say increasing numbers are developing the painful disease, a form of arthritis, which usually only occurs in men. Researchers found that women who drink just one glass of orange juice a day were 40 per cent more likely to develop gout Those who had two glasses a day were two and a half times more at risk from the disease, which is linked to a poor diet and commonly associated with Victorian times. Experts believe the high sugar content in fruit juice causes uric acid - a waste product in the blood - to leach out into the joints, causing them to become swollen and very painful. Gout affects 1.5 per cent of Britons although men are four times more likely to develop the condition than women.But the number of female cases has doubled in the last 20 years with and now affects as many as 3.5 per cent of those over 60. In the past it has been linked to drinking too much alcohol and a diet high in red meat. Experts have also shown soft fizzy drinks can increase the risk. The disease was particularly common amongst wealthy, portly gentlemen in the Tudor, Georgian and Victorian eras and Henry VIII was believed to have been a sufferer.Researchers at the University of Boston studied 80,000 women over a 22 year period, who all carried out regular questionnaires on what they ate and drank. They found that those who drank one glass of orange juice a day were 41 per cent more at risk, while those who had two or more were 2.4 times at risk. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, showed that women who had a can of a sugary soft drink were 70 per cent more likely to get the condition Those who had two or more were 2.4 times more at risk - the same as drinking orange juice. The researchers warn that women should consider cutting back on orange juice and fizzy drinks to reduce their risk.Dr Hyon Choi, of Boston University School of Medicine, said: ‘Fructose-rich beverages such as sugar-sweetened soda and orange juice can increase serum uric acid levels and, thus, the risk of gout, but prospective data on the relationship are limited. ‘Our data provide prospective evidence that fructose poses an increased risk of gout among women, thus supporting the importance of reducing fructose intake.’ Last year the same team of scientists found that gout affected 3.5 per cent of women aged 60 to 69, 4.6 per cent of those aged 70 to 79 age group, and 5.6 per cent of those over 80. Daily Mail