Purines are chemical compounds that are found naturally in the body, as well as in foods. When you metabolize purines, a waste product called uric acid is generated. Excess uric acid can crystallize in your joints, causing hyperuricemia, or gout, a painful disease with symptoms of swelling and severe discomfort in joints. Gout should be treated by a medical doctor. Avoiding or reducing your intake of purines is an important part of controlling gout. Your doctor or a registered dietitian can help you plan a low-purine diet.
Fruits and Vegetables
Most fruits and vegetables are low in purines, as well as being high in antioxidant vitamins, beneficial minerals and fiber. To avoid increasing uric acid levels, snack on fruits like apples, which feature a low purine level of 14 mg of uric acid per 100 g. Other healthful fruits with rock-bottom purine scores are avocado, with 19, blueberries, with 22, strawberries, with 21, peaches, with 21, and oranges, with 19. Vegetables with low purine levels include carrots, with a mere 17 mg of uric acid per 100 g, asparagus, with 23, and eggplant, with 21. Don't forget salads: lettuce weighs in at a low 13 mg per 100 g, tomatoes at 11, and cucumbers--with a uric acid level of 7--are the low-ringers.
Dairy Products
Dairy foods are usually low in purines. Cottage cheese has only 8 mg of uric acid per 100 g, and edam cheeses feature about 7. Plain yogurt weighs in at 7, as well. These foods are particularly useful in a low-purine diet because they provide protein, which usually has a relatively high uric acid level. Eggs are also low in purines, but Drugs.com suggests limiting your consumption to three or four a week, as they are high in cholesterol. The website also advises limiting your milk consumption to 24 oz. per day, and--since gout increases your risk of heart disease--choosing low-fat versions of dairy foods such as skim milk and low-fat cheeses.
Rice, Bread and Pasta
Rice, bread and pasta contain only modest amounts of purines, and are an important part of a low-purine diet. Cooked rice contains a very low 5.9 mg per 100 g, wheat flour contains 11.5, and bread features 15.7.
Foods to Avoid
Organ meats and many types of fish are extraordinarily high in purines; if you are trying to keep uric acid levels down, avoid these completely. Sardines contain a whopping 480 mg of uric acid per 100 g, with calf's liver, ox liver, and pig's liver all weighing in at over 400 as well. Anchovies, with a score of 239, and tuna fish in oil, with 290, are high as well. Brewer's yeast and baker's yeast, both taken as supplements, score a sky-high 1810 and 680, respectively; theobromine--an alkaloid substance found in chocolate--contains an astronomical 2300.
Meat and Fish
Many types of fish and meat, as well as other foods, contain moderate levels of purine. According to Health Square, you may have two to four choices a day of foods like oatmeal, beans, poultry--around 160 mg per 100 g--beef--usually around 120--and fish such as salmon--170--but serving sizes should not exceed the size of a deck of cards.
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