Uric Acid
The end product of purine metabolism, cleared by the kidneys.
Classically tied to gout, but also an independent marker of metabolic dysfunction, fructose intake and cardiovascular risk.
The plan of attack
In this order. Most people start at step four, which is why they change five things at once and learn nothing.
- Confirm the number is real
Recent alcohol, fasting or a purine-heavy meal. Beer and spirits raise urate sharply; so does fasting, because ketones compete for renal excretion. A crash diet can precipitate gout. Fasted but not after a prolonged fast, and no alcohol for 48 hours. - Read it with its partner
Test before starting an aggressive fat-loss protocol if you've ever had gout. Draw it alongside: Fasting Insulin, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), Cystatin C with eGFR. - Work out which direction is yours
If it's high — Gout risk, kidney stones, and association with hypertension and metabolic syndrome.
If it's low — Rarely concerning — uric acid has antioxidant roles at normal levels. - Fix it in this order
Nutrition. Cut fructose (especially sweetened beverages) and alcohol — the two biggest dietary drivers. Hydrate well. Moderate organ meats and shellfish. Lose weight gradually — crash dieting raises uric acid.
Lifestyle. Gradual fat loss, hydration, alcohol reduction.
Supplements. Tart cherry extract has reasonable evidence for gout. Vitamin C modestly lowers urate. Adequate hydration is underrated.
Hormones. Allopurinol or febuxostat where clinically indicated. Note some diuretics raise uric acid.
Compounds. Rapid weight loss — including on GLP-1s — can transiently raise uric acid and precipitate gout in susceptible people. Worth a baseline if you have any history.
Work down the list, not across it. Adding a compound on top of an unfixed diet is why generic protocols fail. - Retest
As clinically indicated. Change one thing at a time, or the retest can't tell you which thing worked.
How to fix it
📚 Feig DI et al., NEJM 2008 — uric acid and cardiovascular/metabolic disease.
🩸 Test your Uric Acid
Order directly through Marek Diagnostics — no doctor's visit needed, drawn at any Quest location in the US. Code CAMERON applies 10% off automatically.
Order this test — 10% off → Browse all 102 markers →What Uric Acid is usually tested alongside
On its own, one marker is a data point. These panels include Uric Acid plus the markers that make it interpretable — each names every test, why it is on the list, and loads the whole set into your cart in one click at 10% off.
includes this + 7 more markers — Weight that won't shift, energy crashes after meals, expanding waistline, family history of diabetes, or a fasting glucose that's crept into the 90s.
includes this + 5 more markers — High blood pressure, diabetes, a family history of kidney disease, long-term NSAID use — or you lift heavily and your eGFR came back looking alarming.
What moves your Uric Acid
5 supplements in the Vault have a documented effect on this marker, or are a reason to have measured it first:
Browse all 237 compounds & 350 supplements →
Would you feel it? Symptoms Uric Acid helps explain
People rarely search for a marker — they search for how they feel. These are the complaints where this marker is worth checking, and whether it is a first-line test or a follow-up once the obvious causes are ruled out.
Why your Uric Acid might be wrong
Most abnormal results are interference, not disease. These are the things that measurably move this specific marker — check them before you change anything. Each one says whether the number is wrong and should be repeated, badly timed and should be redrawn, or real with a cause worth explaining.
Beer and spirits raise urate sharply; so does fasting, because ketones compete for renal excretion. A crash diet can precipitate gout.
Fasted but not after a prolonged fast, and no alcohol for 48 hours.
Thiazide and loop diuretics reduce urate excretion, low-dose aspirin does the same, and niacin raises it — while losartan lowers it, which is why it is often chosen in hypertensive gout.
Review medications before acting on a raised result.
Urate paradoxically falls during an attack, so a normal level does not exclude gout.
Measure at least two weeks after an attack settles.
What Uric Acid means in combination
A single marker tells you a little. Combinations tell you the story — these are the named patterns this marker takes part in, and what each one points at.
Insulin resistance reduces uric acid excretion by the kidney. So a raised urate is very often a metabolic signal arriving before anyone has a painful toe.
Treat the insulin resistance and urate usually follows. Cut fructose and alcohol (beer especially). Do not start urate-lowering drugs off one reading — that is a clinical decision with its own trade-offs.
What to test next
Markers rarely answer alone. These are the ones that put Uric Acid in context — each with its own full breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
3.4–7.0 mg/dL Ranges vary by laboratory and assay — always compare to the range printed on your own report.
<5.5 mg/dL
Gout risk, kidney stones, and association with hypertension and metabolic syndrome.
Rarely concerning — uric acid has antioxidant roles at normal levels.
You can order Uric Acid directly through Marek Diagnostics without a doctor's visit — drawn at any Quest Diagnostics location in the US. Code CAMERON applies 10% off automatically.