What’s the connection between sugar drinks and gout? Is there one? I have gout and my 80-year-old mother is still telling me to cut out the soda pop because it can cause my gout to flare up. Since she is usually right about these things, I thought I would at least ask.

There is some new evidence that sugar-sweetened beverages is linked with gout. The study that was done was in New Zealand. They found an increase of four times the normal rate of gout in people who drank four or more sugar-sweetened drinks each day.

Gout is a disease that involves the build-up of uric acid in the body. Uric acid is a normal chemical in the blood that comes from the breakdown of other chemicals in the body tissues. Everyone has some uric acid in his blood.

As your immune system tries to get rid of the crystals, inflammation develops. For the person with too much uric acid, this inflammation can cause painful arthritis. In fact, gout was the first disease in which researchers recognized that crystals in the synovial (joint) fluid could be the cause of joint pain.

Many gout patients have a combination of overproduction and under-excretion of uric acid. Their bodies create too much uric acid and have problems getting rid of it. More than 90 percent of people with gout have kidneys that don’t effectively get rid of uric acid.

The link between sugar and uric acid isn’t clear yet. But scientists suggest fructose (sugar) increases the production of adenosine monophosphate, which is converted into uric acid. Adenosine monophosphate is a sugar molecule that is part of your DNA and has to do with energy production.

Sugar is an essential part of what keeps us going but sugared beverages have no nutritional values. They provide empty calories and a quick burst of energy. That’s okay in small quantities occasionally. But as a daily diet, it can lead to chronic problems like obesity, diabetes, and gout. So your mother is correct as usual and even more so if she is encouraging you to get your sugar from natural fruits and vegetables!