Effects of the Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet and Sodium Intake on Serum Uric Acid

Abstract

Objective

Randomized trial data guiding dietary recommendations to lower serum uric acid (SUA), the etiologic precursor of gout, are scarce. We examined the effects of the DASH diet (a well-established diet that lowers blood pressure) and levels of sodium intake, on SUA.

Methods

We conducted an ancillary study of a randomized, crossover feeding trial in 103 adults with pre- or stage 1 hypertension. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the DASH diet or a control diet (typical of the average American diet) and were further fed low, medium, and high sodium levels for 30 days each in random order. Body weight was kept constant. SUA was measured at baseline and following each feeding period.

Results

Trial participants were 55% women and 75% black with a mean age of 52 (SD, 10) years and mean SUA of 5.0 (SD, 1.3) mg/dL. The DASH diet reduced SUA by −0.35 mg/dL (95%CI: −0.65, −0.05; P=0.02) with a higher effect (−1.3 mg/dL; 95% CI −2.50, −0.08) among participants (N=8) with a baseline SUA ≥7 mg/dL. Increasing sodium intake from the low level, decreased SUA by −0.3 mg/dL (95%CI: −0.5, −0.2; P<0.001) during the medium sodium level and by −0.4 mg/dL (95%CI: −0.6, −0.3; P<0.001) during the high sodium level.

Conclusions

The DASH diet lowered SUA, and this effect was greater among participants with hyperuricemia. Moreover, we found that higher sodium intake decreased SUA, which enhances our knowledge of urate pathophysiology and risk factors of hyperuricemia.