What is uric acid?
Uric acid is an element that occurs in our body when substances called purines break down. Purines are directly related to diet, and are found in many foods and drinks we consume, such as liver, seafood, fatty meats, organ meats, and alcoholic beverages, especially beer1. That is why uric acid is directly related to a poor diet and can be controlled by 80% with an appropriate diet. In some cases, there may be a genetic predisposition.
Most uric acid travels through the blood and is filtered in our kidneys until we eliminate it through urine. When there is a very high amount of urea, our body is unable to eliminate it, and that is when hyperuricemia occurs, usually associated with gout or kidney stones.2
Uric acid and kidney stones
As mentioned above, the kidneys are responsible for eliminating 80% of the uric acid from our body through urine. If there are high levels of urea, these particles accumulate in the kidneys and crystallize, causing problems for our kidney health.
Therefore, it is recommended to maintain urinary pH in an alkaline range >6 and provide substances that prevent uric acid from forming crystals in the urine (such as theobromine, which is a potent uric acid inhibitor) in order to prevent the appearance of these uric acid stones. This pH range can be achieved with an appropriate diet in combination with food supplements that help to prevent uric acid crystallization and control urinary pH.3
*2 https://acidos.pro/acido-urico/
*3 Generalitat de Catalunya, Renal Lithiasis Treatment Update, Sílvia Ferrer Moret, David Pérez Morales, BIT. Vol. 29, no. 4, 2018
