Alcohol and Arthritis

If you enjoy a glass of wine or pint of beer with dinner, you might wonder whether alcohol is a friend or foe to arthritis. The answer is, it’s a bit of both. While moderate drinking may reduce some risks of developing arthritis, if you already suffer from arthritis or a condition like gout, it may do more harm than good. 

Anti-inflammatory Benefits
Enjoying a drink with some regularity might reduce your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a few studies. “Moderate alcohol consumption reduces biomarkers of inflammation, including c-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6, and TNF-alpha receptor 2,” says Karen Costenbader, MD, MPH, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Alcohol’s anti-inflammatory effects are also thought to be one of the reasons it appears to lower cardiovascular disease risk in moderate drinkers. The key word is moderate, which most people overestimate when it comes to alcohol. “We saw that for women who drank between 5 and 10 grams of alcohol a day, there was a reduced risk of RA,” says Dr. Costenbader. But that works out to less than a glass of wine or beer daily.

Medication Interactions
Once you already have arthritis, drinking may have more downsides than pluses. Many of the medicines your doctor prescribes to relieve sore joints don’t mix well with alcohol – including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve), which carry a greater risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers when you drink. Taken with acetaminophen, methotrexate or leflunomide (Arava), alcohol can make you more susceptible to liver damage.

Gout Attacks 
Alcohol is particularly problematic if you have gout. “Gout attacks can be brought on by purine-rich foods or drinks, and beer is high in purines,” Dr. Costenbader says. Distilled liquor, and possibly wine, can also cause problems for those with gout.

Additional Risks 
If you have arthritis and want to drink, talk to your doctor. Even with a doctor’s ok, limit yourself to one drink a day. That’s about 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces of spirits. 

Excess drinking can damage your body in many other ways. “The risk of other kinds of diseases goes up with higher alcohol consumption,” says Dr. Costenbader. Conditions linked to drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol include cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, mouth and throat, as well as diseases like diabetes and stroke.

If you choose to drink, alcohol should only be one small part of a healthy diet. Eating healthy, exercising, controlling your weight and not smoking are better ways to protect your joints and the rest of your body, says Dr. Costenbader.