A recently published study suggests that women who drink a lot of orange juice and soda have a higher risk of developing painful gout. The research studied data on 78,906 women that was collected over a period of 22 years.

The research found that women who drink just two glasses of orange juice or sugary soft drunks per day have double the chance of getting gout. Sweetened drinks have previously been linked to greater risk of inflammatory arthritis.

Gout is a form of arthritis that is caused by a build-up of uric acid, a waste product in the blood. The uric acid causes the painful swelling of the joints. Lead researcher Hyon Choi said: “The increasing burden of gout over the past few decades coincided with a substantial increase in soft drink and fructose consumption.”

Experts think that the high fructose content of juice is responsible for uric acid seeping into the joints and causing them to become swollen.

Gout itself is typically associated with diets that include too much alcohol or red meat. The condition affects more men than women, and can be treated but not fully cured. 1.5% of Britons suffer from gout, with men being four times as likely to suffer from it. However, the last 20 years have seen the number of female cases of gout double.