Uric acid is formed when the body metabolizes purines. An important enzyme in this process is xanthine oxidase (XO), which catalyzes the steps of metabolizing hypoxanthine and xanthine into uric acid.
Therefore, XO inhibition is one of the important mechanisms that help reduce uric acid production.
If you want to use perilla as a supporting drink in your diet, you can use about a handful of fresh perilla leaves, wash thoroughly under running water, soak and drain.
Then boil with about 500-700 ml of water for a few minutes, let cool and use during the day.
Do not add too much sugar or honey, especially in overweight, obese, diabetic or people with metabolic syndrome.
A simpler way is to use perilla leaves as a seasoning in meals instead of trying to drink perilla water in large quantities.
It is important that no amount of perilla leaf water has been established in human clinical trials for gout treatment.
Therefore, it is not advisable to deduce from the dosage of extract used in animal studies to a specific amount of leaf water for humans.
This is a point that gout patients need to pay special attention to. Gout treatment strategy according to targets, in which urate-reducing drugs are used when indicated and blood urate levels need to be controlled according to targets.
Allopurinol is recommended as the top choice in patients who need urate hypoplasia treatment.
Therefore, perilla leaf water should only be considered a dietary supplement, not to replace allopurinol, febuxostat or medications prescribed by doctors.
Patients also need to control factors that can increase uric acid such as drinking a lot of beer and alcohol, fructose-containing drinks, animal organs and some purine-rich foods; and maintain a reasonable weight and drink enough water.
Therefore, gout patients can use perilla leaf water in moderation as part of a healthy diet, but should not expect this drink to reduce uric acid on its own or replace medicine.
If you are treating gout, especially if you have kidney disease or are using many medications, you should talk to your doctor before using herbal products regularly.
