David Perlmutter - Drop Acid: The Surprising New Science of Uric Acid—The Key to Losing Weight, Controlling Blood Sugar, and Achieving Extraordinary Health

Perfect health is above gold; a sound body before riches.

E CCLESIASTICUS 30:15

YOU ARE HEREBY EMPOWERED::::::::::::

T OM W OLFE , T HE E LECTRIC K OOL -A ID A CID T EST

I F YOU WERE LOOKING FOR Tom Wolfes follow-up to his counterculture classic from the 1960s about adventures in psychedelic drug use, youve come to the wrong place. The acid were talking about in this book is of an entirely different type, one that has everything to do with being in control of your health and feeling empowered to live a full, long, and vibrant life with a fit body and sharp mind to the very end. You may have never heard of uric acid before or put any serious thought into this metabolic compound aside from perhaps its role in gout and kidney stones. And if thats the case, there is no fault on your part, because this has been the messaging for years. Get ready: Im going to give the term drop acid a whole new meaning. Your body and brain will thank you for it.

In the fall of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage across the world, I was on a run outside listening to one of my favorite podcasts: Dr. Peter Attias The Drive.this particular day, Dr. Attias guest had a deep impact on me. Dr. Richard (Rick) Johnson, a professor of nephrology at the University of Colorado, was basically providing a master class on uric acid, revealing the stunning connection between this little-known, underestimated metabolite in the body and overall metabolic healthas well as its downstream biological effects, which can influence virtually every condition and ailment you can imagine. Uric acid is often described as a harmless inert waste product of metabolism that is normally excreted in urine (and in stool, though to a lesser extent). It is cast as a trivial, incidental by-product of our normal biology. But it is anything but meaningless or unworthy of our attention. It sits at the heart of regulatory mechanisms involved in our most fundamental processes of metabolism. And it is these processes that, when they go awry, end up manifesting themselves as the most pervasive health issues of our timefrom obesity and insulin resistance to diabetes, elevated blood fats, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and even cognitive decline and dementias.

The following day, I listened to the podcast again. The message and the data behind it were so compelling that I immediately started to take notes and do my own deep dive into the scientific literature. Thats when I fell down the proverbial rabbit hole, albeit a satisfying and illuminating one. Dr. Johnson is one of many scientists around the world researching the role of uric acid in our livesespecially in light of modern diets riddled with uric acidstimulating ingredients. My own research led me to pose a simple question that has an eye-opening answer.

Q: What do obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, neurological disorders including Alzheimers disease, and premature death have in common?

A: High uric acid levels.

My exploration into the science of uric acid finally answered many questions that had remained in my mind for years. Yes, we know that sugar

Youre about to find out.

If youve tried everything to gain control of your health but still feel like you cant reach your goals, I think youll appreciate what I have to say. When you discover what Ive learned down this rabbit hole, youll be immediately empowered. This book, part personal journey and part medical investigative reporting, is the culmination of my efforts. I dont want the science screaming from the literature to take decades to reach everyone in their doctors offices (as it usually does, to the tune of nearly twenty years). I have taken this new knowledge seriously and adjusted my own habits to ensure that I maintain my uric acid level within a healthful range. Its not that difficult and will be incredibly beneficial to your vibrancy and longevity. For an apt analogy, think about the story of smoking and the ills of even secondhand smoke. Until enough people convincingly proved the link between tobacco and cancer, we were tolerant of the habit. Even those of us who never smoked didnt become overly concerned when the air filled with fumes in bars, restaurants, and airplanes. But now look at how we perceive smoking.