When you eat foods that contain purines, your body breaks them down into a waste product called uric acid. Normally, uric acid dissolves in your blood and the kidneys remove it from the body. But if you eat excess amounts of purines, uric acid can accumulate in your blood and form urate crystals, which do not dissolve.
Gout
The urate crystals that form as a result of excess uric acid in the blood can accumulate around the joints and lead to an arthritic condition called gout. Those with gout experience severe attacks of pain, redness and inflammation in the joints, especially the joint at the base of the big toe. If left unmanaged, the urate crystals can become deposited under the skin, a condition called advanced gout; and though skin deposits, called tophi, do not generally cause any pain, they can become tender and swollen during gout attacks.
Kidney Stones
Urate crystals can also travel to the kidneys, where they combine with other substances to form hard masses called kidney stones. Normally, your urine contains adequate amounts of certain chemicals and substances to prevent kidney stones, but if you consume too many purines, the concentration of uric acid increases dramatically and the chemicals are rendered useless.
While some kidney stones are very small and pass without any problems, larger kidney stones can cause severe pain and even block the flow of urine from the kidneys to the bladder. If this occurs, the kidney stone may require surgical removal.
Foods to Avoid
It may be beneficial to follow a low-purine diet to prevent gout attacks or the formation of uric acid kidney stones. A low-purine diet eliminates foods that are high in purines and allows limited consumption of foods that contain moderate amounts of purines. Examples of high-purine foods to avoid include anchovies, herring, mackerel, scallops, mussels, sardines, gravy, yeast, broth and meat extracts. Beer also contains high amounts of purines, so you should avoid any beer intake. Moderate-purine foods suitable for a low-purine diet include beef, lamb, pork, chicken, dried beans, peas, lentils, spinach, cauliflower, oats and whole grains.
Considerations
In addition to following a low-purine diet, you should also drink at least 10 to 12 eight-ounce cups of liquid each day. Consuming high amounts of liquid can help decrease the concentration of uric acid in the blood and help stimulate your body to release excess amounts of uric acid through your urine.
