I see that uric acid is one of the biomarkers for longevity. Centenarians have lower amounts in their blood ( as well as glucose etc ).
My understanding is that fructose can accelerate ageing as well as increasing uric acid.
So apart from dietary adjustment to lower uric acid, does taking allopurinol ( which can lower uric acid ) help longevity?
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It depends if uric acid is a symptom or a cause of metabolic problems or aging. Do we have any experts on this topic here who could chime in?
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I’m interested in this but no expert.
High Uric acid could be caused by any number of life limiting factors. So it may well be a signal rather than a major cause in its own right. Causes of high uric acid:
Not excreting enough uric acid from the body, sometimes from dehydration but more often kidney disease.
Drinking alcohol, which increases the risk of gout and gout flares.
Eating a high-purine diet that includes a lot of red meat, shellfish, sweets, sugary sodas and high-fructose corn syrup. (Fructose from fruit can also contribute to high uric acid.)
Obesity.
Diabetes.
Certain medications, including some used for arthritis, such as cyclosporine (Neoral) and tacrolimus (Prograf).
But uric acid crystals are clearly not good for joints (gout at the extreme) and kidneys (kidney stones at the extreme). So as well as avoiding the above risk factors it’s probably worth focusing on UA in its own right:
Tart Cherries, water, coffee, vit c foods, fibre = good.
Soda, alcohol, hugh purine foods = bad
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Dr Rick Johnson said he believes Uric acid to be causal of health issues, not merely a marker. Avoiding high Uric acid is not complicated and seems mostly consistent with metabolic health anyway. The only Uric acid unique item is purines: beer is the big one. Also: shellfish, sardines, gravy…it’s the cell nuclei in the foods. Smaller organisms (yeast, etc) have smaller cells which mean more cells per gram which means more nuclei which means more purines, is what I’ve heard.
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BTW I’ve started an informal uric acid level vs diet poll in another thread. Feel free to add more annecdotal data points!
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Low uric acid isn’t good either. 4.3-6.5 is considered optimal. Unfortunately, mine is low (3.6) probably as a result of medications I take, such as Jardiance, Telmisartan, and Rosuvastatin. I’m trying to figure out what I could do or remove in order to get it back to an optimal level.
Anyone know of a way to increase uric acid without having to remove anything?
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Probably taking a small amount say 0.5mg of molybdenum daily for a bit(elemental) will push up urate. I took some for a bit and it pushed my urate up to around 370 in my units when I am normally perhaps around 330. I stopped the molybdenum and it is now settling down around 330. I shall give the last few (weekly) results: (in my units mcmol/l, most recent first). 332.2, 338.8, 374, 369.7, 362. 342.3, 381, 365.4, 368, (stopped Mo) 357.9, (took molybdenum), 330
You can see the Mo had an effect for a number of weeks - as one would expect. Prior to this period my urate was at times around 300 and some times blow, it floats around quite a bit.
Too much urate (uric acid) can lead to gout.
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I believe eating lots of sardines pushes uric acid.
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I don’t eat much purines and my uric acid level is over the scale 0.55 mmol/L (normal range is 0.18 - 0.44)
After 4 months on rapamycin it is not going down. Any suggestions?
Thx
Are you sure low uric acid is bad? I’m just researching this because my blood test results showed low uric acid levels:
I’m reviewing this thread now…
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Found this on Quora, I’ll see if I can raise my number via diet:
High-Purine Vegetable 
There are some vegetables that are high in purines, which are substances that can be broken down into uric acid in the body. If you have high levels of uric acid in your body, consuming these vegetables in excess may increase your uric acid levels further. However, it’s important to note that uric acid levels are influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, medication use, and lifestyle habits, and not everyone will have the same reaction to these foods.
Some vegetables that are relatively high in purines include:
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Cauliflower
- Peas
- Lentils
- Beans
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In my case, I’m certain it’s a result from some of the medications I’m taking like Empagliflozin, BP meds, and possibly statin too. Problem is I don’t want to come off those so I’m not really sure if there is much I can do besides accept it. I already eat a lot of the foods you listed.
That may be true for me too… but yes, I’m also not planning to drop them any time soon. I’ll see how my diet attempts go at increasing uric acid levels…
Empagliflozin was more effective than placebo and some other SGLT2 inhibitors in reducing uric acid
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Those treated with metformin and rapamycin have a lower incidence of gout attacks.
Other items that increase uric acid:
niacin
aspirin
xylitol
chocolate
testosterone
diuretics
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Serum Uric Acid Levels Associated with Outcomes of Neurodegenerative Disorders and Brain Health: Findings from the UK Biobank
Results
During the median follow-up time of 12.7 years (interquartile range [IQR]:12.0, 13.5), 7821 (2.0%) participants developed stroke, 5103 (1.3%) participants developed dementia, and 2341 (0.6%) participants developed Parkinsonism. Nonlinear relationships were identified between SUA levels and stroke (J-shaped), dementia, and Parkinsonism (U-shaped). SUA levels of 4.2 mg/dl, 6.4 mg/dl, and 6.6 mg/dl yielded the lowest risk of stroke, dementia, and Parkinsonism, respectively. Besides, we found high SUA levels reduced the volumes of total brain, grey matter, white matter, grey matter in the hippocampus, and hippocampus, but increased lateral-ventricle volume. Inflammation accounted for 9.1% and 10.0% in the association of SUA with stroke and lateral-ventricle volume.
Conclusions
Lower SUA levels increased the risk of Parkinsonism, while both lower and higher SUA levels were positively associated with increased risk of stroke and dementia. Moreover, high SUA levels reduced brain structure volumes. Our findings suggest the association between SUA levels and brain-related disorders and highlight the importance of SUA management.
Open Access Paper:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1279770724004068
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Could this be a causation vs correlation question?
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Urate can be a symptom of renal function. High levels can cause gout. Low levels seem to indixate another problem.
I disagree. I have much more gout attack since starting on rapamycin and metformin. My uric acid level has not come down. Anyway new blood test for my uric acid this week. Hopefully the jardiamet does something.
I believe the purines from food only contribute to 33%, the rest is probably from your liver.
My Uric acid levels have declined slightly from 0.36 mmol/L in 2018 to 0.27 mmol/L this year. This may be due to the effects of klotho on kidney function. Or perhaps I’m reading too much into it.
Still, it’s good to be at the bottom end of the “J” curve.