High consumption of animal fats decrease the risk of gout by 20%

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003 Oct;78(4):690-701

Study title and authors:

A case-control study of the association of diet and obesity with gout in Taiwan.

Lyu LC, Hsu CY, Yeh CY, Lee MS, Huang SH, Chen CL.

Graduate Program of Nutrition, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. t10010@cc.ntnu.edu.tw

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14522726

The purpose of this study was to explore potential dietary and lifestyle risk factors associated with gout in Chinese men. The study included 92 men with gout and 92 healthy controls.

The study found with regard to fat intake:
(a) Men who ate the most animal fat had a 20% decreased risk of gout compared to the men who ate the least animal fat.
(b) Men who ate the most saturated fat had a 3% decreased risk of gout compared to the men who ate the least saturated fat.
(c) Men who ate the most plant fat had a 10% increased risk of gout compared to the men who ate the least plant fat.

The results of the study show that higher intakes of animal fat and saturated fat are associated with a decrease in the incidence of gout, whereas higher plant fat intake is associated with an increase in the incidence of gout.

Links to other studies:
LOW intakes of saturated fat associated with gout
Patients affected by gout have lower levels of HDL cholesterol than healthy people