Purine Rich Foods

Purine rich foods are often said to be the bane of every gout sufferers life.

We are often advised to avoid them completely, or reduce our purine intake.

But do our advisers really understand what they are talking about?

Gout is the only disease for which purines are important, and hundreds of different purine
tables have been published. But, none of them make sense in relation to gout.

We know how purines affect gout, so publishing tables of every food that contains even the
slightest trace of purines is pointless. If not pointless for reasons of completeness, it is
certainly pointless for planning a gout diet. In fact, for gout diet planning, it is vital to only
focus on those purines that are going to make a difference.

Scientists have known for decades that there are different kinds of purines, and that each has
a different action when taken as part of your diet. This involves complicated processes that
can vary from person to person, so even the best analysis of relevant purine rich foods can
only produce an estimate that should be confirmed with uric acid blood tests.

Zollners analysis of purine metabolism suggests that xanthine and hypoxanthine are the most
effective purines for increasing uric acid. I refer to these as Gout Purines and I have
restricted the purine rich foods table to those compounds.

Recent research from Japan describes the purine content of more foods. I will use that
information to extend and improve the Purine Rich Food Table below. I have started to list
these foods at Is Very Low Purine Gout Diet Possible. My review of purine food charts is
coming soon. Please subscribe to my update service below to get email notification when I
upgrade my purine food charts.

Purine Rich Foods Table

Hyp
Xan
o-
Iron - Gout Protei
Kc xan- PRA
Food 100g thin Purines n
al thine L
mg e (mg) (g)
mg
(mg)
ANCHOVY 101 4.90 6 82 88 20 12
COD 77 0.32 66 66 18 8
HADDOCK 77 0.61 95 95 18 8
HALIBUT 95 0.55 104 104 20 7
HERRING ROE 131 7 65 72 26 8
MACKEREL SMOKED 222 1.20 94 94 21 13
MATJE CURED HERRING 267 1.30 133 133 16 14
MUSSEL 68 4.20 2 25 27 11 5
 Hyp
Xan
o-
Iron - Gout Protei
Kc xan- PRA
Food 100g thin Purines n
al thine L
mg e (mg) (g)
mg
(mg)
PLAICE 86 0.90 51 51 17 8
REDFISH (OCEAN PERCH) 105 0.69 149 149 18 9
SAITHE (COALFISH) 81 1.00 3 104 107 18 12
SPRAT (SMOKED) 222 0.70 16 191 207 19 11
TROUT 103 0.41 11 117 128 20 10
TUNA 226 1.00 178 178 22 8
BEEF 108 2.10 197 69 266 22 10
CALF (NECK SWEET BREAD) 99 2.00 51 91 142 17 0
CALFS LIVER 130 7.90 65 54 119 19 13
CHICKEN 257 1.20 91 91 17 10
LAMB 117 1.60 1 99 100 21 4
LIVER SAUSAGE (LIVERWURST) 326 5.30 12 61 73 16 10
LUNCHEON MEAT 267 2.20 1 32 33 15 9
OX HEART 121 4.00 4 129 133 17 9
11.0
OX KIDNEY 113 21 150 172 17 13
0
OX LIVER 132 6.90 57 114 171 19 15
OX LUNGS (LIGHTS) 99 8.80 9 35 44 18 13
OX SPLEEN 100 8.90 17 54 71 19 10
PIGS HEART 91 4.30 367 367 17 9
PIGS KIDNEY 101 7.30 8 78 86 17 12
17.0
PIGS LIVER 127 32 100 132 21 18
0
PIGS LUNGS (LIGHTS) 114 5.00 4 79 83 14 10
19.0
PIGS SPLEEN 102 3 75 78 17 7
0
PORK 105 1.00 2 93 95 22 9
SHEEPS HEART 157 6.10 3 71 74 17 8
SHEEPS SPLEEN 108 14 104 118 18 9
VEAL 92 2.10 11 101 112 21 10
ALCOHOL FREE BEER 25 0.02 0 1 1 0 0
BAKERS YEAST 78 3.50 10 126 136 17 11
CHANTERELLE 11 1 1 2 -4
EDIBLE BOLETUS (FLAT MUSHROOM,
20 1.00 7 7 5 -2
CEPE)
EDIBLE BOLETUS DRIED (FLAT
124 8.40 50 50 30 -4
MUSHROOM, CEPE)
LIMBURGER CHEESE 184 13 13 26 12
MUSHROOM 16 1.20 1 1 2 4 -2
PILSENER LAGER BEER 42 0.01 2 2 3 1 0
REAL BEER (LIGHT) 39 0.04 2 2 4 1 0

Please note: