This document discusses uric acid, its relationship to diet, and how to manage high uric acid levels. It explains that uric acid is produced when the body breaks down purines from food and is eliminated by the kidneys. Some foods like seafood and organ meats contain high purines and can increase uric acid levels. Having too much uric acid can lead to gout or kidney stones. The document provides recommendations for treatment if levels are too high, including medications and lifestyle changes like diet modification and weight loss.

1. Uric Acid
and Food
Romeo Jr. O. Baliza
BTLED III – HE
FOOD NUTRITION

2. What is Digestion?
Digestion is the process of breaking down large,
insoluble food molecules into smaller, water-
soluble molecules that can be absorbed by the
body. Digestion involves mechanical and chemical
methods. Mechanical digestion is the physical
breakdown of food with the teeth and stomach.
Chemical digestion is the use of enzymes to break
down food into small molecules that the body can
use.

3. Digestion Process
NORMAL DIET
HIGH URIC
ACID LEVEL

4. Uric Acid
Uric acid is a waste product found in blood.
It’s created when the body breaks down chemicals
called purines. Most uric acid dissolves in the
blood, passes through the kidneys and leaves the
body in urine. Food and drinks high in purines also
increase the level of uric acid.

5. High Uric Acid Level
A high uric acid level is too much uric acid in the blood.
Uric acid is made during the breakdown of purines. Purines
are found in certain foods and are formed by the body.
Blood carries uric acid to the kidneys. The kidneys pass
most uric acid into the urine, which then leaves the body.
A high uric acid level can be linked to gout or kidney
stones. But most people with high uric acid levels don't have
symptoms of either of these conditions or related problems.

6. High Uric Acid Level

7. Food Causes
• Seafood (especially salmon, shrimp, lobster and sardines)
• Red meat
• Organ meats like liver
• Food and drinks with high fructose corn syrup, and
alcohol (especially beer, including non-alcohol beer)
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Drinking too much soda or eating too much of foods
that contain fructose, a type of sugar

8. Risk Factors
• Obesity
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Diuretics (water retention relievers)
• Genetics also known as inherited traits
• Leukemia

9. Other Causes
• A purine-rich diet, high in foods such as liver, game meat,
anchovies and sardines
• Tumor lysis syndrome — a rapid release of cells into the
blood caused by certain cancers or by chemotherapy for
those cancers
• People having chemotherapy or radiation treatment for
cancer might be monitored for high uric acid levels.

10. Foods to be avoided

11. Foods to be avoided

12. Foods to be avoided

13. Foods to be avoided

14. Foods with low Purine Content

15. Treatment
If too much uric acid stays in the body, a
condition called hyperuricemia will occur.
Hyperuricemia can cause crystals of uric acid (or
urate) to form. These crystals can settle in the
joints and cause gout, a form of arthritis that can
be very painful. They can also settle in the kidneys
and form kidney stones.

17. Treatment
If untreated, high uric acid levels may
eventually lead to permanent bone, joint and tissue
damage, kidney disease and heart disease.
Research has also shown a link between high uric
acid levels and type 2 diabetes, high blood
pressure, and fatty liver disease.

18. How uric acid and gout diagnosed?
A blood sample is taken and tested to determine the
level of uric acid. If you pass a kidney stone or have one
surgically removed, the stone itself might be tested to see
if it is a uric acid stone or a stone of a different type.
Finding an elevated blood uric acid level is NOT the same
as diagnosing gouty arthritis. To diagnose definite gout,
the uric acid crystals must be seen in the fluid taken from
a swollen joint or seen by special imaging of the bones
and joints (ultrasound, X-ray or CAT scan).

19. How uric acid treated?
If you’re having a gout attack, medication can be
used to reduce the inflammation, pain and swelling. You
should drink plenty of fluids, but avoid alcohol and sweet
soft drinks. Ice and elevation are helpful.
Kidney stones may eventually pass out of the body
in urine. Drinking more fluid is important. Try to drink at
least 64 ounces daily (8 glasses at eight ounces each).
Water is best.

20. How uric acid treated?
Your healthcare provider may also prescribe
medications that help stones pass by relaxing the muscles
in the ureter, the duct that urine passes through to get
from the kidney to the bladder.
If the stone is too large to pass, blocks the flow of
urine or causes an infection, it might be necessary to
surgically remove the stone.

21. Management and Prevention
A long-term program of disease management can
help regulate and even stop high uric acid levels and joint
pain flare-ups. Your provider can prescribe medications
that dissolve the deposits of uric acid crystals. A lifelong
urate-lowering therapy may be needed, with medications
that prevent gout flares and ultimately dissolve crystals
that are already in your body.

22. Management and Prevention
Other ways to help manage high uric acid levels include:
• Losing weight, if necessary.
• Watching what you eat (limit your intake of fructose
corn syrup, organ meats, red meat, fish, and beverages
containing alcohol).