Does plant protein help with inflammation or cause gout? What the research does and doesn't show

The evidence doesn't support plant protein as a treatment for inflammation or as a cause of gout — the research on soy protein and uric acid, the closest available evidence, found no link between soy intake and gout risk in epidemiologic data, and only a small, likely clinically unimportant rise in uric acid at typical intake levels in intervention studies.

What the evidence doesn't support

It doesn't support plant protein as an anti-inflammatory treatment, and it doesn't support the belief — common enough that it shows up in search data — that plant protein or soy foods cause gout. Both directions are weaker than the searches suggest: there's some real inflammatory-marker evidence for a related product (soymilk, not a protein powder), and the gout concern specifically has been reviewed and found not to hold up at ordinary intake.

What the trials found

Gout and uric acid. A review of the epidemiologic and clinical data on soyfoods and gout found that none of six identified epidemiologic studies showed an association between soy intake and circulating uric acid, hyperuricemia or gout. Five human intervention studies did find soy protein modestly raises serum uric acid, but at doses comparable to typical Asian dietary intake, the review concluded the expected rise would be clinically irrelevant. This is soy protein specifically, evaluated mostly at food-level intake, not our fava bean and fermented yeast protein blend, and not a high-dose isolated supplement.

Inflammation markers. A 2024 meta-analysis of 17 randomized trials (504 adults) tested substituting soymilk for cow's milk on cardiometabolic outcomes, including C-reactive protein (CRP), a common inflammation marker. Soymilk substitution (a median 500 mL/day, providing about 22 g of soy protein) produced a small but statistically meaningful CRP reduction (-0.82 mg/L) compared with cow's milk, alongside reductions in non-HDL and LDL cholesterol and blood pressure. This tested a soymilk beverage against cow's milk, not a plant protein powder against a baseline diet, and CRP is one marker among several measured — most other outcomes in the same trial showed no meaningful difference.

Neither study tested our specific product, and neither isolates "plant protein" as an ingredient the way a search for "plant protein and inflammation" implies — one is about soyfood intake broadly, the other about substituting one beverage for another.

Questions people ask

Can plant protein cause gout?

The evidence doesn't support that. A review of six epidemiologic studies found no association between soy intake and gout, and while intervention studies found a small rise in uric acid from soy protein, it was judged clinically unimportant at typical intake levels. This is soy-specific evidence, not a test of our fava bean and yeast protein blend.

Is plant protein anti-inflammatory?

There's limited evidence for a related product — substituting soymilk for cow's milk modestly lowered CRP, an inflammation marker, in a meta-analysis of 17 trials. That's a beverage substitution, not a general "plant protein reduces inflammation" claim, and it wasn't tested with our ingredients.

Does plant protein powder cause joint pain or inflammation flares?

We didn't find trial evidence linking plant protein powder to joint pain or inflammatory flares. The gout-specific research above found no association between soy intake and gout at typical levels, which is the closest relevant evidence.

When to talk to a doctor

Gout, arthritis or another inflammatory condition is worth managing with a doctor's guidance on diet and medication, since individual triggers and treatment plans vary. Plant protein is not a treatment for inflammation or an inflammatory disease. If you have gout, another inflammatory condition, or are pregnant or nursing, talk to a doctor before adding any supplement.

Related reading: plant protein side effects, who should not take plant protein, and plant protein: what the research shows.