Folic Acid to prevent Gout: How True?
Gout is a sickness of the kings, probably because this is the disease acquired by eating all the enjoyable food around. Red meats, alcoholic drinks and a whole lot more. People will sometimes joke, if it's delicious, it might cause gout! In a way, it is true. These food somehow increase the breakdown of proteins which will then be present in the blood and in the end, this will turn out to become uric acid, the main chemical for gout. There are a lot of supplements that are being taken by sufferers of this disease, one of which is Vitamin B9. acid for gout has long been studied on by a lot of researchers. They have been trying to prove how folic and its derivatives affect the uric acid in the blood stream. It is said that it suppresses xanthine oxidase which is responsible for the conversion of purine to uric acid. So on this basis, this is a very potent medication for Gout, probably even more useful than the current drug of choice which is Allopurinol. Moreover, another benefit of Folic acid is that it can be excreted freely in the urine, so no need for the kidneys to suffer considering the fact that your renals are being weakened by filtering acidic blood causing stones.
This study was based on a non human research though. When they tried it on humans, it unfortunately had no effects. There were no changes seen in their uric acid level. It is believed that if the patients are to take enough amount of it, they might prevent recurring attacks and it might even be used as a preventive supplement.
On checking the bottled supplements, you will see that not much of acid is needed by the body. Around 200 mcg to 500 mcg are being provided by multivitamins in a day and if you check on folic acid tablets alone, it is just as high as 800 mcg. These are the ones provided to pregnant women to prevent neural tube defects on the unborn and it is also needed for red blood cell production. However, these amounts are nothing if you are to use folic acid for gout because you need to acquire 10 mg to 40 mg daily. That is a lot! This considerable amount of folic acid should be prescribed by physicians and should never be taken by yourself; besides, you will not be able to get that amount without prescription as well. Nowadays, food such as flour are being fortified with folic acid to ensure that people are getting enough of it, although you may already be getting its folate form in citric juices such as orange and lime.
Dr. Atkins has included folic acid for gout diet. He emphasized its effect as well and has created suggestions for the gout patients saying that this could be a probable remedy for their sickness. He combined it with a lot of other vitamins and there is no published positive effect of folic acid specifically. Another physician, Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, author of Textbook of Natural Medicine, with published work has agreed on folic acid for gout. They have included it, but still, no published works on the positive effects of folic acid against gout are available.
This study was based on a non human research though. When they tried it on humans, it unfortunately had no effects. There were no changes seen in their uric acid level. It is believed that if the patients are to take enough amount of it, they might prevent recurring attacks and it might even be used as a preventive supplement.
On checking the bottled supplements, you will see that not much of acid is needed by the body. Around 200 mcg to 500 mcg are being provided by multivitamins in a day and if you check on folic acid tablets alone, it is just as high as 800 mcg. These are the ones provided to pregnant women to prevent neural tube defects on the unborn and it is also needed for red blood cell production. However, these amounts are nothing if you are to use folic acid for gout because you need to acquire 10 mg to 40 mg daily. That is a lot! This considerable amount of folic acid should be prescribed by physicians and should never be taken by yourself; besides, you will not be able to get that amount without prescription as well. Nowadays, food such as flour are being fortified with folic acid to ensure that people are getting enough of it, although you may already be getting its folate form in citric juices such as orange and lime.
Dr. Atkins has included folic acid for gout diet. He emphasized its effect as well and has created suggestions for the gout patients saying that this could be a probable remedy for their sickness. He combined it with a lot of other vitamins and there is no published positive effect of folic acid specifically. Another physician, Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, author of Textbook of Natural Medicine, with published work has agreed on folic acid for gout. They have included it, but still, no published works on the positive effects of folic acid against gout are available.
Source...