Effects of coffee and tea consumption on hyperuricemia and gout: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The association between coffee and tea consumption and the risk of hyperuricemia and gout remains controversial. This meta-analysis of observational studies evaluated this association.

We conducted a literature review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We searched the PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases through December 2024 using related keywords. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model.

We included 13 observational studies, 10 cross-sectional studies, and 3 cohort studies involving 27,740 hyperuricemia and gout cases among 936,827 participants. While coffee consumption was significantly associated with a decreased risk of hyperuricemia and gout (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.63-0.85; I² = 77.5%), tea consumption was not (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.84-1.24; I² = 84.2%). In the subgroup analyses, coffee consumption was significantly associated with decreased risk of hyperuricemia and gout in cohort (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.40-0.66; I² = 26.9%; n = 3) and cross-sectional (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79-0.96; I² = 49.1%; n = 6) studies. Tea consumption was significantly associated with an increased risk of hyperuricemia and gout in both male (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.00-1.41; I² = 56.5%; n = 5) and female (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.03-1.39; I² = 0.0%; n = 5).

The results of this meta-analysis suggest that dietary coffee, but not tea, consumption reduces the risk of hyperuricemia and gout. However, further prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm the confounding factors of the association between coffee and tea consumption and hyperuricemia and gout.