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.
Zollner’s 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.
Purine Rich Foods Table
Click column headings to change sort order.
| Food 100g |
Kcal | Iron mg |
Xanthine mg |
Hypo- xanthine (mg) |
Gout Purines (mg) |
Protein (g) |
PRAL | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANCHOVY | 101 | 4.90 | 6 | 82 | 88 | 20 | 12 | Fish |
| COD | 77 | 0.32 | 66 | 66 | 18 | 8 | Fish | |
| HADDOCK | 77 | 0.61 | 95 | 95 | 18 | 8 | Fish | |
| HALIBUT | 95 | 0.55 | 104 | 104 | 20 | 7 | Fish | |
| HERRING ROE | 131 | 7 | 65 | 72 | 26 | 8 | Fish | |
| MACKEREL SMOKED | 222 | 1.20 | 94 | 94 | 21 | 13 | Fish | |
| MATJE CURED HERRING | 267 | 1.30 | 133 | 133 | 16 | 14 | Fish | |
| MUSSEL | 68 | 4.20 | 2 | 25 | 27 | 11 | 5 | Fish |
| PLAICE | 86 | 0.90 | 51 | 51 | 17 | 8 | Fish | |
| REDFISH (OCEAN PERCH) | 105 | 0.69 | 149 | 149 | 18 | 9 | Fish | |
| SAITHE (COALFISH) | 81 | 1.00 | 3 | 104 | 107 | 18 | 12 | Fish |
| SPRAT (SMOKED) | 243 | 16 | 191 | 207 | 119 | 24 | Fish | |
| TROUT | 103 | 0.41 | 11 | 117 | 128 | 20 | 10 | Fish |
| TUNA | 226 | 1.00 | 178 | 178 | 22 | 8 | Fish | |
| BEEF | 108 | 2.10 | 197 | 69 | 266 | 22 | 10 | Meat |
| CALF (NECK SWEET BREAD) | 99 | 2.00 | 51 | 91 | 142 | 17 | 0 | Meat |
| CALF´S LIVER | 130 | 7.90 | 65 | 54 | 119 | 19 | 13 | Meat |
| CHICKEN | 257 | 1.20 | 91 | 91 | 17 | 10 | Meat | |
| LAMB | 117 | 1.60 | 1 | 99 | 100 | 21 | 4 | Meat |
| LIVER SAUSAGE (LIVERWURST) | 326 | 5.30 | 12 | 61 | 73 | 16 | 10 | Meat |
| LUNCHEON MEAT | 267 | 2.20 | 1 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 9 | Meat |
| OX HEART | 121 | 4.00 | 4 | 129 | 133 | 17 | 9 | Meat |
| OX KIDNEY | 113 | 11.00 | 21 | 150 | 172 | 17 | 13 | Meat |
| OX LIVER | 132 | 6.90 | 57 | 114 | 171 | 19 | 15 | Meat |
| OX LUNGS (LIGHTS) | 99 | 8.80 | 9 | 35 | 44 | 18 | 13 | Meat |
| OX SPLEEN | 100 | 8.90 | 17 | 54 | 71 | 19 | 10 | Meat |
| PIG´S HEART | 91 | 4.30 | 367 | 367 | 17 | 9 | Meat | |
| PIG´S KIDNEY | 101 | 7.30 | 8 | 78 | 86 | 17 | 12 | Meat |
| PIG´S LIVER | 127 | 17.00 | 32 | 100 | 132 | 21 | 18 | Meat |
| PIG´S LUNGS (LIGHTS) | 114 | 5.00 | 4 | 79 | 83 | 14 | 10 | Meat |
| PIG´S SPLEEN | 102 | 19.00 | 3 | 75 | 78 | 17 | 7 | Meat |
| PORK | 105 | 1.00 | 2 | 93 | 95 | 22 | 9 | Meat |
| SHEEP´S HEART | 157 | 6.10 | 3 | 71 | 74 | 17 | 8 | Meat |
| SHEEP´S SPLEEN | 108 | 14 | 104 | 118 | 18 | 9 | Meat | |
| VEAL | 92 | 2.10 | 11 | 101 | 112 | 21 | 10 | Meat |
| ALCOHOL FREE BEER | 25 | 0.02 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Other |
| BAKER´S YEAST | 78 | 3.50 | 10 | 126 | 136 | 17 | 11 | Other |
| CHANTERELLE | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -4 | Other | ||
| EDIBLE BOLETUS (FLAT MUSHROOM, CEPE) | 20 | 1.00 | 7 | 7 | 5 | -2 | Other | |
| EDIBLE BOLETUS DRIED (FLAT MUSHROOM, CEPE) | 124 | 8.40 | 50 | 50 | 30 | -4 | Other | |
| LIMBURGER CHEESE | 184 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 12 | Other | ||
| MUSHROOM | 16 | 1.20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | Other |
| PILSENER LAGER BEER | 42 | 0.01 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Other |
| REAL BEER (LIGHT) | 39 | 0.04 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Other |
Please note:
- I took the data in this table from Food Composition and Nutrition Tables, 7th revised and completed edition, by Souci, Fachmann, Kraut.
- Values are for 100g. Divide by 100 and multiply by your portion size for your diet analysis.
- Figures are averages of several tests – natural products will vary, and cooking methods can affect final results.
If you are serious about measuring the impact of purine rich foods in your gout diet, you must verify expected values from the tables with actual effects from your own uric acid tests.