With Gout, how much water should I drink?

Everyone knows that water is important for improving Gout.  As mentioned in my previous sharing, loosing water can trigger gout attack.  However, how much water should we drink each day?  Especially during Gout attack? Some say 8 glasses. Some say 10.  That’s what I used to follow.  Although I thought I was drinking enough water each day, I found my Gout attack had not improve so much.  What is the problem? Is my gout so serious that it would not be improved by during more water?

I did a search for how much water exactly we need.  The Institute of Medicine says that an adult male needs 3.7 litres and female 2.7 litres per day.  They call it adequate intake which includes the water coming from different sources, such as beverages and food.   Food contributes about 20% of total water intake.  That means a male needs to drink 2.96 litres (3.7litre x 0.8) and female 2.16 litres (2.7 x 0.8) of beverages.  Assuming 8 ounce (237ml) per glass, that is 12.5 glasses (9 glasses for female) per day.  It is 50% more than we have been told.  In addition, there are other factors affecting how much water you need each days.  For a health person, the amount of exercise and temperature also play their part.  Some website even accounts your body weight to calculate the amount of water you need.  No wonder why my gout did not improve very much!  I bet I need more than 3 litres each day.

So, how to drink enough water each day?  For a health female, the 8 8-ounces glasses reminder, which so called “8x8 rule” should help.  However, this is somewhat misleading for male.  To be honest, it is kind of difficult to count how many glasses of water each day.  Even harder is to drink 12.5 glasses a day!   That is 1.5 hours per glass!  It is easier than said, especially when you are working.  I used to drink water only when I was thirty.  One of my friends said he would use a larger cup (375ml) in order to drink more water.  That’s not a bad idea.   

As a person with Gout, I think the focus should not be how much I drink, but how much I discharge.  This is because the aims of drinking more water are to dilute the uric acid concentration in blood and to discharge the purine.   Hence, I would not count how many glasses of water I drink but rather how often I go to the toilet.  While no attack, my target would be once per 2 hours.  While during Gout attack or high purine period, I would drink more water until I go to toilet around once per hour.   Besides, I also monitor the color of the urine.  If it is yellow, that means I definitely need to drink more water.  Of course, this is just my goal.  I have to admit that sometimes it is not achieved.

One final remark. The Institute of Medicine stated that the fluid handling capability of the kidneys 0.7L (24 ounces) per hour. So, we need to have a better control of the intake frequency at the same time.

Suggested Reading

1. Hydration calculator

2. Institute of Medicine

3. Dietary Reference Intakes : Electrolytes and Water

4. Water: How much water should you drink ?

5. Do you really need to drink eight cups of water a day?

Sports causing Gout attack?

Well, it depends on what kinds of sport. I am talking about the kind of activities that is heavy enough to make you sweat, not the light one. In summary if you have already had gout/high uric acid, it could triggers an attack which makes your joint painful.

If you are interested in my experience, please read on.....

Introduction

To many people,  Gout attack and sport injury share similar symptoms. Both result in painful swollen joints, inflammation, and restrained physical mobility. That is why when many people having their first gout attack, they usually think it is an injury, either by sports or accidents. I remember when I got my first gout attack, I had the same thinking. When my big toe was swollen in the morning, I thought I was hurt somehow until the physician said it was a gout attack and the joint pain was not caused any other reason. 

My experience.

When I was diagnosed with gout, a friend of mine who also suffered from gout shared the Dos and Don’ts with me. One thing he told me was to drink a lot of water, especially after doing sports. His advice suggested that sports can trigger a gout attack. I took his advice in heart but did not ask for the reason. I just tried to drink as much as water as I can.

Recently, I had a furious basketball game with my colleagues and of course, I sweat a lot. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring water to the court and hence did not drink much water after the game. I started to worry if I could get an attack that night.  It didn't but a couple days later. As usual, I reviewed my diet during that period of time (before and after the attack). To my knowledge, it was pretty balanced as usual. Hence, the only one reason left in mind is the game without much water. I believe this is the cause for the attack.

Theory behind

The reason of sports could trigger gout attack is easy to understand. Gout attack is related to uric acid concentration in blood. When the uric acid concentration is high, it is easier for the purine to crystallize. So, even if we have a balanced diet, sweating can increase the chance of the attack. Therefore, to be exact, it is not the activities or sports that causing gout attack. It is the sweating, which dehydrates the body, pulling the trigger.

Conclusion

So, it is all about sweating! Therefore, please drink more water after sweating, especially if you do exercise, such as jogging regularly. You need to drink much more water than the others. This is a good for everyone, even people not having Gout.

To a regular person, it is a good advice to avoid any injury during sports by doing warm up and cool down. To a person having gout, there is one more advice and that is, try to avoid any injury after the sports as well. This can be done by drinking much more water!