When thinking about the alcoholic beverage namely Vodka, the country of Russia is what comes first to our mind. Many individuals are still clinging to the popular belief about this alcoholic beverage. Many individuals still do not know that the vodka is not only produced by Russia to this day. There is also a belief that this alcoholic drink is drunk all around the Russia which is only a myth. The truth is that this is only common in the urban areas.
Having these thoughts in our minds, a question is popped out: In Russia is gout a usual problem in this country? That is why this article is aiming to answer this certain question and also to explain why the vodka is not a good thing for gout.
Vodka: What is it?
Vodka is a distilled alcoholic beverage that is composed basically of ethanol and water. This drink though is sometimes having traces of flavorings and impurities. This alcoholic beverage becomes a source of 40% of the income of the government by the year of 1860. Then it vanished but fortunately, Joseph Stalin resurrected it in 1925 in order to establish a monopoly and thus, revenue.
It is classically was made from either fermented grains or potato. Although there are changed over the time and you can no longer guess what the vodka contains nowadays. But it is still a trendy drink that it is on the bar menu in restaurants, small gatherings or in the parties.
Gout: Is it ordinary in Russia?
Well, most likely the answer is yes. If the gout is really not unusual to Russia, then probably the main suspect is not the vodka but the cold climate of this country. The uric acid is easily saturated because of the lower temperature. So it means that it may be common to the colder regions. To put it simply, the gout risk in the colder regions or countries is higher. You can observe that the normal targets of the gout are the remote areas of the body like the knees, ears, and toes.
Vodka: Is it really bad for the Gout?
The answer to the question is a yes, definitely. You can say that it is one of the worst. Why though? It is because of the reason that this is an alcohol. The commonly regarded as the number 1 enemy of the individuals who suffer from gout is the bear. However, it is not really the first on the list but it on the bottom ranks. The reason for that is that there are various alcoholic drinks that are much worse than the beer. Remember though that the beer is still not good for gout.
Beer is common to be 5% alcoholic. It looks like it is so low but this low percentage of alcohol can trigger gout attacks which are too severe levels. What can the vodka do so much more? Well, the minimum alcohol by the volume rate of the vodka is 30%. Take note that this 30% is six times to the pain the beer can give it. Because the minimum is 30, you can expect that there are various brands of vodka that have higher alcohol content like what is in the United States which reaches 90 percentages. Think about having a shot of the vodka in the US and the torture you will get.
Aside from the high alcohol content of the vodka, there is the various brand of the vodka which is using fruit flavorings that are very rich in fructose. The fructose to is bad for gout.
Alcohol: Why is it bad for gout?
Generally speaking, the alcohol is not good for the health, especially to gout. The ethanol is dehydrating the body. It is reducing the ration of the water and the uric acid and thus, the chance of the uric acid crystallization increases. If there are additional uric acid crystals that will exist, expect the gout attack. Additionally, the alcohol is boosting the lactate metabolism to pyruvate that will produce the lactic acid. The lactic acid will harm the body in the severe degree that is why the kidneys flush these out. To make it simple, the kidneys will flush out the lactic acid instead of the uric acids. That is why the rate of the uric acid that is flush out decreases. When urinating a glass of uric acid a day, there is a possibility that it will then become a half glass of the lactic acid and half glass of the uric acid. When the rate of uric acid excretion decreases, the uric acid will accumulate and that will lead to worsening of gout.
It is the same to the fructose. This is increasing the production of the lactic acid, thus reducing the excretion of the uric acid.
Conclusion
There is an advice which states that: You should steer clear of beer but not all the alcohol. So should you follow the said advice? Should you drink vodka instead? The answer to both questions is no. alcohol is still an alcohol no matter how they are different to each other because all of them are strong. If a beer with low alcohol can already make damage, how much more the vodka that has a higher alcohol can do. You do not want to experience an all week pain from gout attack right? Alcohol is bad and there is a very low possibility that it can be good.
