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-
Randal Whitmore
- October 12, 2021
- 9:01 am
Gout friendly foods, what to avoid, and what to eat in moderation
A gout-friendly diet is often described as one that reduces the risk of over-producing uric acid in your body.
Uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism in the human body. Two-thirds of which is excreted by the kidneys and one-third is excreted by the gastrointestinal tract.
Your body is naturally designed to flush uric acid out when you pee, however, if too much uric acid stays in your body, you may develop a condition called hyperuricemia.
Hyperuricemia can lead to the formation of crystals. These can form anywhere in your body, however, they tend to form in and around your joints and kidneys. This then presents itself as either kidney stones or gout.
Purines and uric acid
Regularly eating high purine foods may increase the risk in you creating more uric acid than your body can process.
Purines are a natural part of all living things. They are everywhere. Your body breaks down purines through your digestive system and creates uric acid.
There are two groups of purines in your body:
- Purines naturally made by your body (known as “endogenous purines”).
- Purines naturally made in the foods you eat (known as “exogenous purines”).
In this blog post, we focus on the exogenous kind of purines and take a look at the purine levels of different foods across the high, medium and low ends of the scale.
Note: The food purine levels below are based on 100g measurements of each food.
High purine foods:
| Food | Purines (mg) |
| Theobromine 100g of chocolate contains 0.5% – 2.7% theobromine, close to 11 – 62mg of purine. | 2,300 |
| Brewer’s yeast Brewer’s yeast is an ingredient used in the production of beer and bread. | 1,810 |
| Sweetbreads Sweetbreads are harvested from calves, lambs, and young cattle and refer to two different organs and three different tissues located in these animals. | 1,260 |
| Sprats (smoked) Small sea fish. | 804 |
| Sheep’s spleen | 773 |
| Baker’s yeast Baker’s yeast is the type of yeast used in home and commercial bread baking. | 680 |
| Ox liver | 554 |
| Pig’s heart | 530 |
| Pig’s spleen | 516 |
| Pig’s liver | 515 |
| Porphyra An edible seaweed used to wrap the rice and fish that compose the Japanese food sushi and the Korean food gimbap. | 500 |
| Asparagus | 500 |
| Mushroom (flat, edible Boletus, dried) One of the most common and well-known groups of edible wild mushrooms. | 488 |
| Sardines (in oil) | 480 |
| Calf’s liver | 460 |
| Ox spleen | 444 |
| Pig’s lungs (lights) Lights are the lungs of game or livestock as used in cooking and butchery. | 434 |
| Ox lungs (lights) Lights are the lungs of game or livestock as used in cooking and butchery. | 399 |
| Sardines / pilchards Sardine and “pilchard” are common names for various small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. | 345 |
| Calf’s spleen | 343 |
| Pig’s kidney | 334 |
| Trout | 297 |
| Tuna (in oil) | 290 |
| Ox kidney | 269 |
| Tuna | 257 |
| Ox heart | 256 |
| Chicken liver | 243 |
| Redfish (ocean perch) | 241 |
| Sheep’s heart | 241 |
| Anchovies | 239 |
| Black mung beans (seed, dry) | 222 |
| Soused herring Mild salt herring, which is made from young immature herrings. | 219 |
| Calf’s kidney | 218 |
| Atlantic herring | 210 |
| Horse meat | 200 |
| Soya beans (seed, dry) | 190 |
| Herring roe Herring fish eggs. | 190 |
| Lamb muscle meat | 182 |
| Halibut | 178 |
| Chicken breast (with skin) | 175 |
| Veal muscle meat | 172 |
| Natto Natto is a traditional Japanese dish consisting of fermented soybeans and characterized by a slimy, sticky and stringy texture. | 172 |
| Salmon | 170 |
| Poppy seeds (seed, dry) | 170 |
| Pork muscle meat | 166 |
| Goose | 165 |
| Liver sausage (liverwurst) Liverwurst usually contains pigs’ or calves’ livers. | 165 |
| Saithe / coalfish | 163 |
| Carp | 160 |
| Ox tongue | 160 |
| Pork hind leg | 160 |
| Chicken (boiling fowl) A boiling fowl is an older bird than the roasting chicken, and its flesh is consequently tougher and stronger in flavour. | 159 |
Moderate purine foods:
| Food | Purines (mg) |
| Pork fillet | 150 |
| Pork shoulder with skin (blade of shoulder) | 150 |
| Turkey (with skin) | 150 |
| Veal knuckle with bone | 150 |
| Veal, leg of veal with bone | 150 |
| Veal, neck with bone | 150 |
| Calf’s lungs | 147 |
| Brown shrimp | 147 |
| Mackerel | 145 |
| Pork chop with bone | 145 |
| Caviar | 144 |
| Sunflower seeds (dry) | 143 |
| Pike | 140 |
| Pork chuck | 140 |
| Veal chop (cutlet with bone) | 140 |
| Veal fillet | 140 |
| Veal, shoulder | 140 |
| Haddock | 139 |
| Duck | 138 |
| Venison haunch (leg) | 138 |
| Pig’s tongue | 136 |
| Scallop | 136 |
| Beef muscle meat | 133 |
| Rabbit meat (with bone) | 132 |
| Sole | 131 |
| Cooked ham | 131 |
| White beans (dry) | 128 |
| Lentils (dry) | 127 |
| Pork belly (raw, smoked dried) | 127 |
| Beef chuck | 120 |
| Beef ribs (entrecote) | 120 |
| Pork hip bone (hind leg) | 120 |
| Lobster | 118 |
| Chicken (roast) | 115 |
| Mussels | 112 |
| Jagdwurst sausage Jagdwurst (which means hunting sausage) is a German cooked sausage made with finely ground pork sausage meat and coarse chunks of lean pork or pork belly. | 112 |
| Beef, fillet | 110 |
| Beef sirloin (roast) | 110 |
| Beef shoulder | 110 |
| Boneless chicken leg (with skin) | 110 |
| Pike-perch | 110 |
| Cod | 109 |
| Chickpeas (seed, dry) | 109 |
| Raisins | 107 |
| Linseed Linseed is the small, reddish-brown or golden-yellow seed of the common flax plant. | 105 |
| Rabbit / hare | 105 |
| Venison back | 105 |
| Salami sausage | 104 |
| Pork sausages (fried) | 101 |
| Pork belly | 100 |
| Whole grain barley (no husk) | 96 |
| Mortadella sausage | 96 |
| Peas (seed, dry) | 95 |
| Whole grain oats (no husk) | 94 |
| Plaice | 93 |
| Calf’s brain | 92 |
| Mushroom (flat, edible Boletus, cep) | 92 |
| Veal sausages (fried) | 91 |
| Oyster | 90 |
| Frankfurter sausages | 89 |
| Bierschincken sausage Bierschinken wurst (lit. beer ham sausage) is a variety of parboiled German sausage with chunks of pickled pork meat or cooked ham. | 85 |
| Green peas (pod or seed) | 84 |
| Pig’s brain | 83 |
| Broccoli | 81 |
| Soya bean sprouts | 80 |
| Tench | 80 |
| Peanuts | 79 |
| Artichoke | 78 |
| Eels (smoked) | 78 |
| Fleischwurst sausage A smoked sausage made with pork and beef, usually eaten hot. | 78 |
| Vienna sausage A Vienna sausage is a thin parboiled sausage traditionally made of pork and beef in a casing of sheep’s intestine, then given a low temperature smoking. | 78 |
| Ox brain | 75 |
| Leek | 74 |
| Mettwurst sausages A sausage made from ground pork and finely chopped beef and, much like salami, is cured and cold smoked or air-dried. | 74 |
| Apricot | 73 |
| Munich Weisswurst sausages A Weisswurst is a traditional Bavarian sausage made from minced veal and pork back bacon. | 73 |
| Cocoa powder Oil partially removed, not including theobromine. | 71 |
| Black salsify Black salsify is a root vegetable. | 71 |
| Luncheon meat | 70 |
| Brussel sprouts | 69 |
| Tofu | 68 |
| Chives | 67 |
| Fig (dried) | 64 |
| Plum (dried) | 64 |
| Millet (shucked corn) | 62 |
| Sesame seeds (oriental, dry) | 62 |
| Crayfish | 60 |
| Crispbread | 60 |
| Mushroom | 58 |
| Banana | 57 |
| Corned beef | 57 |
| Parsley | 57 |
| Spinach | 57 |
| Green peppers | 55 |
| Black pudding Black pudding is a distinct regional type of blood sausage originating in Great Britain and Ireland. | 55 |
| Sweetcorn | 52 |
| Cauliflower | 51 |
| Whole grain rye | 51 |
| Whole grain wheat | 51 |
| Oyster mushrooms | 50 |
| Kale | 48 |
| French beans (dried) | 45 |
| Seaweed | 44 |
| Pumpkin | 44 |
| Pasta | 40 |
| Lamb’s lettuce | 38 |
| Almonds | 37 |
| French beans (string beans, haricot) | 37 |
| Savoy cabbage | 37 |
| Hazelnuts | 37 |
| Date (dried) | 35 |
| Elderberries | 33 |
| Cantelope | 33 |
| Red cabbage | 32 |
| Limburger cheese | 32 |
| Celeriac | 30 |
| Morel A type of mushroom. | 30 |
| Quince | 30 |
| Bamboo Shoots | 29 |
| Mushrooms (canned, solid and liquid) | 29 |
| Green olives | 29 |
| Cress | 28 |
| Grapes | 27 |
Low purine foods:
| Food | Purines (mg) |
| Kohlrabi | 25 |
| Walnuts | 25 |
| Plums | 24 |
| Squash | 24 |
| Brazil nuts | 23 |
| Blueberries | 22 |
| White cabbage | 22 |
| Aubergine | 21 |
| Chinese leaves | 21 |
| Peach | 21 |
| Bread rolls | 21 |
| Strawberry | 21 |
| Avocado | 19 |
| Beetroot | 19 |
| Kiwi | 19 |
| Orange | 19 |
| Pineapple | 19 |
| Caviar substitute | 18 |
| Potato (cooked with skin) | 18 |
| Raspberry | 18 |
| Carrot | 17 |
| Morello cherry | 17 |
| Red currant | 17 |
| Endive A leafy vegetable. | 17 |
| Chanterelle mushrooms | 17 |
| Skimmed milk | 16 |
| Gooseberry | 16 |
| Potato | 16 |
| Sauerkraut | 16 |
| Radish | 15 |
| Apple | 14 |
| Light beer | 14 |
| White bread | 14 |
| Fennel leaves | 14 |
| Lager | 13 |
| Lettuce | 13 |
| Onion | 13 |
| Radishes | 13 |
| Chicory | 12 |
| Pear | 12 |
| Rhubarb | 12 |
| Tomato | 11 |
| Cottage cheese | 9.4 |
| Beer (alcohol free) | 8.1 |
| Yoghurt Min. 3.5% fat content. | 8.1 |
| Cucumber | 7.3 |
| Brie A type of cheese. | 7.1 |
| Edam A type of cheese. | 7.1 |
| Sweet cherries | 7.1 |
| Cheddar cheese | 6 |
| Egg White | 3.7 |
| Egg Yolk | 2.6 |
We hope this information helps you understand which foods have higher purine levels than others. We’ll keep this blog post up to date as we find out the purine content of other foods.
References:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41522-021-00235-2
https://healthtopquestions.com/a-complete-list-of-purine-content-in-foods/
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