SAMA HOOLE: Fructose is the only sugar that produces uric acid as it's metabolised. It does it straight away, in the liver, and a can of the stuff moves the number more than a week of chops.

The gout leaflet tells a man to cut down on steak, and the thing driving his uric acid is the can of pop he was handed instead.

What the leaflet says to limit:

- Red meat
- Offal
- Shellfish
- Oily fish

What the leaflet says to swap in:

- Fruit
- Fruit juice
- Wholegrains
-… pic.twitter.com/QGCF8Lx4YC

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) September 28, 2026

The gout leaflet tells a man to cut down on steak, and the thing driving his uric acid is the can of pop he was handed instead. What the leaflet says to limit: - Red meat - Offal - Shellfish - Oily fish What the leaflet says to swap in: - Fruit - Fruit juice - Wholegrains - Low-fat dairy What actually raises uric acid, in order of how hard: - Fructose, from sugar, pop and the juice - Beer - Insulin resistance, which stops the kidneys clearing it Fructose is the only sugar that produces uric acid as it's metabolised. It does it straight away, in the liver, and a can of the stuff moves the number more than a week of chops. Gout was the disease of kings because kings had sugar, port and pastry. The peasants eating mutton didn't get it. So the man with the swollen big toe is told to give up the roast beef, keep the orange juice, and take a tablet.

The joint is the sugar. The steak has been carrying the blame for the sweet stuff since Henry VIII. 

DR. ANTHONY CHAFFEE: You eat breakfast carbs and a whole bunch of carbs and some fruit juice, and some fruit, or whatever, you have 5 hours . . . you just shut down your bacterial immune system.

                               You eat breakfast carbs and a whole bunch of carbs and some fruit juice, and some fruit, or whatever, you have 5 hours . . . you just shut down your bacterial immune system.  And after 5 hours, it's still only half effective.  Then at lunch you have some more of this stuff.  Then you have more of this stuff.  So basically your entire day your immune system is impaired.  You don't need to eat 1 gram of glucose or fructose.  You don't need a single gram.  But who can do this in a healthy respect where it will cause no damage?  No one.

DR. SHAWN BAKER: Those who consume the most fructose had a nearly 3-fold increase in the rates of dementia, and those who consumed the most sucrose had an almost doubling of their dementia risk.

The alarming connection between sugar & dementia: 🍭⚠️ pic.twitter.com/uSBVgf1SyE

— Dr Shawn Baker 🥩 (@SBakerMD) December 5, 2024

Dementia has been in the news quite a bit lately.  Interestingly enough there's a study here that looks at the relationship between sugar consumption and dementia.  "Dietary Sugar Intake Associated with a Higher Risk of Dementia in Community-Dwelling Older Adults," Agarwal, J Alzheimers Dis, 2023;95(4):1417-1425. 

And what it shows is that between the lowest quartile in the highest quartile, those who consume the most fructose had a nearly 3-fold increase in the rates of dementia, and those who consumed the most sucrose had an almost doubling of their dementia risk.  

So perhaps lay off on the sugars. 

Data from Science provides evidence #fructose, at even low-moderate doses, can promote tumor growth.

HT: @DrPalmquist https://t.co/2wt0LUT6pS

— J P Fanton (@HealthyFellow) December 6, 2023