Purine is primarily found in foods of animal origin. According to medical experts at the University of Virginia, uric acid is the end result of the breakdown of purine. According to text in Nutrition and Rheumatic Disease, the body makes purine and two-thirds of uric acid comes from that source, while the latter one-third comes from dietary purines. A diet consisting of foods high in purines can contribute to the accumulation of uric acid crystals that can settle in your joints or kidneys. This can result in painful deposits in the joints called gout or a crystaline uric acid based type of kidney stones. Limiting purines in the diet can be helpful in preventing these crystals from accumulating and help minimize symptoms.
Significance
According to medical experts at Johns Hopkins University, gout is a very painful inflammatory arthritis caused in part by high levels of uric acid. They state that attacks can impact any joint in the body and that limiting purine intake may help to limit the accumulation. Certain kidney stones are also implicated to dietary uric acid crystal buildup.
Types of Foods High in Purine
According to nutrition experts at the Ohio State University Medical Center, foods high in purines include meats, some vegetables, and seafood products. Avoiding foods especially high in purines is important. Foods especially high include animal organ meats, oily fish like sardines, anchovies, herring and smelt, and yeast extracts like Vegemite and brewer's yeast. People on a low-purine diet should also moderate their intake of shellfish and fish roe, all animal meats including game meat and poultry, and processed meats like sausage and bacon. Limiting your dietary protein intake to the size of a deck of cards at every meal is a good start. Purine is also found in certain vegetables such as spinach, rhubarb, asparagus and tomato products, but eating these items is OK as long as you do so in moderation. Look for purines in dried beans, soybeans and soy products, lentils and peas, nuts, beer, coffee, tea and wine.
Benefits
According to research cited in Nutrition and Rheumatic Disease, a strict purine-restricted diet can reduce the levels of uric acid in the blood by 15 to 20 percent, which can impact the accumulation of uric acid crystals in the body. The author admits that a strict low-purine diet can be a difficult diet to maintain long term, however, so it is best to limit the foods with the highest concentrations of purine, while also making other health and dietary changes.
Additional Insight
One study cited in Nutrition and Rheumatic Disease even found that adding fresh cherries may be helpful to reduce uric acid levels. In addition, dairy products seem to lower uric acid levels. Limiting fructose, found in juices, high-fructose corn syrup and soda, also helps because it is the only carbohydrate known to also raise uric acid levels.
Potential
Potentially, by increasing dairy intake and limiting foods high in dietary purines, you may be more successful in keeping uric acid levels manageable while being better able to stick with the diet. In addition, losing weight, avoiding high-protein diets and fasting and staying adequately hydrated may be the most successful approach to meeting your goal of keeping your uric acid levels controlled.
References
- Arthritis and Rheumatism: Purine-Rich Foods, Dairy and Protein Intake, and the Risk of Gout in Men
- The Johns-Hopkins Arthritis Center: Clinical Presentation and Diagnosis of Gout
- National Institutes of Health: Uric Acid: Blood
- University of Virginia Health System: Gout
- "Nutrition and Rheumatic Disease;" Hyperuricemia, Gout and Diet; Naomi Schlesinger, 2005.
