Last Updated on May 18, 2024
Purines are natural substances that form part of the chemical structure of our genes and the genes of plants and animals. Though these are present in many foods, a relatively small number of foods contain concentrated amounts of them.
By and large, these foods are also high-protein foods.
Examples are meats like kidney, fish like mackerel, herring, sardines and mussels, and also yeast.
Purines are
are metabolized into uric acid. Uric acid serves as an antioxidant in the body.
Hyperuricemia is more than normal level of uric acid in the blood and it can lead to gout.
As a part of the treatment of and its effects, dietary modification is suggested which consists of reducing intake of purine-rich foods.
Recent research has shown that impact of plant purines on gout risk is very different from the impact of animal purines and that within the animal food family, purines from meat and fish act very differently than purines from dairy.
The ones from meat and fish clearly increase our risk of gout, while purines from vegetables fail to change our risk.
In contrast, dairy foods appear to lower our risk of gout.
Thus while plant purines are neutral, dairy purines are beneficial and animal purines are harmful to the risk of gout.
Average daily intake of purines is 600-1,000 milligrams and in case it is advisable to reduce it to 100-150 milligrams.
Foods that contain very high purines [1000 mg per 3.5 ounces serving]
- Anchovies
- Herrings
- Kidney
- Liver
- Mackerel
- Meat extracts
- Mincemeat
- Mussels
- Sardines
- Yeast
Foods with high and moderately high purine levels [5-100 mg per 3.5 ounces serving):
- Asparagus
- Bacon
- Beef
- Bluefish
- Bouillon
- Calf tongue
- Carp
- Cauliflower
- Chicken
- Codfish
- Crab
- Duck
- Ham,
- Kidney beans
- Lamb
- Lentils
- Lima beans
- Lobster
- Mushrooms
- Mutton
- Navy beans
- Oatmeal, Oysters
- Peas, Perch, Pork
- Rabbit
- Salmon, Sheep, Shellfish, Snapper, Spinach
- Tripe, Trout, Tuna, Turkey
- Veal, Venison
